Lead Games - Server Programmer in England

Electronic Arts creates next-level entertainment experiences that inspire players and fans around the world. Here, everyone is part of the story. Part of a community that connects across the globe. A place where creativity thrives, new perspectives are invited, and ideas matter. A team where everyone makes play happen.

Just 13 miles south of Manchester and a 15-minute train journey, is the attractive market town of Wilmslow. Here amongst the boutique shops and independent cafes and bars is the stunning Playdemic studio. Acquired by EA in 2021, Playdemic is home to the top 10 grossing, BAFTA‑winning mobile smash – Golf Clash. Having opened at the beginning of 2020, our award‑winning, bespoke studio space offers conventional desk space and indulgent breakout areas, meeting rooms and alternative workspaces. The office has been ridgeline‑designed to create an environment that encourages and allows our team to do their very best work.

The Golf Clash Team is searching for an experienced Software Engineering Leader with a primary background in Server Programming to provide technical leadership across our online systems while line‑managing a small group of server engineers. Reporting to the Game Technical Director, you’ll architect and deliver scalable backend features for a live mobile title, own and evolve our CI/CD and deployment infrastructure, and partner with design, production, client, QA and CS to ship high‑quality features safely and at pace. You will blend hands‑on engineering with elements typical of an Associate TD (technical direction, architecture, cross‑domain planning) and selected aspects of Software Engineering Management (people leadership, stakeholder alignment, process improvement).

This role is located at our Wilmslow‑based office, working in a hybrid capacity, including 3 days in office.

Responsibilities

• Architect and improve core online systems (game server, multiplayer engine, session and player‑data services) for reliability, performance and cost at scale.
• Technical Product Ownership for selected initiatives (e.g., server evaluation/prototyping, infrastructure improvements, technical debt reduction).
• Review and break down pre‑production features, shaping architecture and sequencing to de‑risk delivery across client, backend and infra.
• Develop software features end‑to‑end.
• Oversee CI/CD pipelines and deployment infrastructure (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab, and environment promotion).
• Create and maintain dev/prod/QA environments that mirror live, allowing smooth testing and predictable releases.
• Production deployments and stable GitLab fork merge request approvals, ensuring high‑quality standards for code, test coverage and observability before integration.
• Out‑of‑hours support / incident response, leading mitigation and post‑mortems to minimise player impact and improve MTTR.
• Manage and maintain our application services, databases and caches (e.g., DynamoDB, SQL variants and Redis).
• Build and maintain web‑based tools to empower QA and Customer Support.
• Team leadership & line management for several server programmers: 1:1s, coaching, feedback, growth plans, onboarding and setting clear technical expectations.
• Lead online systems: act as the primary contact for new backend initiatives; coordinate with internal and external partners/vendors.
• Evaluate and improve internal processes and systems (branching strategy, code review quality, testing frameworks, release practices, on‑call health).
• Status reporting to partners; align expectations and communicate risks, dependencies and trade‑offs.
• Procurement/Finance support: PO/Invoice/Billing approvals for relevant services and vendors.

Must Haves

• Server‑side engineering in C#/.NET (e.g., ASP.NET, Web APIs) with production experience in live, large‑scale systems.
• Experienced with databases (SQL and NoSQL) and caching (e.g., Redis): schema design, query optimisation, data migrations, and operational best practices.
• Hands‑on with CI/CD (Jenkins/GitLab), version control (Git/GitLab flows), infrastructure and hosting (on‑prem and/or AWS), and observability (logs/metrics/tracing) for live services.
• Track record designing for performance, scalability, reliability and security, including load/perf profiling and budget setting.
• Ability to plan and deliver complex features; experienced at risk/dependency management, estimation and sequencing.
• Test discipline: unit/integration/system testing, test strategy for domains you own, and test automation to protect critical paths.
• Line management and mentoring experience (or equivalent leadership of a pod), with a history of developing engineers and raising code quality through reviews and coaching.
• Comfortable being a Technical Product Owner for backend/infrastructure workstreams; communicate with non‑technical partners (Production, Design, QA).
• Calm, structured approach to live incidents, leading mitigation, root‑cause analysis and improvements.

About Electronic Arts

We’re proud to have an extensive portfolio of games and experiences, locations around the world, and opportunities across EA. We value adaptability, resilience, creativity, and curiosity. From leadership that brings out your potential, to creating space for learning and experimenting, we empower you to do great work and pursue opportunities for growth.

We adopt a holistic approach to our benefits programs, emphasizing physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support a balanced life. Our packages are tailored to meet local needs and may include healthcare coverage, mental well‑being support, retirement savings, paid time off, family leaves, complimentary games, and more. We nurture environments where our teams can always bring their best to what they do.

Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.