Senior Software Engineer (Graphics)
Job Summary
Job Description
Sports Interactive seeks a Senior Software Engineer (Graphics) to enhance Football Manager's visuals and performance. Responsibilities include implementing and maintaining rendering features (character rendering, lighting, post-processing, materials), developing and optimizing shaders in Unity, profiling and optimizing rendering performance, building tools for artists, implementing automated tests, debugging rendering issues, and collaborating with artists and engineers. Experience with Unity (URP, shaders, HLSL, Shader Graph), C#, GPU architectures, 3D math, real-time lighting, and PBR is essential. The role involves working across multiple platforms and optimizing for performance.
Must have:
- Extensive C# experience
- Unity game shipping experience (multiple platforms)
- Unity URP & Shader Graph proficiency
- HLSL shader optimization
- GPU architecture understanding
- 3D math & PBR knowledge
- Rendering performance optimization
Good to have:
- GI solutions for procedural scenes
- HDRP experience
- C++ native plugin development
- iOS/Android/Switch development
- DirectX/Metal/Vulkan experience
Perks:
- Flexible working policy
- Subsidized mental health support
- Contributory pension scheme
- On-site bar and breakfast bar
- Regular events
- On-site physical and massage therapy
- Clubs and societies
- Free SEGA games
- Gym membership options
- Healthcare and dental plans
- Free travel insurance
- Personalized football shirt
15 skills required
Job Details
Description
Job Title: Senior Software Engineer
Team: Graphics
Location: SI HQ, Here East, London / Remote
Reporting to: Lead Software Engineer (Graphics)
We are Sports Interactive 🎮
The gaming studio behind: ⚽ Football Manager.
Founded in 1994, Sports Interactive (‘SI’) became a wholly owned subsidiary of SEGA Europe in 2006. Based at the Here East technology hub in Stratford, East London, the SI team continues to expand as we bring our titles to an ever-growing audience across an increasing variety of platforms.
To support our growth, we welcome the opportunity to connect with passionate people with the drive to match our ambitions and initiative to realise your individual potential.
Position Overview
Continually improving the visual quality and performance of Football Manager is one of our main goals, and we are looking for an experienced, passionate graphics software engineer to join our team.
In this role you will collaborate with peers in the Graphics Team as well as work closely with the Art Department to implement features across all the platforms and devices we support.
We are using Unity as our game engine, so experience in this technology is critical for the role.
Key Responsibilities
- Implement and maintain rendering features, including character rendering, lighting, post-processing, and materials.
- Develop and optimize shaders and rendering code in Unity for multiple platforms.
- Profile and optimize rendering performance and memory usage across target platforms.
- Build and maintain tools to improve artist workflows.
- Implement automated tests and asset validation tools.
- Debug rendering issues and ensure visual fidelity within performance constraints.
- Collaborate with artists and engineers to create scalable, high-quality rendering solutions.
Knowledge, Skills, and Experience
Essential:
- Extensive professional experience using C# as the main language.
- Significant experience as a graphics software engineer, having shipped at least one game using Unity on multiple platforms.
- Strong knowledge of Unity URP, including customization via Render Graph and SRP.
- Proficiency in HLSL and Shader Graph, with experience writing optimized shaders for multiple platforms.
- Solid understanding of GPU architectures, rendering techniques, and graphics performance optimization.
- Experience profiling and debugging rendering issues using tools like RenderDoc, Unity Profiler, PIX, or NSight.
- Deep understanding of 3D math, including linear algebra and transformations.
- Understanding of real-time lighting, shadows, and physically based rendering (PBR).
- Strong software engineering skills, including clean code architecture and performance-focused development.
- Experience with asset pipelines, understanding how assets move from DCC tools to Unity.
- Excellent communication skills, able to collaborate with both engineers and artists effectively.
Desirable:
- Experience with GI solutions for procedurally generated scenes.
- Knowledge of HDRP and ability to work across multiple rendering pipelines.
- Experience with testing methodologies in C# and Unity.
- Experience developing C++ native plugins for Unity.
- Experience of developing for iOS, Android, Switch.
- Familiarity with low-level graphics APIs such as DirectX 11/12, Metal, or Vulkan.
