Experienced Gameplay Programmer

Experienced Gameplay Programmer

We’re looking for an engineer who knows what great gameplay looks, sounds, and feels like. Someone who understands the programmatic representations of great game feel and who can turn a complex description of a user’s experience into simple inputs on a controller. Someone who can iterate alongside other developers, tweaking and tuning until you get it just right. You know instinctively how much input lag is too sticky or too slippery, and you’ve got the know-how to put a pin in the center of the spectrum. You’re a tinkerer, a knob-turner, a button-pusher and a lever-puller. You know that the moment a game world comes to life is when a player can competently and confidently stride through it. You have the skills, both to tell a story through code alone and to guide the player to pen their own. Your insights and talents will help our animators, designers, and writers craft an experience that harmonizes across all its axes.

Responsibilities:

• Developing gameplay systems according to designer specifications.
• Working with a variety of other disciplines to fine-tune gameplay.
• Exploring game design ideas through prototypes and toys.
• Iterating, iterating, and iterating some more on gameplay mechanics.
• Creating new gameplay code, as well as maintaining the older systems.
• Working with designers and animators to create features that complement tight mechanics and high-fidelity animations.
• Helping create systems with seamless and fluid game feel.
• Identifying points of friction in gameplay and resolving them quickly.
• Receiving, internalizing, and implementing gameplay feedback.

Required Experience:

• Has written gameplay code on shipped games.

Required Skills:

• A strong interest in and curiosity for game design.
• Extensive knowledge of controller interfaces across multiple platforms.
• Able to write efficient low-level C++ code, with an eye for optimization and performance.
• Is a self-motivated and proactive problem-solver. 
• Loves working with others.

Preferred Skills:

• You know the Unreal Engine: forward, backward, upside-down and inside-out.

Salary Range:
We value mentorship as part of building our team. Therefore, in order to create more opportunities we choose to stay open to hiring candidates at different levels of experience. If you’re the right fit for our culture, we are excited to help you grow. Our salary ranges reflect experience level, but we will be transparent about where you fit and we will always hire equitably when hiring within the same experience level. We have two ranges for this role, experienced and highly experienced:
Experienced Programmer: $120,000-$165,000 per year

Highly Experienced Programmer: $165,000-$190,000 per year

Additionally, if you are interested in this role but feel as though you don’t have the right experience for it, we’d like to further encourage your application. When compared to individuals of similar backgrounds and skill levels, members of historically marginalized groups are statistically far less likely to apply for a position unless they feel like they meet all of its listed qualifications. As part of our mission to cultivate a diverse workplace, we encourage you to apply for the position that excites you, even if your resumé doesn’t perfectly match what we’re looking for. 

Benefits and Perks:

• Competitive Health Benefits. The company pays a high portion of employee and dependent premiums. At this time our contribution covers all of our employees and the majority of the cost for their families. 
• FSA/DFSA (Pre-tax Health and Dependent Care Savings Accounts). 
• Paid parental leave.
• 401k with a 3% company contribution. 
• A flexible work-from-home policy.
• Unlimited, flexible paid vacation.
• Monthly paid holidays and 3 weeks of paid office closures a year.
• Creative & collaborative work environment.
• Just for fun team events.
• New Hire Transition Week: In order to encourage new hires to take time off before starting at Wildflower, new employees are paid a “week of pay” equivalent starting bonus to allow the new team member to rest and join our team feeling rejuvenated and ready to dive in. 

Application Review Process: 
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, beginning on January 22, 2024. This position will remain open until filled. We are looking to fill the role immediately. Please note that because we expect to receive a large volume of applications, we will only be in touch if we would like to move you forward to the next round. You will receive an auto-reply confirming we have received your application. Thank you for your understanding.

Interviewing: 
Heads up - as part of the interview process, we may ask you to take a test to show us your skills and knowledge.
Thank you for your interest!