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Tools Programmer

Established in 2019, Sumo Leamington is led by a team of industry veterans with a wealth of experience in the games industry.

With three core specialisms: service-based games, free to play titles and mobile, the team at Sumo Leamington are focussed on creating games which players keep coming back to – day after day, year after year.

As winners of the TIGA Star Employment Award for 2021, recipients of the GI Biz 2020 Best Places to Work Award and listed as one of the UK’s 100 Best Large Companies to Work for in 2021, Sumo Digital has enjoyed 18 years of stability and growth since its formation in 2003 and continues to strive for excellence across every single project.

The team at Sumo Leamington is growing, and we’re looking for the industry’s brightest stars to help bring a series of incredible projects to life.

Sumo Leamington is looking for programmers who love to create tools to help create great games!

This is an opportunity to join our studio as a Tools Programmer, working on creating and improving game development tools using a variety of different languages and technologies.

Of course, the tech used to make game development tools can encompass a wide variety of technologies, such as C#/WPF applications, web apps, NodeJS, command line tools, DevOps & CI scripts, 3D Package scripting, Python, Go, the list is nearly endless. If you enjoy writing tools for development teams who make games, then we’d love to hear from you and what languages and technologies you have experience of which you feel may be relevant to the role.

And because the languages and tech used to make tools are so vast, and ever evolving, we want programmers who want opportunities to learn new things on their own, take ownership, and get stuck in.

The Sumo Leamington Tools team is a long-term mission for the Sumo Leamington Spa studio, intended to build and support sustainable tools for the various projects which are being developed by the studio and also tools which can help everyone in the studio.

Since this is a new role and a new team, this is a great opportunity to shape & influence the engineering and development processes for this team.

The Tools Programmer will report to the Lead Tools Programmer. This role is offered as fully remote, although on-site visits to our Leamington Spa office are possible for candidates who live within a commutable distance.

Key Responsibilities of the role

• Design, develop & improve excellent tools for use by a variety of customers and game development disciplines.
• Build relationships with key members of all the development teams in the studio and speak regularly to them to understand each team’s requirements. Use this information to build a well-balanced and achievable roadmap for delivery of tools to the various teams.
• Be ready to learn new languages and APIs and technologies as determined by the specific tool requirements & customers.
• Assist your manager & the production team with planning and task scheduling.
• Participate in code reviews through Pull Requests in our Git repos.

Essential experience & skills

• 2 years or more of commercial programming experience. Must have used C# in a significant capacity within the last 12 months.
• Developing tools for Game Development teams using appropriate programming languages and technologies.
• Experience of Programming languages and technologies which are typically used to develop tools. If you have experience of any of these languages and technologies, we’d love to hear from you.

Essential programming language:

• C#

Non-required skills & tech:

• Unity development
• Python
• Go
• Relational Databases & SQL
• NoSQL Databases
• JavaScript and/or TypeScript
• NodeJS & npm
• Cloud services such as AWS, Google Cloud Platform, MS Azure, etc. etc.
• Linux
• Shell scripting
• Web
• REST API development, and use of REST API design tools such as Swagger, PostMan, etc.
• Web-tool development, using modern frameworks like React, Angular, etc.
• JSON, XML, HTML, CSS – data interchange formats and markup languages.
• Expectation of fluency in at least 2 of the above programming languages/technologies.
• A track record of learning new languages and technologies to adapt to requirements.
• Debugging code on various platforms.
• Releasing software to customers.
• Strong understanding of Git
• Understanding of branching policies & Pull-Request workflow
• Reviewing code, providing constructive feedback and suggestions for code improvements.
• Task tracking system, such as Jira, or something similar.
• Strong technical documentation skills.

Experience of developing in Unity would be great but not essential

Option to work fully remotely, or with occasional office visits if you wish.

We provide all our developers with top of the range development hardware

Management training program

1 day per month, everyone in the studio participates in our Studio Learning Day, where everyone can learn new skills which are relevant to their role.

Work with an incredibly friendly & diverse team.

A great work/life balance, with No Crunch policy.

Regular 1-on-1 meetings with your manager, to make sure we're listening to you & supporting you.

· 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

· 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

At Sumo, we want to enable everyone to bring their full, authentic selves to work every single day. We acknowledge that the games industry is far from perfect and a global organisation with people all over the world, from all kinds of backgrounds, we know it’s part of our duty to provide everyone at Sumo with a safe, accepting and affirming working environment.

We encourage and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

Sumo Leamington is situated just outside of the town centre and was recently awarded the Games Industry BIZ Best Diversity Award – a testament to its ongoing commitment to creating a home for everyone. The Studio features many onsite facilities – everything needed for the team to create the world’s best games!

Ranked the happiest town to live in two official polls, Leamington Spa is a hidden gem nestled amongst the stunning countryside of Warwickshire and remains a hotspot for talented individuals and creative minds within the games industry. Those living in Leamington Spa can enjoy:

o Local attractions such as Jepson Gardens and the Royal Pump Rooms

o A rich and diverse culture

o An expansive history and stunning architecture

o Picturesque scenery, outstanding gardens and walking routes

o Beautiful museums and galleries

Sumo Digital is an award-winning international family of studios. Recent releases from Sumo Digital studios include: BAFTA-Award winning Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Hood: Outlaws & Legends, Control Ultimate Edition on Google Stadia, Apple Arcade Award-winning Little Orpheus, Hot Shot Racing, WST Snooker and Spyder.