JOB DESCRIPTION:

At Blizzard, we craft genre-defining games and legendary worlds for all to share. Through unparalleled creativity and storytelling, we create immersive universes and iconic characters that are beloved across platforms, borders, backgrounds, and generations - only made possible by building a work environment that nurtures the artistry of game development and unleashes the aspirations of our people.
As our Lead Gameplay Engineer (Player), you will manage the development of player and combat mechanics as part of our project’s larger gameplay team. You will lead a small team of engineers, provide technical guidance and direction, collaborate with design and project leadership teams, and help define strategic initiatives and break down clear and achievable goals for your team. When particularly hard problems arise, you’ll draw upon the team’s collective creativity and experience to define and execute upon a technical vision that meets the project’s needs.
This role is a full-time, hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The home studio for this role is Irvine, CA.

EXPERIENCE

• 12+ years of experience in gameplay engineering or a combination of applicable training and experience.
• Experience leading team efforts of delivering moment-to-moment gameplay and combat features working with animation, camera, and player traversal mechanics and ability systems.
• Experience shipping AAA game features on modern consoles, including optimization, polish, and post-launch support.

KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

• The ability to author, debug, and optimize production-grade C++ code.
• The capacity to make frequent, readable, well-tested code commits.
• The ability to communicate and articulate vision, ideas, learnings from others, and to give meaningful feedback.
• Excellent problem-solving and debugging skills.
• Experience mentoring others in relevant areas of expertise and helping others grow their careers.
• Experience working closely in multi-disciplinary teams with people of diverse mindsets.

EXPERIENCE

• Computer science, mathematics, physics, or related degree(s).
• Experience using the Unreal engine (both C++ and Blueprint).
• Prior experience leading a team of engineers in a collaborative environment.

KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

• Experience developing online multiplayer games and features.
• Familiarity with modern animation techniques, especially including motion-matching algorithms.

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:

• Manage, evaluate, and mentor the engineering staff of the player gameplay team.
• Act as the primary point of contact for player mechanic development, working with other gameplay teams, designers, project leadership, and engine teams to define and execute on project requirements.
• Partner with the production staff and the rest of the leadership team for milestone planning and tracking development progress.
• Author and maintain technical design documents that outline key project architectural decisions, features, milestones, and technical risks.
• Empower designers, artists, and other engineers to deliver the vision of the game and ensure we delight and entertain our players.
• Optimize team productivity by supporting content creation pipelines, tool development, and workflow improvements.