Senior Director, Online Services (Gamedev)

TL;DR

Senior Director, Online Services (Gamedev): Directing live operations for a AAA free-to-play cross-platform action game with an accent on frontend engineering, backend systems, and build pipelines. Focus on release management, launch readiness, and the delivery of engagement tooling for player growth and retention.

Location: San Mateo, California, United States (Remote/Hybrid/Onsite options indicated)

Salary: $227,700 – $337,020 per Year

Company

A diverse team of developers building amazing AAA games that thrill players everywhere.

What you will do

• Set the technical vision and roadmap for online services.
• Manage Backend Engineering and Build Engineering leads and their teams.
• Own release management, including patch and hotfix orchestration and safe rollouts.
• Direct build engineering, focusing on CI/CD, submission pipelines, and automation.
• Partner with Product Management and Analytics to translate strategy into online service capabilities.
• Oversee development of performant pipelines for authentication, matchmaking, social features, and commerce.

Requirements

• 10+ years of engineering experience.
• 5+ years of leadership on AAA cross-platform Live Services games.
• 2+ years of leadership in frontend systems for AAA cross-platform Live Services games.
• Fluency in Unreal Engine, including core object model, threading patterns, and Online Subsystem.
• Strong command of distributed backend architecture and software patterns for maintainable systems.
• Experience operating shipped live services, including scale, availability, and incident response.

Nice to have

• Experience with Unreal Engine 5.
• Experience launching free-to-play titles, including commerce and monetization.
• Experience with player safety or anti-toxicity systems.
• Experience with publisher shared-technology and first-party partners.

Culture & Benefits

• Competitive compensation package including bonus and equity awards.
• 401(K) plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance coverage.
• Generous paid time off: 14 holidays, 15-25 vacation days, and 10 sick days per year.
• Paid parental and compassionate leave.
• Wellbeing programs for mental health and fitness reimbursements.