Principal Programmer - C++ UE4/5

Principal Programmer to take technical ownership of this studios in-house open-world multiplayer game creation framework.

The role is hybrid, involving 2 days a week at their Guildford studio. Benefits include – Pension, Healthcare, possible future bonuses, 25 days minimum holiday

£80-£90k base salary

About the role -

They’re seeking an experienced, product-focused technical leader to take charge of the technical vision and execution of their open-world multiplayer game creation framework. You’ll operate as a founding engineer or technical cofounder, helping scale their modular, multiplayer-first sandbox framework built on Unreal Engine 5.

This is a hands-on leadership position: you’ll be actively coding while also working closely with production to manage a small core team of engineers and scripters, guiding the development process, and ensuring their systems meet the scale and ambition of the platform.

The ideal candidate would have 10+ years of experience with a deep Unreal expertise (including networking, plugins, and tools), and a passion for building powerful and extensible systems. You’ll work directly with leadership to ensure the product ships on time, on spec, and with excellence.

What you will be doing

• Acting as technical owner setting the direction and standards across all technical systems.
• Leading and mentoring the engineering team, providing code reviews, technical guidance, and architectural oversight.
• Contributing code daily—this is a hands-on leadership role.
• Overseeing and implementing systems across gameplay, networking, tooling, UI, online services, backend, and DevOps.
• Collaborating with other departments (gameplay, art, production) to ensure engine features meet evolving needs.
• Spearheading the adoption of AI/ML-driven workflows and tooling across the engineering org.
• Recruiting, onboarding, and mentoring technical team members.
• Maintaining a high level of responsiveness, adaptability, and technical excellence in a fast-paced environment.
• Championing engineering culture, team cohesion, and sustainable development practices.
• Supporting with hiring to grow the engineering team according to project needs and studio values.

What we will need from you

• 10+ years of professional experience as a game/engine programmer, including technical leadership on shipped titles or platforms.
• Deep expertise in Unreal Engine—including networking, gameplay systems, Lyra framework, motion matching, custom plugins/tools, and engine extensions.
• Proven experience building and scaling engineering teams.
• Strong background in gameplay programming, multiplayer architecture, and online subsystem integrations (e.g. EOS, Steam, etc).
• Competence in backend systems, scalable services, and DevOps pipelines.
• Proficiency in CI/CD, debugging, and performance optimization.
• Familiarity with web technologies (HTML/CSS/JS) for platform or dashboard/launcher related features.
• Passion for empowering creators through extensibility, modularity, and clean systems architecture.

Nice to have

• Experience with UGC platforms, modding frameworks, or live service ecosystems.
• Experience building or contributing to game development tools for teams or communities.
• Previous work in fast-moving startup or small team environments.

Value alignment

• You thrive in fast-paced, collaborative environments where efficiency, agility, and a strong team culture lead to significant and meaningful impact.
• You enjoy working closely with other disciplines, wearing multiple hats, and iterating quickly.
• You’re excited by ambitious creative tools and believe in enabling others through technology.

CVs to simon.pittam@amiqus.com