Lead Software Development Engineer (Arena)

At Wizards of the Coast, we connect people around the world through play and imagination. From our genre-defining games like Magic: The Gathering® and Dungeons & Dragons® to our growing multiverse, we continue to innovate and build new ways to foster friendship and connection. That’s where you come in!

Are you a veteran software engineer with experience developing and supporting a live game service?

Wizards is looking for a hard-working and passionate Lead Software Development Engineer to help us implement game mechanics and game-flow features for Magic Arena. This role will mentor and lead engineers that collaborate frequently with designers, front-end developers, and backend services to deliver a fast and engaging digital experience with all the strategy of authentic Magic.

With a technical background and proven game development experience, this Lead Engineer will also apply their expert knowledge to provide technical insight and guidance to the team. They will work with many other disciplines and development teams to ensure the highest levels of engineering excellence.

• Directly lead, guide and supervise a team of software engineers while chipping in from time to time as an individual contributor.
• Design and implement solutions in alignment with architectural designs, best engineering standards, and production needs.
• Understand the arcane interactions of a tenured game system with an ever-growing number of unique cards, and deconstruct them and their interactions into well-defined implementation tasks.
• Empower the team to implement game rules mechanics, build on our natural language parser to bring cards to life in Arena, and proactively shape the long-term technical direction of these systems.
• Consult with other departments to build technical requirements for exciting new features, implement them at the highest quality and at a regular cadence.

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or equivalent experience in professional software development.
• 6+ years of total professional working experience.
• Experience leading and mentoring effective teams.
• Strong coding, debugging and problem-solving skills and the ability to write readable, maintainable code.
• Strong communication and teamwork with diverse groups of people in various roles.
• Proficient with multiple programming languages. C#, C++, Java, or similar.
• A passion for digital card games and Magic: The Gathering.

The above is intended to describe the general content of and the requirements for satisfactory performance in this position. It is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of the duties, responsibilities, or requirements of the position.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. If you are selected to move forward in our application process and need to request an accommodation, please let your recruiter or coordinator know.