Position Summary:As Principal Gameplay Engineer, you will work within AGBO's Interactive team, with your focus spanning our active game projects and overall portfolio. You are a seasoned, highly technical engineer who brings both deep gameplay expertise and meaningful engine-level experience to bear on some of the most ambitious creative challenges in the studio. You will help define the technical direction for core gameplay systems while partnering with design and creative leadership.
Key Responsibilities:- Serve as the primary technical owner and subject matter expert for gameplay systems across major game features.
- Architect, implement, and iterate on complex, high-quality gameplay systems-such as character mechanics and emergent gameplay loops.
- Collaborate directly with creative and design leadership to translate ambitious game design vision into robust, performant engineering solutions.
- Help drive technical strategy and establish engineering standards for gameplay development across the team.
- Contribute engine-level improvements, optimizations, and custom systems as required to support the unique needs of the projects.
- Mentor senior, mid-level, and junior engineers; conduct rigorous code reviews and elevate overall code quality.
- Proactively identify and resolve deep technical challenges, including performance bottlenecks, system complexity, and architectural risk.
- Work cross-functionally with other engineering disciplines to ensure gameplay systems integrate cleanly with the broader tech stack.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Qualifications & Skills:- 10-15 years of experience in game engineering, with significant time focused on gameplay systems; multiple shipped titles required.
- Exceptional C++ skills and expert-level command of Unreal Engine internals (UE4 and/or UE5).
- Experience with live service games.
- Demonstrated engine-level experience: custom subsystems, engine modifications, deep profiling and optimization, or similar.
- Deep expertise in gameplay systems, complex character mechanics, and interactive world systems.
- Proven ability to define and lead technical architecture at a project or studio level.
- Strong instincts for gameplay feel, iteration, and design collaboration-able to bridge the gap between design intent and technical execution at a high level.
- Excellent communication skills; able to articulate complex technical concepts to both engineering and non-engineering stakeholders.
- Experience leading or mentoring engineering teams in a high-growth or studio environment.
Additional Information:- This role is based in Raleigh, NC, and we are primarily seeking candidates who are currently located in the area or are open to relocating. This is a senior, high-impact position that benefits greatly from in-person collaboration with our creative and technical leadership.
- Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the U.S.
The job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee(s) incumbent to this position.
