Aardvark Swift is supporting a leading UK studio in their search for a Lead Programmer to join their growing Engineering team.

As a Lead Programmer, you will play a critical role within the Engineering team, serving as the programming lead and point of contact for internal teams and external clients. You'll ensure high coding standards are the norm and guide the career development of Programmers within the team. You will also be hands-on in the planning and execution of development projects for high-profile AAA games.

This award-winning studio is at the forefront of technology and creativity, co-developing with AAA clients around the world, recently they've worked on a variety of exciting projects that have been hugely successful, thanks in part to the efforts of this studio, and they're showing no signs of changing course with the studio working on multiple projects.

You'll be joining a talented team who offer a professional, fun, and supportive working environment. They pride themselves on an inclusive culture, a mentoring ethos, and are known by devs to be one of the best studios to work at in the UK industry.

Your responsibilities...

• Lead and direct a team of Engineers to achieve their goals

• Line manage Engineers, helping them reach their full potential

• Exhibit strong leadership qualities such as motivation, positivity, and active listening

• Foster high standards in communication, collaboration, and coding

• Collaborate with international clients as well as internal teams, including artists, designers, and production

• Oversee technical planning and task delegation

• Work on a variety of programming specialisms, including gameplay, core technology, porting, and low-level architecture across multiple platforms

• Stay current with industry trends and best practices

The skills and experience you'll bring to the role...

• 7 or more years programming experience in games

• Expertise in multiple programming languages, including C++

• Proven experience in leading and managing engineering teams

• Able to work independently, flexibly, and proactively

• Strong understanding of low-level systems such as physics, networking, and memory

• Familiarity with game engines, IDEs, source control, and build infrastructure

• Commitment to continual learning and development

• An effective communicator

Desirable but not essential...

• Experience working with shipped games

• Expertise in porting games

• Tools development

• Rendering experience

• Build and infrastructure knowledge

• Low-level console development

Perks and benefits include...

• 25 days annual leave increasing with service, plus public holidays

• Company pension scheme

• Flexible working hours

• Private medical, dental and eye care

• Employee share scheme

• Anti-crunch ethos with a supportive and fun working environment

• Income protection and life assurance

• Annual bonus

• Regular team events and activities