Remote Principal Backend Engineer - The Multiplayer Group (MPG) in Southampton

At The Multiplayer Group (MPG), we create world-class multiplayer experiences through Co-Dev and Full-Dev partnerships. Our people-first culture supports a diverse, global team in a welcoming and flexible work environment. With teams spread worldwide, we prioritise connection—both online and in person. Giving back is central to who we are, with a focus on local communities, education, and sustainability.

We are looking for a highly experienced, fully remote Principal Backend Engineer. You’ll be UK or EU based and you’ll be working in a team of backend engineers across MPG to drive the delivery and deployment of backend services for industry-leading game projects. You will act as a key engineering contact for external co-dev clients, collaborating with the Technical Director and Lead to architect solutions that balance technical idealism with production pragmatism. You will define the technical architecture for major game titles, ensure implementation quality, and mentor the engineering team.

• Experience in game development and having shipped multiple live games (or similar products) with a high concurrent user count.
• Proven experience architecting distributed applications with a high concurrent user base (hundreds of thousands), ideally proven with a released title or robust load tests.
• Production experience with at least one of Java, Golang, C#, C++, Kotlin; experience with Python, Node.js and React is desirable.
• Solid database experience, with the ability to work effectively with both SQL and NoSQL databases.
• Proven experience with cloud platforms: Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure; having an AWS Certification (Professional level) would be advantageous.
• Proven experience building backend infrastructure using infrastructure as code tools, e.g. Terraform.
• Proven experience using Kubernetes and Docker to build products at scale.
• Ability to autonomously architect and design online services based on a specification.
• Ability to navigate changes calmly and manage multiple pieces of potentially confidential information.
• Excellent time management and ability to work autonomously.
• Clear and effective communicator with the ability to discuss technical strategy with non-technical stakeholders and adapt to client needs.
• Experience building CI/CD pipelines from scratch or improving existing client solutions.
• Awareness of security/cheating implications of technology choices.
• Experience using Gen AI for code generation.
• Deep expertise in at least one relevant area of backend technology, e.g. DevOps, Microservices, Cloud Architecture.
• Understanding of how a backend service integrates with the game - experience with Unreal or Unity would be useful but not required.
• An understanding of how to use LLMs to process and query structured and unstructured data.

Responsibilities:

• Individual contribution: architect systems, write code, deployments, etc.
• Act as the engineering contact point between MPG and the client, working alongside the Project Manager and Engineering Leadership.
• Translate client requirements into tasks for yourself and team members.
• Make the right trade-offs to design systems based on performance, time, and budget.
• Mentor and delegate pieces of work to other team members to help develop them as engineers.
• Create estimated cost spreadsheets for online services based on projected concurrent users.
• Cultivate engineering best practices across teams: modular design, code quality, testing.
• Work with the Lead and Production to communicate risks, benefits, and future roadmaps.
• Active mentorship of the engineering team towards professional accreditation (e.g., AWS Certification) and technical leadership.

Our Benefits:

• Flexible working: Remote-friendly long before it was the norm, with core hours that support both great work and real life.