Benefits of Working at Sports Interactive:
- A flexible working policy to best suit you and your team. 🏠
- Subsidised mental health, therapy and coaching sessions are available. 😌
- Contributory Pension Scheme (up to 7% of annual salary). 🏦
- Free onsite evening bar in the Sports Interactive London HQ. 🍹
- A well-stocked breakfast bar with cereals, fruits, teas, and coffees. 🥣
- Regular events in collaboration with our partnered football clubs. 🏟️
- Access to our on-site physical and massage therapist services. 💆
- Multiple clubs and societies to join e.g., book club and art workshops. 🫶
- Free access to games released under the SEGA Europe umbrella. 🕹️
- A range of Gym Membership options through our Benefits partners. 🏋️
- Fully Subsidised Healthcare and Dental Plans. 🦷
- Free Travel Insurance for yourself and your family. ✈️
- A personalized football shirt upon passing probation. 👕
What is it like to work here?
We approach everything with passion, whether that is making our mark on the gaming and football industries or doing our bit for the world around us. We want to share that outlook with everyone who shows up to work here each day.
For us, talent wins games, but teamwork wins titles. Collaboration is the key to constantly topping our best. We believe everyone matters, no matter which part of the business you are in, so we encourage and support our people in driving your own growth and realising your full potential. But, more than anything else, we are a team. A team with a down-to-earth dynamic, that has a lot of fun doing what we do.
And whether that’s technical tweaks or fine-tuning our creative process, everything is geared at producing the best game possible for our players. To do that, we need to be tenacious and move quickly, and not be afraid of switching things up. It is these principles that have enabled us to produce a game that has defined year after year, and that will continue to push us for many more to come.
Our flexible working culture gives you the opportunity to optimise your workload, with in-office, hybrid, and remote working options dependent on role. So, if you want a work/life balance, we are behind you. Because while we live to create extraordinary games, we know that is not all you have got going on. You can trust that we always keep things in perspective, fostering an environment where work can be more than just a job.
We’re also a London Living Wage employer, boast one of the lowest staff turnover rates in the industry and are proud to have won the ‘Best Places to Work’ award by Gamesindustry.biz in their Environmental category in 2022.
We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from any relevant candidate irrespective of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion, or belief.
SI is proudly a Disability Confident Committed employer, and we are dedicated to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible. Our studio has disabled access and facilities but please ensure you advise us if you require any other reasonable adjustments to be made to support you during the recruitment process.
Our Values:
· Keep collaborating: We know that talent wins games, but teamwork wins titles. We encourage a level playing field, where no matter the department, title or niche, ideas belong to everyone. And because we have each other's backs, no-one needs to look over their shoulder. It's what brings us success, without the stuffiness.
· Be agile: The football world never stands still and neither does the entertainment industry. We have to stay ahead as the beautiful game changes and keeps innovating. We can't be afraid to switch things up. To pitch 'out-there' thinking and put ourselves out there. Think fast and adapt faster.
· Stay Tenacious: We don't overlook the details. Think dog. Think bone. Whether it's technical tweaks or fine-tuning our creative process, everything we do is about producing the best game possible. In other words, never settle. It took tenacious spirits to create a game that defined decade after decade. It'll take tenacious people to push us for decades to come.
· Show Ambition: We're not lone wolves, we know a pack mentality makes magic happen. But it doesn’t hurt to let your own drive lead the way. That energy is infectious... show up and share it with your team. Make the studio's purpose personal. Your individual outlook can give everyone the edge.
· Bring the Passion: Don't be fooled, what we do is not a game. We have the power to make our players' passion come to life and make their lives better. And with great power comes great... you guessed it. We take that responsibility seriously, even if we have fun doing it. We want people to love our games, so we need to feel the passion too.
· Consider the Bigger Picture: There's more at play than just selling games. We want our impact to be a positive one. From the flexibility that brings our team members a better work/life balance, to initiatives that make our studio kind to the planet whilst fighting against discrimination and trying to help make the world a better place, we keep things in perspective. And we give a damn about giving back. It makes our wins mean even more when we pay it forward.
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About The Company
Sports Interactive is a video game developer owned by SEGA, responsible for the well-loved Football Manager series.
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