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Engine Programmer (All Levels)

At Rockstar Games, we create world-class entertainment experiences.

A career at Rockstar Games is about being part of a team working on some of the most creatively rewarding and ambitious projects to be found in any entertainment medium. You would be welcomed to a dedicated and inclusive environment where you can learn, and collaborate with some of the most talented people in the industry.

Rockstar San Diego is on the lookout for a talented Engine Programmer, who possesses a strong interest in all the low-level technology that makes a modern video game tick. If you like to understand how things really work “under the hood” of your favorite games, we’d love to hear from you.

This is a full-time permanent position based out of Rockstar's studio in Carlsbad. Whether it’s the beach or mountains, San Diego is considered one of the best places to live year-round.

WHAT WE DO

• The Engine team is a global group of generalist programmers with a keen focus on lower level systems and squeezing the most out of the underlying hardware.
• We are responsible for many of the core pieces of technology that underpin Rockstar games – such as memory management, streaming game data efficiently, population systems, LOD, scene management, rendering pipeline, scripting engine, and more.
• We collaborate closely with the Graphics team on many systems including vegetation, lighting, occlusion, etc.
• We collaborate closely with various Art teams to create believable worlds that feel immersive, solid and hold together under difficult conditions such as rapid player movement, limited system memory and so on.
• We coordinate and support the wider efforts across the development team to get our games running smoothly and making best use of system resources.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Implement new core technologies necessary to realize the vision of our games.
• Maintain existing codebase and support the wider development team in diagnosing problems and coming up with good solutions.

QUALIFICATIONS

• A degree in Computer Science/related discipline, or equivalent experience.
• 2+ years’ experience in video game or similar low-level C++ development.

SKILLS

• An understanding of computing fundamentals and related terminology.
• Demonstrable experience with C/C++ programming.
• Excellent problem-solving skills with an emphasis on debugging C++ code.
• Ability to collaborate positively with other departments across Rockstar studios.
• Strong multi-threaded programming skills.
• Analytical skills geared towards the measurement of system performance, memory use etc, plus the communication skills needed to generate solutions.

PLUSES

Please note that these are desirable skills and are not required to apply for the position.

• Self-motivated, enthusiastic/passionate about games and curious about how things work.
• Experience with SIMD code.
• Understanding of memory layout considerations as related to padding and cache efficiency.
• Experience with crash dumps and x86 disassembly.
• Strong 3D maths skills.
• Understanding of code performance considerations, including “big O” notation as related to algorithmic complexity.

HOW TO APPLY

Please apply with a resume and cover-letter demonstrating how you meet the skills above. If we would like to move forward with your application, a Rockstar Games recruiter will reach out to you to explain next steps and guide you through the process.

Rockstar is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to hiring, promoting, and compensating employees based on their qualifications and demonstrated ability to perform job responsibilities.

If you’ve got the right skills for the job, we want to hear from you. We encourage applications from all suitable candidates regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, belief, or race.