Overview
As a Technical Director, you will lead the technical vision and strategy for one or more major projects, guiding the programming teams to deliver exceptional games. You will be both strategic and hands-on: setting technical direction, mentoring lead programmers, and stepping in to work directly on code or architecture when needed. You will also play a pivotal role in shaping new opportunities for the studio, collaborating with production and creative leadership to develop technical plans and presentations for client pitches. Additionally, you will work closely with other Technical Directors across Third Kind Games and other Virtuos studios to contribute to group-wide initiatives, knowledge sharing, and technical innovation. This is a senior leadership role reporting to the CTO, central to the growth and success of the studio. You will help shape and grow the programming team structure, ensuring the highest quality and production standards.
* Lead the technical direction and delivery of one or more projects, ensuring high quality, performance, and timely delivery.
* Manage and support a team of Lead Programmers, who oversee their respective project teams.
* Provide hands-on technical leadership, including architecture design, code reviews, prototyping critical systems, and resolving issues.
* Collaborate with clients and internal stakeholders to define project goals, assess risks, and provide technical solutions.
* Actively contribute to pitch processes, developing technical strategies and presenting them confidently to clients.
* Define and enforce programming best practices, workflows, tools, and pipelines across projects.
* Mentor and develop programming talent at all levels, fostering career growth and future leadership.
* Stay current with industry trends, emerging technologies, and new techniques, introducing innovative solutions into the studio.
* Collaborate with Technical Directors across Third Kind Games and other Virtuos studios to align standards and drive group-wide technical initiatives.
* Promote a culture of technical excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement.
* 5+ years in a senior technical leadership role (Technical Director, Lead Programmer, or similar) on AAA or large-scale projects.
* 10+ years of professional programming experience, multilingual across C++ and C#.
* Proven experience shipping games using both Unity and Unreal Engine, as well as bespoke C++ engines.
* Deep understanding of software architecture, design patterns, scalability, and performance optimisation.
* Expert in Perforce and Git/GitHub, including defining branch and release strategies.
* Solid understanding of CI/CD pipelines using TeamCity or similar.
* Strong experience leading and mentoring multi-disciplinary technical teams.
* Excellent communication skills, with the ability to engage technical and non-technical stakeholders.
* Experience shipping games on consoles, including PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and Switch.
* Comfortable presenting technical plans and ideas in client-facing situations.
* Strong organisational skills to manage multiple responsibilities and delegate effectively.
* Solid understanding of agile production methodologies and tools, including JIRA.
* An ability and desire to quickly learn and use any unfamiliar technologies that are used on our projects.
Nice-to-have / Skills and experience
* Interest or experience with generative AI technologies.
* Interest or experience with instilling good documentation standards using Confluence or similar.
* Interest or experience with test driven development practices.
* Experience with backend systems such as PlayFab, Nakama, or Accelbyte.
* Experience in Live Ops processes for live titles.
* Experience with additional programming languages, including Python, Typescript, PowerShell, and Lua.
* Experience with web technologies for tooling, including Node.JS, React, MongoDB, and Grafana.
About Third Kind Games
Third Kind Games - a Virtuos Studio, is a world-class co-development games studio. Third Kind Games was founded in 2016 by a team of nine former Activision veterans and became a Virtuos Studio in 2024. Our studio is based in Royal Leamington Spa and we also have remote studios in Poland and Spain. Our three studios have been built on the same original spirit and values since our beginning. We work with some of the biggest names in the games industry such as Blizzard, Amazon, Microsoft and Mythical Games. We are proud of our track record working on critically acclaimed games and franchises. We are setting new benchmarks for creativity in the games industry, driving technical expertise in programming alongside creative innovation. We are a diverse, collaborative, open-minded team that embraces ideas and knowledge from everyone, with the aim of developing and inspiring ourselves, our projects and our games. Work-life balance and flexibility are very important to us, and we offer a place where our team can be creative, imaginative, and confident. TKG recently received a GOLD Award in Mind Charity's Workplace Wellbeing Index, recognising our dedication to our team\'s mental health and wellbeing.
* Training Provided
* Regular team and company events
* Free drinks, fruit or food
* Flexible working
* Private Medical/Dental healthcare
* Annual Health Check
* Bonus/Reward Scheme
* Game Jams
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