Lead Backend Engineer
2K Games · San Mateo, California, United States
About this role
**Lead Backend Engineer** **Who we are** We are a diverse team of developers driven by a passion for our art, united by core values and inspired by a culture of inclusivity to build amazing games that thrill players everywhere. We pursue growth and innovation in an environment of safety and trust. We are currently working on **Project ETHOS**, a new free-to-play, 3rd-person rogue-like hero shooter. **Who you are** 31st Union is looking for a **Lead Backend Engineer** to lead the team that builds and runs our studio-hosted services. You will manage backend engineers across our US and EU studios, own the architecture of our services and infrastructure, and write code alongside the team. You will be the first point of contact for backend technical decisions and backend incidents. This role reports to the **Director - Online Services**. **Location** Based in our **San Mateo, California** studio; **fully remote** candidates are welcome. --- ## Responsibilities **Team Leadership** - Manage backend engineering team (1:1s, goals, performance feedback, and hiring) - Run backend team planning (backlog, estimates, sprint priorities aligned to the online services roadmap) - Set engineering standards for code review, testing, documentation, and on-call readiness **Architecture and Development** - Own architecture of studio-hosted services and infrastructure (service boundaries, data models, APIs, deployment topology) - Scope backend work for new game features - Write and review technical designs for new services and major changes - Implement and review implementations for proprietary studio backend services **Releases and Deployment** - Align backend roadmap with studio release schedule - Diagnose, fix, and deploy backend hotfixes through the studio hotfix process - Maintain CI pipelines and deployment automation for services **Operations** - Own monitoring, alerting, dashboards, runbooks, and incident reporting - Run backend on-call rotation; act as first responder and escalation point for backend incidents - Load test services before major releases; fix performance bottlenecks and optimize service costs - Implement and test failover and disaster recovery for services and their data **Platform Integration** - Integrate studio proprietary services with 2K and external platform services - Debug cross-service issues with external engineering partners --- ## Required Qualifications - 10+ years of server-side development experience (Bachelor’s in CS or related field, or equivalent experience) - Led or managed backend engineers on a shipped AAA title (preferably live-service or competitive multiplayer) - Fluent in **C#**, proficient in **Python or Go** - Strong grasp of distributed systems, concurrency, and scalable service design - Hands-on experience with **NoSQL** (e.g., MongoDB or DocumentDB) and **Redis** - Deployed and operated production services on **AWS** - Gives direct, constructive feedback and invites it from others ## Relevant Experience - Kubernetes, Helm, and microservice architectures - Profiling and optimizing distributed systems (database queries and service calls) - Real-time messaging (e.g., MQTT) and API gateways - C++ and Unreal Engine - Online game systems (matchmaking, social, progression, commerce, telemetry) - Running a live title (incident response, capacity planning, cost management) --- ## Compensation (California) Expected pay range at the start of employment: **$169,100 – $250,280 per year**. Base pay may var
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