Senior Software Engineer (Match AI & Simulation)

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.

Job Title: Senior Software Engineer (Match AI & Simulation)        
Team: Match
Reporting into: Lead Software Engineer (Match AI)
Working Model: Hybrid 2-3 days | Remote by exception
Location: Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, E15 2GW

Position Overview 

We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer (Match AI & Simulation) to join our London-based studio to enhance our match simulation and help us take our football match engine to the next level. The match engine team is responsible for the technological advancements of our state-of-the-art in-house engine which simulates football matches.
You will join a passionate and flourishing team who care deeply about the authenticity and depth of the match simulation in our games. As part of this team, you will be working on the game AI and core systems that drive our match simulation, which is used across multiple projects and products. This covers everything from the AI that controls the agents on the pitch, their decision-making, positioning, and tactical behaviours through to the rules of the simulation, pathing, collisions, and game state management.
Your primary focus will be on improving the architecture and performance of the match simulation, with particular emphasis on the game AI systems that drive agent behaviour. You will refactor existing systems from flat, tightly coupled structures into modern, maintainable paradigms such as behaviour trees, finite state machines, and utility-based systems. You will also build and maintain our in-house debugging and visualisation tools to ensure designers and engineers can rapidly iterate on and understand AI-driven agent behaviour.
You will collaborate closely with designers, QA, producers, and other engineering teams in a studio where football expertise runs, giving you rich, authentic context to draw on as you build the systems that power the simulation. You will have full input into the team specifically as well as the studio generally, with the opportunity to voice your ideas and suggestions.
Our match simulation is shared across multiple products and is a critical part of the games we make, and you will consider challenges involving the match experience across several platforms, including on mobile devices.
We are looking for self-motivated, proactive people with good communication skills who can complete work independently as well as part of a team, and who actively seek out opportunities to improve systems and drive change rather than waiting for direction. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Develop, extend, improve, and maintain our match simulation codebase, workflows, and tools.

• Design and implement game AI systems for match agents, including decision-making, positioning, rules enforcement, and tactical behaviours, using techniques such as behaviour trees, finite state machines, utility-based systems, and other classical video-game AI approaches.

• Refactor and modernise AI-driven agent decision-making systems, moving from flat, monolithic class structures into modern, maintainable game AI architectures.

• Build and maintain debugging and visualisation tools using our in-house ImGUI-based tooling to support rapid iteration and clear understanding of agent AI behaviour.

• Collaborate with other disciplines, including designers, QA, producers, and other engineering teams, on both development and future planning.

• Work closely with seniors/leads and production to drive new features and set the long-term roadmap.

• Help research and implement new simulation technologies, game AI techniques, and architectural patterns as needed.

• Consider cross-platform and performance requirements, including the need for deterministic simulation across platforms.

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience 

• Keen interest and understanding in Football. Football Manager fan a bonus.

• Strong knowledge of C++, design patterns and software engineering.

• Minimum five years of professional experience using C++ as the main language.

• Professional experience designing and developing game AI systems and simulation paradigms within the games industry, including hands-on work with behaviour trees, finite state machines, utility-based systems, or similar classical video-game AI techniques.

• Strong mathematical, analytical, and problem-solving skills.

• Good communication skills for effective collaboration with software engineers, designers, QA, and production staff.

• Self-motivated and proactive with a drive to improve yourself, seize ownership, and push systems forward rather than waiting for direction.

• Experience with C# and Unity is beneficial.

• Experience with, or strong appreciation for, deterministic simulation systems are highly desirable.

• Familiarity with Python and/or ImGUI 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.