[Hiring] Principal Software Engineer @2K

Role Description

We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer, Narrative Systems to own and lead the development of cinematic, narrative, and storytelling technology for our game. In this role, you will partner closely with Design, Animation, Audio, and Production to define the technical foundation for emotionally resonant, high-quality, and deeply interactive story moments built in Unreal Engine 5.

• Own and lead the development of narrative systems for the game, including runtime technology, authoring workflows, tool integrations, and long-term technical direction.
• Architect, develop, and maintain cinematic and narrative systems in Unreal Engine 5 that support high-quality story moments, scripted events, branching content, and interactive presentation.
• Extend and customize Unreal Engine systems such as Sequencer, camera frameworks, animation playback, dialog integration, and event-driven scene logic to meet the needs of a large-scale production.
• Partner with Animation, Audio, Level Design, and Gameplay teams to translate creative goals into robust, scalable technical solutions.
• Lead the integration of dialog, facial animation, lip-sync, localization, and performance-driven content into reliable and performant runtime systems.
• Define technical standards and best practices for narrative content creation, cinematic playback, scripted events, and tool development.
• Identify opportunities to improve content creator workflows, reduce iteration time, and increase the quality and reliability of narrative production.
• Research and evaluate new Unreal Engine features, industry techniques, and emerging technologies that could improve our narrative, cinematic, and storytelling toolset.
• Mentor engineers on system design, Unreal Engine development, C++ programming practices, debugging strategies, and production-quality engineering.
• Profile, optimize, and debug narrative, cinematic, camera, dialog, and animation-related systems to ensure stable performance under demanding production conditions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• 15+ years of professional software engineering experience in games, interactive media, simulation, or related real-time technology.
• Advanced expertise with modern C++ and experience writing clean, maintainable, performance-conscious engine-level code.
• Deep experience developing within Unreal Engine 4 or Unreal Engine 5, with strong familiarity with engine architecture and source-level workflows.
• Demonstrated experience owning complex runtime systems, content creation tools, or production pipelines from initial architecture through delivery.
• Strong understanding of cinematic, narrative, animation, camera, dialog, or scripted event systems in a real-time engine.
• Ability to work closely with creative teams and translate ambiguous artistic, narrative, or design goals into practical technical solutions.
• Ability to explain complex technical concepts to people with varying levels of technical expertise.
• Strong debugging, profiling, and optimization skills.
• Dedicated and self-motivated, with the ability to identify areas for research, development, improvement, and technical risk reduction.
• A strong product sense for interactive storytelling, cinematic presentation, and emotionally engaging player experiences.
• Love for video games and an interest in how narrative, presentation, and interactivity combine to create memorable moments.

Beneficial Qualifications

• Experience developing and shipping high-quality games on Unreal Engine 4 or Unreal Engine 5.
• Experience with branching dialog systems, localization workflows, narrative scripting systems, quest systems, or event-driven scene logic.
• Experience with Unreal Sequencer, MovieScene, Control Rig, animation blueprints, skeletal mesh systems, or procedural animation technologies.
• Experience developing editor tools or content pipelines for Narrative, Cinematics, Animation, Audio, or Level Design teams.
• Experience with facial animation pipelines, lip-sync systems, performance capture, MetaHuman, or other character performance technologies.
• A strong portfolio or shipped-title history demonstrating high-quality cinematic, narrative, or interactive presentation systems.

Compensation

The pay range for this position in British Columbia at the start of employment is expected to be between CAD $144,200 and CAD $213,375 per year. However, actual pay offered is based on market location and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations.

Equal Opportunity Employer

As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to ensuring that individuals with disabilities are provided suitable accommodations to enjoy equal employment opportunities, including the ability to participate in the job application or interview process.