Lead Software Engineer - Core Tech

Studio Overview

We are Sports Interactive 🎮

The studio behind: ⚽ Football Manager.

Founded in 1994, Sports Interactive 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.

Working Model: Hybrid 2-3 days per week in Studio | Remote by exception

Location: Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, E15 2GW

Position Overview

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Lead Software Engineer to join our Core Tech team in the Studio Technology Group. You bring extensive expertise in modern C++ and building robust shared libraries that can be used across multiple products and platforms, with a strong ability to define technical direction and guide others in architecting and implementing efficient, maintainable systems.

This role involves leading the architecture and hands-on implementation of scalable and reusable foundations (core technology and tools) primarily in C++, designed so teams across the studio can adopt them easily and build on them with confidence.

You will collaborate closely with other engineering teams, design, production, QA, and other stakeholders in the studio to align on priorities, remove blockers, and deliver high-quality user experiences on multiple platforms including desktop, console, and mobile.

Although modern C++ is the primary focus of the role, solid working familiarity with Unity and C# is also required.

Your contributions will directly shape the technical foundations and developer experience that enable teams across the studio to build intuitive, performant, and engaging Football Manager experiences, improving the player-facing experience for our global audience.

We expect our lead engineers to take ownership of both delivery and team outcomes, continuously improving standards, processes, and technical quality. You will manage the team and lead by example, mentor and coach engineers, and support their professional development and promote best practices across the team.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, implementation, and maintenance of scalable, reusable C++ libraries and tooling that support game teams across the studio.

• Provide technical leadership for our shared technology foundations (e.g., core runtime systems, platform abstractions, data/serialisation layers, build/integration tooling, and developer workflows), and define standards, patterns, and best practices.

• Own planning and coordination for the team’s work: scope, break down initiatives, assign and monitor delivery, and proactively manage risks and dependencies.

• Manage and support engineers on the team, including regular 1:1s, technical reviews, and progression, and foster a positive growth culture.

• Be a point of contact for shared runtime and tooling engineering across the studio, collaborating with other engineering teams, Design, Production, QA, and other disciplines to align on solutions and priorities.

• Drive code quality and technical excellence through reviews, architecture discussions, documentation, and continuous improvement of workflows and pipelines.

• Investigate and resolve complex technical issues, including performance bottlenecks, stability problems, and cross-platform challenges.

• Champion profiling, optimisation, and appropriate use of tooling (profilers, static analysis, crash/telemetry investigation) to improve performance and reliability.

• Support hiring and onboarding for the team, including participating in interviews and helping to continuously improve team practices.

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

• Extensive professional experience in software engineering in video games using C++, having shipped multiple titles across multiple platforms.

• Expert modern C++ knowledge, including performance considerations (memory, allocation patterns, concurrency, data-oriented design where appropriate).

• Strong technical capability building and maintaining shared codebases/libraries (including clear API design, versioning, and backward compatibility) used by multiple teams.

• Good experience improving developer workflows (build systems, CI, diagnostics, and tooling) for large multi-team codebases.

• Consistently deliver a high bar for code quality, producing clean, maintainable, portable, performant, and well-documented code.

• Proven ability to design and evolve architecture for complex systems, balancing scalability, iteration speed, stability, and cross-team usability.

• Strong experience with profiling and optimisation, and a pragmatic approach to diagnosing and fixing performance and stability issues.

• Demonstrated experience leading engineers through coaching and mentoring; line management experience is beneficial (or clear readiness to step into people leadership).

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a proactive approach to technical challenges.

• Excellent communication skills, able to explain technical concepts clearly and adapt communication to different audiences (engineering and non-engineering).

• Experience contributing to planning (estimation, risk management, dependency management) and collaborating with producers and product stakeholders to deliver against priorities.

• Cross-platform development experience on two or more platforms (desktop, console, and/or mobile).

• Solid working familiarity with Unity and C# is required to collaborate effectively with other teams.

• Knowledge of Football Manager is beneficial; interest in football is a plus.

 Benefits of Working at Sports Interactive:

• Private Healthcare and Dental Plans.

• A range of Gym Membership options through our Benefits partners.

• Travel Insurance for yourself and your family.

• Subsidised mental health, therapy, and coaching sessions are available.

• Access to our on-site physical and massage therapist services.

• Free access to games released under the SEGA Europe umbrella.

• Contributory Pension Scheme (up to 7% of annual salary).

• Regular events in collaboration with our partnered football clubs.

• Free onsite evening bar in our London HQ.

• A well-stocked breakfast bar with cereals, fruits, teas, and coffees.

• Multiple clubs and societies to join e.g., book club and art workshops.

• Your club’s shirt personalised upon passing probation.

• Trophies & gift cards for length of service milestones.

• Cupcakes delivered on your birthday.

What is it like to work here?

We approach everything with passion, whether that is making our mark on the 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. All our roles require a level of Studio attendance to help us collaborate effectively and stay connected as a team. Collaboration is the key to constantly topping our best. Everyone's contribution counts, no matter which part of the business you are in. 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 ambitious 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.

We’re also a London Living Wage employer and boast one of the lowest staff turnover rates in the industry.

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: Teamwork wins titles - Here, ideas belong to everyone, whatever department you’re part of. Collaboration lets us score more as a team than we could individually.

• Be flexible: We think fast and adapt faster. The football and entertainment worlds never stand still, so we keep progressing and switching things up to stay ahead.

• Stay Tenacious: We don’t overlook the details. Everything we do is about producing the best game possible, in other words, never settle.

• Show Ambition: Let your drive lead the way - Your individual outlook can give everyone the edge. Make the studio’s purpose personal and let your drive lead the way.

• Bring the Passion: Have fun doing your thing - Don’t be fooled, what we do is not a game. Making our players’ passion come to life is our passion.

• Consider the Bigger Picture: Keep things in perspective - We want our impact to be a positive one. From built-in work/life balance to initiatives covering the most important topics of today, we have what matters in focus.