This job might no longer be available.

Lead Programmer

Lab42 is a best-in-class cross-platform game developer based in the UK. Our headcount has grown with fantastic, experienced people supported by a veteran management team with backgrounds from Activision, Codemasters and EA.

We developed the officially licensed photo-realistic, sports/simulation Snooker19 with World Snooker for all major Consoles and PC. That’s in addition to providing a range of development services and special projects to a growing client list which features Paradox, Sega, Codemasters and Curve Digital.

Lab42 is made up of a diverse mix of fantastic people, although sometimes, some groups are still under-represented. We are working to remove obstacles that can make it difficult for those groups to progress their careers in the games industry. We welcome applications from under-represented people in the gaming industry, including, but not limited to BAME, LGBQT+, women, people with physical disabilities, neurodiversity or mental health issues, and parents or carers.

Lab42 Games are looking to recruit a Lead Programmer to lead projects and manage programmers. From assigning tasks to writing code, and from mentoring junior coders to checking on the wellbeing of your team to meeting with clients, a Lead Programmer will have the opportunity to look after code and people as they work with a range of highly regarded IPs and external partners on many different platforms.

This is a lead level role, with a strong expectation of many years of experience within the games industry specifically. In addition to managing your team and project, and writing code, you will be expected to be hands-on with mentoring, setting technical direction, aiding your team in finding solutions to problems, and working with clients and other departments on a day to day basis.

Experience of leading teams is essential, as you will need to be versed in shepherding projects to completion by working with a producer while you keep track of your team's progress. You will be relied upon to be pro-active in looking for technical and managerial solutions to potential problems with code and people before they cause lasting issues. You will need to be self-motivated and capable of working without direct supervision, but you will be expected to feed back periodically to the Technical and Development Directors.

You will:

• Write high quality code that can be delivered on time
• Work on a wide variety of projects and tasks in various engines and languages
• Mentor and develop more junior members of the team
• Lead a programming team by planning and directing your own work and the work of your team
• Liaise with other disciplines and teams within the studio and external partners to facilitate development
• Ensure that build pipelines are in place to deliver regular, testable builds
• Interview candidates for programming roles within the studio
• Report to the Technical Director and assist in drawing up policy and best practices
• Adhere to and enforce programming best practices and standards

The role requires:

• Experience of leading the technical direction of games projects
• Experience of leading teams of programmers
• Multiple years of experience working in games in a senior capacity, working with colleagues and stakeholders across departments
• Excellent knowledge of C++ and C#
• Experience of working with other languages like Java and Objective-C, or scripting languages like Lua or Python
• An understanding of working with the command line
• A working understanding of different consoles and/or game streaming platforms, in addition to PC development
• Experience of writing technical documentation, to document investigations, approaches, and features

What we would like to see, but is not essential:

• Shipped titles in Unreal Engine and Unity
• Experience of working with clients directly to ascertain their needs
• Experience of implementing automation for building projects and code
• Experience with build systems (e.g. Jenkins, TeamCity)
• Shipped titles on mobile

· Annual Bonus & Annual Salary Reviews

· Electric car scheme

· Salary Sacrifice Pension Scheme

· Flexible Working

· 27 Days Holiday, including your birthday a duvet day and Christmas

· Holiday ‘buy and sell’ scheme

· 5 Paid Learning Days, including 1 volunteer day per year

· Access to 4,000 Udemy Courses, The Gnomen Workshop, GDC Vault and more

· Enhanced Mat/Paternity & Adoption pay

· Free Life Assurance - 4x Salary

· Free Income Protection Scheme -up to 75%

· Free Dental Insurance

· Supportive Employee Assistance Programme with confidential 24/7/365 helpline & app

· Access remote GP, Mental Health, Physio appointments & medical second opinions

· Additional flexible benefits scheme

· Cycle to Work Scheme

· Mental Health First Aiders

· Payroll Giving Scheme

· Game & Book Libraries

· Long service & project completion awards

· Wrap Parties

· Alternative Travel Prize Draw

· The Sumo GameJam

· Great family events

· Studio clubs, inc. running, board games, film…

· Life Drawing

· Yoga Classes

· Free fruit and drinks

· Employee Referral Bonus

· Career Development

· Relocation Support to the UK

· Visa Sponsorship

Lab42 was formed with just one developer, and we have grown organically over the last five years. Now part of the Sumo Group we’re based in the heart of Royal Leamington Spa; a thriving town with a bustling game-development scene.

It’s an exciting time to be part of the Sumo family, winners of the Develop: Star Awards 2019 Best Studio and GI Biz 2020 Best Places to Work; big things are on the horizon and we want you to be part of our continued journey. Join us!

We are a small, dedicated bunch with experience, drive, passion and creativity. Lab42 has a flexible working environment that make this a relaxed and friendly place to work. By prioritising the happiness and wellbeing of our staff we have been able to hire many industry veterans, and we are proud to have one of the lowest rates of staff attrition in game development.