Technical Director Job

Job Title Technical Director Job
Job Category Programming
Skills Required Programming
Location Guildford
Job Description Job Category: Software Engineering: Development
Location: Guildford, GB
Job ID: 794007-80785
Division: Interactive Entertainment Business

Salary range: competitive plus bonus and excellent benefits
Location: Guildford
Technical Director - IEB - microsoft Studios - Lionhead (79400)

Role Purpose
Lionhead Studios is looking for a highly experienced Technical Director, responsible for the technical direction and management of game project architectures for a cutting edge, genre-defining new title. Reporting into the Engineering Director, the successful candidate will ensure that the most suitable infrastructure is in place, and that technical constraints are met within the project, whilst meeting the ambition and vision of the design department. This role is also responsible for the ongoing management and development of the Engineering Team.

Team/Department Mission
Are you a highly talented individual who enjoys a challenge and is brimming with drive and enthusiasm? Do you feel your skills and talents are waiting to find the right creative environment in which to thrive?

At Lionhead we strive to create successful, landmark games and to be one of the world’s most respected developers. To that end we are continually looking for bright, talented individuals to join our team. We are well aware that new emp2loyees and fresh ideas keep us the dynamic and creative Studio that we are!

Key Accountabilities:

Contribution to and evaluation of architectural plans for the project. Final architectural decision making.
Regular review of technical deliverables at all stages of the development process.
Continual technical due diligence and communication with production and design to ensure the project’s design goals are met and remain within technical budgets and constraints.
Planning and review of performance and profiling systems, automated testing methods and technical testing regime across all technical departments.
Work in conjunction with senior studio technology leadership to evaluate middleware solutions.
Work in conjunction with production, studio IT and technology leadership to ensure the team has appropriate development resources, both hardware and software.
Provide ongoing technical risk analysis for the project to production and senior management.
Work with department leads to ensure department goals are clearly identified and met, including core systems, online systems, tools and pipelines, build processes, server infrastructure and game systems.
Work with department leads and studio technology leadership to ensure that agreed upon engineering standards are in place and being followed.
Work with production to encourage the adoption of and participate in the use of Agile development methodologies.
Identification of required engineering staff both internally and through recruitment of engineering team members.
Line Management of engineering department leads.
Annual reviews of performance of direct reports and contribution to engineering team evaluations.
Identification of team training needs.

Key Success Criteria:
Project technical risks are accounted for and communicated to production and senior management.
Project technical architecture in place and followed by all technical staff.
Suitable middleware solutions in place to meet project needs.
Project meets all technical platform requirements and remains within clearly identified technical budgets and meets performance criteria.
Project infrastructure in place to ensure development can proceed smoothly.
All technical departments have clear, attainable goals throughout the project.
Engineering team in place to meet project needs.

Necessary Experience
Extensive and proven game programming experience on multiple AAA projects.
Demonstrated experience in a technical Senior, Lead, or Management position.
A history of developing software architecture, and a history of shipping commercially successful products
Experience with a variety of 3rd party middleware applications
Demonstrated expertise in the creating of best software practices
Demonstrated ability to solve complex code problems efficiently
Demonstrated experience in building new software technology
Knowledge of Unreal Engine
Proven track record of success as it relates to the full lifecycle of product development, launch and revenue success
Experience of Agile methods and Scrum.
Solid track-record of managing and leading an engineering team

Knowledge and Skills
Demonstrated competency in several of the following specialties, with an expertise in more than one: tools and pipelines, server infrastructure, physics, 3D graphics/rendering, game logic, AI, networking, GUI, optimization techniques, software development methods
Demonstrated knowledge of several of the following genres, with specific programming experience of at least one - MMORPGs, Multiplayer Games, RPGs
Demonstrated knowledge of any of the following platforms - Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC or browser based games.
A demonstrated command of applicable programming languages (C++, C#, Python etc.) and a thorough knowledge of software design practices including modularity documentation, event-driven architecture, object-oriented design, graphics and animation techniques, interface design practices, portability, extensibility and testability

Personal Attributes Interpersonal Skills
Self-starter, analytical, creative, highly motivated and with a visionary spirit
Strong skills in terms of identifying and communicating goals and risks to management
A Team player with strong influencing skills
Strong team leadership and mentoring skills.
Ability to align to existing franchises
Authoritative and confident attitude on Technical direction
Ability to build trust quickly within an open team structure

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer and supports workforce diversity.

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Salary competitive plus bonus and excellent benefits
Date posted 20/11/2012
Recruiter This job is advertised on behalf of Microsoft Studios (UK) using their internal reference 794007-80785.
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