Frostbite Engine - AI Systems Technical Director

Requisition Number: 158714

Position Title: Technical Director I

External Description:

We are EA

Electronic Arts Inc. is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. EA delivers games, content and online services for Internet-connected consoles, personal computers, mobile phones and tablets.

At EA, we exist to Inspire the World to Play. We create amazing experiences for our players everywhere and we consider our players’ experiences first in everything we do. Creating transformational experiences requires constant innovation and brilliant, passionate people. We are developing extraordinary new game experiences by bringing together great people that combine creativity, technology, and expertise to bring new ways to play. EA is driving the next revolution in games. Join us!

The Frostbite Engine

Frostbite is EA’s state-of-the-art, multi-platform game development engine, which empowers some of the most stunning games in the industry. We empower creators to shape the future of gaming and we achieve this by developing creative engine features and outstanding tools. Our accomplished team from across the globe is dedicated to building fresh technology and working closely with each other to ship amazing games.

We are looking for a technical leader for a team distributed in Frostbite Romania and the UK. You'll work as part of a experienced team, directly engaged with game teams around the globe to provide outstanding innovation and performance on PS4, Xbox One, PC, iPhone, iPad, Android and new platforms as they emerge. The role will enable you to grow your experience with a cutting-edge game engine, shape the future this engine, as well the opportunity to travel to other EA locations and work directly with game studios around the globe. 

The Role

The role is for a technical director for a diverse team of engineers. You will work closely with peers from game studios to help design, architect & implement AI systems for Frostbite. You will report to the engineering manager/director.

The role has expectations of technical leadership for gameplay AI technology and Machine Learning in the Frostbite engine, and driving processes and tools for improving productivity of engineers and quality and performance of the code. You will be intimately working with data-driven workflows, crowd systems, debugging tools, behavior trees, pathfinding, client-server networking, asynchronous gameplay systems, animation and machine learning technology.

You will work with game studios engineers from all over EA, Frostbite technical leaders and partnering closely with engineering management, program management and product management to ensure the successful planning and execution of the work.

The ideal candidate should be intimately familiar with general gameplay technologies, experience of going through complete lifecycles for game titles or game engine development and should have previous experience in setting technical direction for one or more teams.

The Technical Skills We’re Looking for:

• Fluency in the C++ language and various extensions such as STL
• Multithreaded programming and debugging experience
• Command of the OOP design patterns
• Proven experience of designing complex software systems
• Understanding of multi-platform portability challenges
• Exposure to complete lifecycles of video game titles or game engine releases
• Exposure to gameplay AI features such as pathfinding, navigation mesh generation, group tactics, planners, positioning, cover systems, behavior trees, crowds and NPC control
• A keen interest in Machine Learning and in the runtime deployment of trained models
• Experience in designing UI elements using the C# language and WPF framework is a plus

The Collaboration and Process Skills We’re Looking for:

• Experience working on large common code bases with contributions from multiple locations and teams
• Great collaboration abilities to be able to work with different individuals and teams, to report progress and contribute in technical and planning discussions.
• Passion for good workflows and well-architected software
• Passion for code testability, quality user and developer-level documentation
• Versed in review processes, in delivering and acting on review feedback for code, design and documentation
• The ability to adapt quickly and effectively to change (i.e. project, team, business-level)
• Proven ability of technical leadership and mentoring of more junior colleagues
• Partner management and customer interaction experience
• People management experience and having worked with direct reports is a plus
• Experience of Agile (Scrum) and of related software tools is a plus.

We Thought You Might Also Want to Know:

1. More about our location: https://www.ea.com/careers/careers-overview/bucharest
2. More about our Culture: http://careers.ea.com/why-work-here

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Community / Marketing Title: Frostbite Engine - AI Systems Technical Director

Company Profile:

We are a global team of creators, storytellers, technologists, experience originators, innovators and so much more. We believe amazing games and experiences start with teams as diverse as the players and communities we serve. At Electronic Arts, the only limit is your imagination.

EEOText:

About Electronic Arts

Everything we do is designed to inspire the world to play. Through our cutting-edge games, innovative services, and powerful technologies, we bring worlds with infinite possibilities to millions of players and fans around the globe.

We’re looking for collaborative and inclusive people with diverse perspectives who will enrich our culture and challenge us. We take a holistic approach with our benefits program, focusing on physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support our people through every chapter of life. We provide comprehensive benefit packages and support for a balanced life with paid time off and new parent leave, plus free games and so much more. Our goal is to provide a safe and respectful workplace that empowers you to thrive in both work and life.

Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.

Days Open: 113

Can this position be remote?:

EEO Employer Verbiage:

About Electronic Arts

Everything we do is designed to inspire the world to play. Through our cutting-edge games, innovative services, and powerful technologies, we bring worlds with infinite possibilities to millions of players and fans around the globe.

We’re looking for collaborative and inclusive people with diverse perspectives who will enrich our culture and challenge us. We take a holistic approach with our benefits program, focusing on physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support our people through every chapter of life. We provide comprehensive benefit packages and support for a balanced life with paid time off and new parent leave, plus free games and so much more. Our goal is to provide a safe and respectful workplace that empowers you to thrive in both work and life.

Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.