Software Developer jobs in Derby

As our Gameplay Engineer at BULKHEAD, you will bring your expertise in Unreal Engine to help build and evolve our early access game, WARDOGS. You will be working closely and collaborating with Engineers, Designers, and Artists playing a pivotal role in bringing our game to life.

As a key player on the programming team, you will have the opportunity to tackle complex, technical challenges, supporting the ownership of critical systems, continuously pushing your programming skills to the next level. We are looking for programmers who enjoy making these features operate seamlessly, while meeting high standards for efficiency and stability. Your work will directly shape what players can do, how the game feels, and the moments that players share together.

This is a hands-on C++ role with room to contribute ideas, take ownership and develop expertise. Depending on your strengths, you could work on weapons and combat, character movement, vehicles, interactions, inventory or objectives.

What you’ll do:

• Build gameplay mechanics in C++ using Unreal Engine’s gameplay framework, event system and built-in tools such as AI perception, physics and animation blueprints.

• Design small, self-contained systems that run well on their own, with reuse and modularity in mind so they can scale.

• Add reliable replication to core gameplay mechanics, keeping an eye on bandwidth and latency so multiplayer feels smooth.

• Debug and fix complex issues on your own, finding the root cause and putting in long-term fixes rather than quick patches.

• Write efficient, readable code that balances functionality with performance.

• Profile and analyse your code, then make targeted optimisations that improve performance without adding side effects or hurting stability.

• Work with other programmers to bring systems together across different areas of the codebase, asking for help when you need it so the code stays clean and well structured.

• Explain your technical choices clearly to other programmers, and stay professional and open-minded when people disagree or suggest something else.

• Talk through technical problems with designers, artists and production, taking their expertise into account and asking good questions that help the team solve problems.

• Help with general development tasks when needed, and adapt to changing priorities while protecting the stability and quality of the project.

What we're looking for

• 2+ years professional experience working in game development

• A bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field

• Experience with Unreal Engine 4/5 for game development, with a strong understanding of its core systems

• An understanding of the importance of efficient networking in multiplayer game development

• A strong grasp of C++, software design, programming and debugging

• A strong grasp of 3D maths for games

• A desire to craft multiplayer games

• Familiarity with multiplayer game programming

• The ability to communicate with a multidisciplinary team

• A strong desire to overcome difficult hurdles

• A methodical mind and the ability to think outside the box

• Strong problem-solving skills

• Clear communication and the ability to articulate systems and ideas effectively

• An understanding of gameplay systems and architecture

• Experience programming multiplayer games in Unreal Engine 4/5

• Experience writing game code

• An understanding of game design

Desirable

• Experience developing for Unreal Engine on Xbox or PlayStation

• Experience working with frontier Unreal systems like Network Prediction, Iris, Mover etc

• Experience working on networked first-person shooter games