Division Principal Game Programmer (Unreal Engine, AI)

Job Description

WHAT YOU WILL BE WORKING ON​

What you will focus on

This role exists because reactive execution is no longer enough. The OTT programming division needs a technical authority who can shift the team's positioning from "a team that delivers what it is asked to build" to "a technical partners that other studios actively seek out because of the value it brings to a game's success." That shift requires someone who can set a long-term technical vision, build scalable production ecosystems across mobile, PC, and console, and drive focused R&D including applied AI in game development, while simultaneously ensuring flawless deliveries across multiple live and co-development projects.

The real challenge is dual: you are building toward the future while keeping current production healthy. You will need to anticipate what partner studios will need before they ask, identify and close skill gaps across a team of around 35 to 40 programmers, and establish the kind of technical standards that make this studio a reference point across the organization, not just a capable executor.

What it means on a daily basis​

• Monitor the technical health of multiple concurrent projects, working closely with technical leads to surface risks early, prevent bottlenecks, and keep deliveries on track across live service and co-development titles.
• Define and enforce studio-wide coding standards, architectural patterns, and engineering workflows, and drive their adoption across programming teams.
• Lead high-impact R&D initiatives, with particular focus on AI applied to game development, and ensure successful integration of outcomes into production pipelines through documentation, prototypes, and structured handoffs.
• Provide hands-on technical guidance and mentoring to senior programmers, leads, and high-potential contributors, conducting periodic competency assessments and building clear development paths toward future technical experts.
• Act as the primary technical counterpart for co-development partner studios, aligning on architecture, tooling, style guides, and Unreal toolchain standardization across shared pipelines.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Game Design, Art, and Production to improve how programming integrates with other disciplines and contributes to overall product quality.
• Strategic resource planning and project allocation in partnership with the Studio Technical Director.

What success will look like​

Within your first year, you will have made a visible and assessable impact on at least one co-development project or on a strategic technical mission defined in alignment with the studio's long-term vision. That impact will be confirmed through calibration with multiple stakeholders across the organization, not through self-assessment alone.

Who you would be working with​

You will report to the Studio Technical Director and operate across a programming department of around 35 to 40 people, spanning multiple seniority levels and allocated to live service and co-development projects on mobile, PC, and console platforms. Internally, your key collaborators include department heads and team leads across Game Design, Art, and Production, as well as Studio Directors and the Studio Manager. Externally, you will work directly with Technical Managers and Technical Directors from co-development partner studios.

Your recruitment journey

1. Screen Call with a Recruiter (up to 30 minutes)
2. First Interview with the Studio Technical Director and Division Principal/Manager (up to 90 minutes)
3. Second Interview with Studio Manager and HR Director (up to 60 minutes)
4. Final interview with a Technical Director from a sister studio (up to 60 minutes)

Where this role can take you

If the opportunity arises and the qualifications are in place, this position is a direct pathway to the Studio Technical Director role. That outcome is not guaranteed, but it is a realistic evolution for the right person.

Qualifications

WHAT YOU NEED TO SUCCEED​

• Proven hands-on expertise in game development across multiple genres and platforms, including both mobile and PC/console, with deep command of Unreal Engine 5 at an architectural level.
• Demonstrated ability to design and lead large-scale technical systems, covering areas such as 3D rendering, AI gameplay systems, online and network scalability, and cloud infrastructure, with proficiency in C++ and at least one additional language such as C# or Python.
• Practical experience deploying AI and LLM-based tools in a production context, including hands-on use of AI coding assistants integrated into active development pipelines.
• A track record of leading R&D initiatives from exploration through to production integration, including delivering whitepapers, technical specifications, or mature prototypes that shaped how a team ships games.
• Demonstrated leadership of multi-disciplinary programming teams, including identifying skill gaps, building development plans for technical contributors, and raising the collective output quality of a department rather than just individual projects.
• The ability to communicate technical direction clearly to senior leadership, partner studio counterparts, and non-technical collaborators, and to influence decisions at a strategic level while maintaining alignment across stakeholders.
• You are comfortable working in English as your primary professional language, including writing technical documentation, leading meetings, and collaborating with international partners and stakeholders.

WHO YOU ARE

• You think in systems and timelines. When a production problem lands on your desk, you resolve it without losing sight of the architectural implications and the upstream conditions that caused it.
• You set direction rather than wait for it. You anticipate what teams and partners will need technically before they articulate the ask, and you build toward that proactively.
• You lead by raising the floor. Developing technical talent, closing skill gaps, and creating conditions where senior programmers grow into future experts matters as much to you as the quality of your own technical output.
• You hold your ground in complex stakeholder environments. Whether aligning with partner studio leadership, pushing back on a technical shortcut, or navigating competing priorities, you communicate with clarity and bring people with you rather than around you.
• You are hands-on by choice, not obligation. You engage directly with the most complex and strategic technical challenges because you know that credibility in this role is built in the work, not only in the meeting room.
• You balance technical rigor with product thinking. You understand that code quality, security, performance, and compliance are not constraints on creativity; they are the conditions that make it sustainable.
• You remain steady when conditions shift. Reorganizations, new co-development mandates, and changing production priorities do not destabilize your approach; they sharpen it.

Additional Information

WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU

Benefits

• A hybrid working model with 2 days working from home every week.
• A range of well-being events and policies to support employees physically, mentally, and emotionally.
• Various training packages, including internal training, training sponsorship, and e-learning platforms (iLearn, Udemy, O'Reilly,...).
• Opportunities to collaborate and train with Gameloft worldwide experts and develop yourself.
• An attractive monthly salary alongside Tet and other performance bonuses.
• Minimum 12 days of paid annual leave, plus 5 days of paid sick leave, Christmas leave, Birthday leave, CSR leave,...
• 100% coverage of mandatory insurance plus private healthcare insurance.
• A monthly allowance to support lunch meals and working-from-home electricity and Internet bills.
• Relocation supprt for international candidates joining from overseas.

Life at Gameloft

• A collaborative workplace environment, with over 15+ nationalities, where hundreds of world-renowned game titles were born.
• An open-space office, a canteen, a billiard table, a ping-pong table, and a foosball table.
• A gaming room equipped with mutiple devices (PS, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, arcade machine,...).
• A capable and encouraging team of professionals focused on creating compelling video games.
• A global company where you can meet great people around the world.
• A fun place to work in the heart of the city.

How to proceed

Ready to level up your career? Apply now and help us create the next great game!

Please note:

To ensure a fair and compliant recruitment process under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), please submit your application through the official job posting, preferably via Gameloft website, Gameloft or Gameloft Vietnam LinkedIn pages, or SmartRecruiters. Applications sent via email or LinkedIn messages will not be considered.

Due to the high volume of applications, only candidates whose profiles most closely match the role needs will be contacted by our recruiters. We sincerely appreciate your understanding and interest.

What's more?

Want to know more? Visit our websites:

• Saigon Studio website
• LinkedIn page
• Facebook page

Check out some projects at Saigon Studio:

• Dungeons & Dragons®
• Asphalt 8 - Coin Rush Trailer
• Asphalt Legends Unite - Launch Trailer
• Applaydu Season 6
• Bluey's Happy Snaps