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Lead AI Engineer

About Splash Damage

We believe that games play better with friends. For more than 20 years, we’ve been creating team-based multiplayer experiences that have entertained tens of millions of players all over the world and forged countless new friendships along the way.
Our studio culture is rooted in our open, friendly, and collaborative environment. Our games are made by people from all over the world, from our entry-level Fresh Talent hires to industry veterans, and we believe that fostering that diverse culture is the best way to build both our games and our studio. We have won numerous awards, including a ‘World-Class’ accreditation by Best Companies and being named one of the UK’s 100 Best Large Companies to work for.
Our offices are based in Bromley, UK.
Benefits
We offer a comprehensive benefits package for you and your family, including:
  • Substantial performance-related pay system on top of your basic compensation, along with enhanced pension contributions and our life assurance scheme.
  • 4 day work week: Tuesday - Friday
  • 20 days of annual leave, equivalent to 5 weeks within a 4 day work week.
  • Summer & Winter closure, not taken from holiday allowance - 1st full week of August and Christmas Eve to New Years day.
  • Bespoke VISA and relocation packages for you and your family, with support from our team throughout the whole process.
  • Private Medical and Dental Cover for you and your family, along with a 24/7 digital GP service.
  • Extensive Mental Health support, with Line Manager Mental Health training, a group of Mental Health First-Aiders, and on-site or remote counselling.
  • Our bespoke Learning and Development course framework to help you grow as an employee, manager, and leader.
  • Industry-leading fully paid 30 weeks maternity leave & 10 weeks paternity leave.
The Role

At Splash Damage, we create multiplayer combat games that champion team play and promote lifelong friendships. Members of the AI engineering team at Splash Damage are responsible for implementing new and exciting AI and gameplay features within a multiplayer environment. We work closely with other disciplines to help them realise their ideas through rapid prototyping and iterative agile development.

As a Lead AI Engineer, you will be responsible for spearheading the effort of your team from architecture design to implementation, driving towards the best player experience. Working closely with design and engineering departments, you will consider the skills and talents of your team members and use their experience to identify risk, build roadmaps and become a force- multiplier for your team, mentoring them every step of the way. We believe that constantly improving our skills is an essential part of the job and we offer regular leadership, management and mentoring training opportunities.

We're advocates for work-life balance and offer a comprehensive benefits package focused on the well-being of our staff and their families.

You excel at
  • Setting clear technical direction, intent, and best practices within your team. 
  • Identifying risks and blockers early and proactively removing them. 
  • Working effectively in open and collaborative environments. 
  • Working closely with project leadership to plan long-term road maps and improve development processes. 
  • Seeing the big picture impact of decisions and critically evaluating them. 
  • Nurturing professional growth within your team with an enthusiastic attitude and a team-first mentality.
  • Communicating ideas, intent, and constraints to both technical and non-technical team members.  
You have
  • Expert knowledge of C++, with relevant professional experience.  Strong understanding of game-development-related 3D maths principles. 
  • The leadership skills to lead an AI development team. 
  • Professional experience iteratively implementing AI features from inception to delivery. 
  • Experience working in all phases of game development, from feature design to planning and establishing roadmaps, implementation, and bug-fixing. 
  • A strong understanding of AI behavioural & navigational techniques used in modern games. 
  • A strong interest in researching and implementing new AI related technologies. 
  • Experience working closely with design teams and leadership to elicit requirements and help shape great AI-driven game experiences.
Even better if you have
  • Professional development experience with real-time networked multiplayer games. 
  • Professional Unreal Engine development experience on PC and/or consoles. 
  • Experience with multi-threaded development
  • Experience developing for Xbox Series, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and/or PS4.
  • Experience profiling and optimising code for optimal CPU, memory, and bandwidth usage. 
  • Experience in animation programming. 
  • Experience developing procedurally generated environments. 

Splash Damage is an equal-opportunity employer. We believe our teams create better work when they have a range of perspectives to draw from, and we are committed to creating an inclusive working environment that celebrates diversity.

Benefits

You’ve probably seen hundreds of benefits packages before, so you know what to expect: private healthcare, pension contributions, holiday allowance...

At Splash Damage, you’ll get all of those along with a whole bunch you won’t be expecting like industry-leading maternity and paternity leave, discounts with local businesses, a Performance Related Pay scheme, free haircuts and manicures, and so much more.