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Senior Software Engineer - Gameplay & Features

Who We Are

Second Dinner is an award-winning independent game development studio that is here to make the most fun games in the world. Not super fun games. Not SUPER DUPER fun games. We mean the MOST fun games. In fact, our game MARVEL SNAP has earned multiple Mobile Game of the Year Awards (Game Awards , DICE ), Best Strategy Game (IGN) , and the Apple Design Award for Innovation !

Second Dinner is a remote-first studio, so while we are headquartered in Irvine, California, most of our team is fully remote across the United States. We want the most talented teammates wherever they call home. A diverse team with varied perspectives makes us a better company and will help us make better games. If you can bring something new to the table and expand our point of view, that's a huge upside.

Your Role:

The primary responsibility for this position is to partner with designers, artists, and engineers to establish a shared vision for compelling player experiences. You will design and implement new in game features and optimize existing ones to make our game wildly fun and HUGE worldwide. If you love crafting world-class game experiences, collaborating with extraordinarily talented cross-functional teams, then APPLY!

What You’ll Do:

• Work closely with designers, artists, and other engineers to establish a shared vision for compelling player experiences
• Drive the architecture and implementation of functional and elegant gameplay systems
• Bring wireframes, prototypes, and UIs to life within the game
• Establish, share, and iterate on best practices for code architecture
• Create tools and systems that can be reused to provide value in other parts of the game
• Develop underlying back-end systems and server functionality to support front-end features
• Monitor and repair live issues affecting gameplay

What You’ll Need:

• Extensive experience in game development
• High levels of empathy and support for team members
• Approachability and excitement to collaborate on design and tech
• Ability to implement user interfaces and gameplay features from the ground up
• Experience with modern mobile game design and architecture paradigms
• Ability to articulate and communicate technical ideas effectively both verbally and in written formats (chat, wiki, email, etc.) to both technical and non-technical team members
• Experience modeling game states and implementing rules in client-server architectures
• Passion for playing and making great games

Nice to Have, but Not Necessary:

• Experience developing Unity applications
• Experience creating persistent data schemas, versioning, and data migration
• Experience crafting server-authoritative multiplayer systems with client prediction
• Willing to mentor other engineers and be invested in their growth
• Experience with Git, .NET, and AWS

The total compensation for this position includes a new hire offer base salary range of $140,000 - $240,000 USD + equity + comprehensive benefits + potential for discretionary performance bonuses.

Individual pay within this salary range may span multiple levels within the discipline and is determined by assessed job-related skills, experience, relevant education or training. It also factors in market demands and business needs. The disclosed range is not adjusted based on location and may be subject to change or modification based on business needs in the future. Your recruiter can answer any questions about new hire total compensation during the hiring process.

An overview of the benefits and perks at Second Dinner:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance plans with Second Dinner paying 100% of premiums for employees and 75% for dependents for many plans
• 401(k) contribution with no waiting period
• 16 weeks paid parental leave with no waiting period
• Home office improvement bonus
• Paid Vacation & Sick time
• Remote-first with core overlap hours between 10AM and 4PM PT
• Company Winter Holiday shutdown (Dec 25-Jan 1)
• Company Summer Holiday shutdown (week of July 4)
• Company Events - In-person Summer all-hands gathering, in-person holiday party, annual camping event, and virtual events throughout the year

We are an equal opportunity employer that places high value on diversity and inclusion. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, age, disability status, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, military status, or veteran status.

You must be eligible to work in the United States to be considered for this position.