Technical Director, Internal Game Studio

Netflix is one of the world's leading entertainment services, with over 300 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, films and games across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can play, pause and resume watching as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, and can change their plans at any time.

We're looking for a Technical Director to take ownership of technology and engineering of one of our internal development teams, as it builds a wholly new and bespoke transmedia gaming experience natively on Netflix’s Cloud-Gaming platform.

This role is an integral part of the studio leadership group, alongside the Studio Director, Creative Director, and Art Director, with primary responsibilities to assemble and manage a world class team of engineering talent, to own and oversee the execution of the studio’s engineering, architecture, and technology, in order to realize the project’s vision. 

The right candidate will be able to draw from both a depth and breadth of technical expertise to hit the ground running in the short term, contribute hands-on, and win conviction in their direction. They will bring the necessary experience and aptitude to scale the team through pre-production into production, leverage internal and external resources, and deliver consistent excellence in quality and performance. Their proactive communication skills, outreach abilities, and relationship building will ensure that their team is integrated into the rest of Netflix’s platform technologies, and seen as a front runner for innovation.

We're building an ambitious team of developers who are obsessed with creating memorable games that leave players telling their own stories for years to come.  We’re looking for a leader who is aligned with our core values, and who cares deeply about the experiences they create as well as the people they make them with – those who bias towards action and are energized by the learning that comes with bold experimentation at an agile pace. As a part of Netflix, we strive to hire the best and value integrity, excellence, respect, inclusion, and collaboration. 

Now is an amazing time to join Netflix Game Studios as we seek to entertain our 300+ million paid members in an exciting new way. 

Responsibilities

• Oversee all technical aspects of the project, including managing the creation of technical designs, system architecture, documentation, and development processes, as well as assisting with roadmap planning and ensuring overall technical feasibility

• Hire, grow, and manage an internal team of world-class engineers, create and foster an environment focused on engineering excellence, and set the bar for exceptional development standards 

• Direct and lead the team to make technology and architecture decisions for the project that are sustainable, scalable, and performant during its prototype, production, and live ops stages of development

• Partner with other studio leadership counterparts to ensure the project is continually aligning with its stated product strategy, and when it diverges, take ownership to make the necessary change in course

• Be the champion for strategic alignment with and a key partner for the integration of Netflix game platform technologies

• Identify potential external codevelopment partners, and evaluate their technical acumen and readiness to ensure a smooth partnership with any team we end up partnering with

• Effectively act as a final backstop for all engineering-related issues that may arise

Requirements

• 10+ years experience developing and launching high-fidelity games

• Meaningful recent experience in Unreal Engine, covering architecture, gameplay systems, content pipelines, and artist workflows

• Familiarity with contemporary Web technologies and related frameworks (Javascript, React, etc), as well as backend architecture for any and all game service needs

• Experience supporting a live service game through development, delivery, and post-launch cadence is a plus

• Experience leading engineering teams across all tech-focused disciplines, as well as collaborating with non-engineering leadership on a regular basis

• An intuitive understanding of the ideal player experience, and the ability to empathize with and demonstrate support for players across a wide spectrum of behaviors 

• Exceptional communication, cross discipline collaboration, and leadership skills

• Self-motivated and willing to participate in all areas of engineering and product strategy

• Predisposed to curiosity, and excited to be learning new skills, dashing to pitch in, even if outside this role’s core responsibilities, if it can help us win

• Additional experience in: 

  • All aspects of game development, including systems, tools, processes, etc.

  • Gameplay & UI systems

  • Efficient & effective content pipelines, rendering systems

  • Game feature logic in different client/server models

  • Performance analysis and code optimization across platforms

  • Cloud-hosted environments (AWS, GCP, ..)

  • Build release management

  • Cross-platform (including Linux) development

  • Requirements engineering & technical design documentation

Location:

• Los Angeles Preferred

• Remote OK

Our compensation structure consists solely of an annual salary; we do not have bonuses. You choose each year how much of your compensation you want in salary versus stock options. To determine your personal top of market compensation, we rely on market indicators and consider your specific job family, background, skills, and experience to determine your compensation in the market range. The range for this role is $220,000 - $700,000.

Netflix provides comprehensive benefits including Health Plans, Mental Health support, a 401(k) Retirement Plan with employer match, Stock Option Program, Disability Programs, Health Savings and Flexible Spending Accounts, Family-forming benefits, and Life and Serious Injury Benefits. We also offer paid leave of absence programs.  Full-time hourly employees accrue 35 days annually for paid time off to be used for vacation, holidays, and sick paid time off. Full-time salaried employees are immediately entitled to flexible time off. See more detail about our Benefits here.

Inclusion is a Netflix value and we strive to host a meaningful interview experience for all candidates. If you want an accommodation/adjustment for a disability or any other reason during the hiring process, please send a request to your recruiting partner.

We are an equal-opportunity employer and celebrate diversity, recognizing that diversity builds stronger teams. We approach diversity and inclusion seriously and thoughtfully. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, ancestry, national origin, caste, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, age, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic makeup, marital status, or military service.

Job is open for no less than 7 days and will be removed when the position is filled.