Senior Game Engineer (iPhone Games)

PlayFirst is an innovative entertainment company that makes video games appealing to everyone. We create engaging story worlds that capture imaginations and we make those experiences available everywhere consumers want to play. PlayFirst teams create outstanding games, then we bring those games to life across popular platforms worldwide including PC, Mac, mobile, handheld, and console. The company's portfolio includes world-renowned titles, such as Diner Dash®, Wedding Dash™, Chocolatier™, Chocolatier®, and Dream Chronicles™. PlayFirst games are available in major retailers and on more than 500 sites in 20 languages.

Founded in 2004 by veterans of Internet portals, traditional games publishers, entertainment software, and technology firms, PlayFirst is funded by Mayfield Fund, Trinity Ventures, Rustic Canyon Partners and DCM. PlayFirst, Inc is headquartered in downtown San Francisco. For more information, visit www.playfirst.com.

Job Description:

The Senior Game Engineer, iPhone works directly with the iPhone game development team, game designers, producers, Vice President of Engineering, and iPhone Product Manager on a daily basis to fully understand specific design requirements and expectations. The Senior Game Designer, iPhone uses best engineering practices to design, develop and ship innovative, award winning, and commercially successful iPhone titles.

Responsibilities:

• Develop iPhone based games that are consistent with PlayFirst's mission, market and approach.
• Develop games using Objective C++, XCode, Interface Builder, Instruments, Cocoa Touch, UIKit, Core Audio, Core Animation, PowerVR Hardware, Push Notifications, In App Purchase.
• Work as a team member throughout the development cycle, provide expertise and take on tasks on behalf of the team.
• Ensure high quality games through quality development practices and guidelines.
• Provide insight to the team as to best game development practices and techniques.
• Evaluate and communicate technical risk and ensure games are deployed against a schedule.
  

Requirements:

• iPhone Programming Experience, including: Objective C++, XCode, Interface Builder, Instruments, Cocoa Touch, UIKit, Core Audio, Core Animation, PowerVR Hardware, Push Notifications, In App Purchase.
• Games Programming Experience, including: C++, LUA, XCode / Visual C++, OpenGLES, OpenAL, PlayGround SDK or other games middleware. (e.g. DirectX, Havok, PhysX, Fmod, Unreal, Unity, Torque, etc.).
• Familiarity with games middleware or SDK development and release strategies.
• Demonstrated strong knowledge of object-oriented design and implementation.
• Must have excellent written and verbal communications skills.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate technical risk and make quick decisions to adhere to scheduled and team-agreed timelines.
• 6 or more years experience professional software development.
• 4 or more years experience C++ development.
• iPhone, xCode and/or casual game programming experience is a strong plus.
• Bachelor's degree (or higher) in Computer Science.
• Eligibility to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.
  

Preferred:

• Past success with establishing and communicating technical direction within a mid-sized software development or video game company.
• Past success with team based projects.
• Understanding of server-side development and back-end systems, including experience with some combination of: PHP, ASP, HTML, Java, J2EE, SQL, Apache, Encryption, TCP/IP & UDP.
• Experience with localized and cross-platform product development.
• Previous experience reviewing the technical capabilities of 3rd party developers.
• Experience with embedded scripting languages (lua, ruby, python, perl, etc.).
• Experience developing and deploying networked multiplayer games.
  

Benefits:

Core benefits include: health, dental, vision, life/disability, flexible spending accounts, 401(k) and stock options. PlayFirst is located downtown in SOMA right by the financial district (2 blocks from BART) and offers great fringe benefits, including generous vacation/sick time, 10 company holidays, chair massage, snacks, refreshments, and company-wide "playdates" to test each of our games during the development process.

Salary and level to be determined by experience and education

To apply for this position, please email your resume in a standard Word or PDF document to jobs@playfirst.com and please include the exact job title in the subject line as above.