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Lead Software Engineer, Tools

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Job Description:

Blizzard Entertainment is seeking a talented and passionate lead tools engineer to oversee tools development for an unannounced AAA project. A tools engineer at Blizzard embraces and fosters Blizzard’s core value of “Gameplay First” through collaboration with art, design, engineering, sound, and production to create streamlined development tools and experiences for their team.

We are a team of passionate developers that highly value open-minded collaboration, direct feedback, and the eagerness to grab and drive game development to Blizzard quality. As a lead tools engineer, you will inspire and align the team around a technical vision for the tools department that results in best-in-class gameplay, art, and audio experiences. By directly managing a team of engineers and collaborating with project leadership, you will help define strategic initiatives and break down clear and achievable goals for the tools team. When particularly hard problems arise, you'll draw upon the team's collective creativity to define and execute upon technical vision that meets the project's needs.

Responsibilities

• Define the project’s technical vision for the tools department, collaborating across a diverse cross-discipline team to ensure that tools requirements for the project are clearly defined and met.
• Partner with design, art, engineering, and audio to implement new and improve existing tools that meet the project’s needs.
• Ensure the efficiency, maintainability, and scalability of the tools and technology developed by the tools team.
• Act as the primary point of contact for cross-team tools development, partnering with a central-service shared game engine team and platform team to define and execute on project requirements.
• Directly manage, evaluate, and mentor the engineering staff of the tools team.
• Navigate team growth and development milestones, successfully scaling a small technical staff to meet the challenges of pre-production, production, go-to-market, and live operations phases.
• Evaluate internal/external technology and tools with the goal of sourcing and integrating technology that meets project requirements and goals.
• Author documentation and communicate best practices and technical constraints of the engine and tools stack to team members.
• Author, pitch, and maintain technical design documents that outline key project architectural decisions, milestones, and technical risks.
• Champion Blizzard’s core values.

Requirements

• At least 5+ years of relevant experience on a AAA game project; shipped at least one AAA title.
• Must currently hold at least a senior engineering position.
• Three years’ experience in leading high-performing engineering teams.
• Proven experience shipping games on multiple platforms such as PC, console, and mobile.
• Advanced knowledge of C++, both historical patterns as well as modern language features.
• Proven ability to grow, guide, inspire, and lead growing development/engineering teams.
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills.
• Extraordinary self-motivation and initiative.
• Passion for tools and software development with a service-oriented attitude.
• Extensive experience with video games, including action, FPS, and online titles.

Pluses

• B.S. (or higher) degree in Computer Science or equivalent.
• Experience with Unity, Unreal, or other development engines.
• Experience with performance analysis and code optimization.
• Experience with Relational Databases (SQL) or Document stores (NoSQL).
• Experience with modern source control systems, such as Subversion, Git, or Perforce.