Principal Gameplay Engineer

About the Role

Disney Digital Entertainment, a division of Disney Experiences, is embarking on a mission to create the ‘digital front door’ for The Walt Disney Company, bringing all of the magic of Disney together into a new interactive universe.

We are building an expert development team that will be building a groundbreaking game experience that will herald the next generation of Disney to the world. Working with top-class industry talent, this role is perfect for the accomplished game programmer and leader looking to create something epic - collaborating with an incredible group of game developers focusing on individual experiences to build a wonderfully rich and cohesive product that is truly “Disney”.

Disney Digital Entertainment is looking for a uniquely talented Principal Gameplay Engineer to join us on an ambitious and exciting new project.  If you are an experienced game programmer with a love of Disney/Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel properties, you’ll want to check out this opportunity!

This role will report to the Director, Gameplay Engineering.

What you Will Do:

• Leverage your vast experience and knowledge to help implement several interactive games and experiences based on Disney’s robust portfolio of characters and worlds including Disney/Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars.
• Drive the development forward and be an active, hands-on participant in the process, directly writing code and working daily with design/production/art to establish and achieve goals for each game experience.
• Empower designers by serving as their main support avenue during the game construction process.  Provide technical leadership to support internal customers and find creative ways to overcome limitations, maintaining a positive outlook along the way.
• Create technical design specifications and provide technical leadership in the development, writing, testing, debugging, implementation and optimization of gameplay code.
• Work closely with the Gameplay Engineering Director to ensure that implementation quality is maintained.  Be an advocate of stability and flexibility.  Guarantee that long-term requirements are being considered.
• As a principal-level engineer, you will drive leading edge projects and initiatives that will impact critical directions of the team.
• Champion Disney and team values.  Maintain a ‘guest-first’ mentality by being an advocate for the player experience.
• Serve as a key member of a growing game development team at Disney.

Required Qualifications & Skills

• 9 years of experience developing console/PC/mobile games or other digital interactive entertainment.
• Experience with Unreal Engine 4/5+ at the native (C++) level. 
• Participated in the creation and release of a AAA product, in a hands-on programming role.  Was the main owner/architect of a major gameplay system.
• Served as a programmer during the prototype phase of a project.  Understands the difference in requirements/goals between prototyping and production.
• Understands and implements the following concepts at a production-quality, AAA level:
• C++ code (Performance Impact, Memory Management, Inheritance, etc.)
• Client/Server architecture (Replication, Client-side Prediction, Movement Syncing, etc.)
• Game Mathematics (Linear Algebra, Vector Math, Kinematic Physics, Collision, etc.)
• Maintains a mentorship attitude and demonstrates the ability to guide junior engineers. 
• A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Graphics Programming, Mobile experience, and familiarity with Online Services are all bonuses.
• UEFN/Verse experience is a definite bonus.
• Experience as a leader of direct reports

Additional Information

Disney offers a rewards package to help you live your best life. This includes health and savings benefits, educational opportunities, and special extras that only Disney can provide. Learn more about our benefits and perks at https://jobs.disneycareers.com/benefits

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The hiring range for this remote position is $159,800 to $246,400 per year, which factors in various geographic regions. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.