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 Graphics Engineer (Speculative Application)

Team: Graphics

Reporting into: Lead Software Engineer (Graphics)

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

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

Position Overview 

Continually improving the visual quality and performance of Football Manager is one of our main goals, and we are looking for an experienced, passionate graphics software engineer to join our team. 

In this role you will collaborate with peers in the Graphics Team as well as work closely with the Art Department to implement features across all the platforms and devices we support. 

We use Unity as our game engine. Direct Unity experience is a plus, but we're equally interested in strong graphics engineers from other engines (Unreal, in-house, or console SDKs) who can ramp up on it.

Key Responsibilities 

Implement and maintain rendering features, including character rendering, lighting, post-processing, and materials. 
Develop and optimize shaders and rendering code in Unity for multiple platforms. 
Profile and optimize rendering performance and memory usage across target platforms. 
Build and maintain tools to improve artist workflows. 
Implement automated tests and asset validation tools. 
Debug rendering issues and ensure visual fidelity within performance constraints. 
Collaborate with artists and engineers to create scalable, high-quality rendering solutions.

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience 

Essential: 

Extensive professional experience in C#. We'll also consider strong C++ candidates with deep HLSL and shader-optimization expertise who can ramp onto our C# codebase.
Significant experience as a graphics software engineer, having shipped at least one game on multiple platforms. 
Strong knowledge of modern scriptable/custom render pipelines and render-graph architectures (Unity URP/SRP, Unreal's renderer, or equivalent).
Proficiency in HLSL with experience writing optimized shaders for multiple platforms. 
Solid understanding of GPU architectures, rendering techniques, and graphics performance optimization. 
Experience profiling and debugging rendering issues using tools like RenderDoc, Unity Profiler, PIX, or NSight.
Deep understanding of 3D math, including linear algebra and transformations.
Understanding of real-time lighting, shadows, and physically based rendering (PBR). 
Strong software engineering skills, including clean code architecture and performance-focused development. 
Experience with asset pipelines, understanding how assets move from DCC tools to Unity. 
Excellent communication skills, able to collaborate with both engineers and artists effectively.

Desirable: 

Hands-on Unity experience, including URP customization - or a track record of ramping quickly onto a new engine.
Experience with testing methodologies in C# and Unity. 
Experience developing in C++. 
Experience of developing for iOS, Android, Switch. 
Familiarity with low-level graphics APIs such as DirectX 11/12, Metal, or Vulkan.

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.

Senior Graphics Engineer (Speculative Application)

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