Advanced Software Engineer

The gaming studio behind Football Manager, founded in 1994, Sports Interactive (SI) 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.

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 are using Unity as our game engine, so experience in this technology is critical for the role.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain cutting‑edge rendering systems in Unity related to environments, characters as well as lighting and the post-processing stack.
• 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

• 10+ years professional C# (and/or C++) graphics‑engineering experience, with multiple shipped titles on at least two of: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, iOS.
• Solid understanding of GPU architectures, rendering techniques, and graphics performance optimization.
• Deep understanding of 3D math, including linear algebra and transformations.
• Strong knowledge of Unity’s SRP architecture, including implementation of bespoke Render Features.
• Deep experience writing optimized HLSL shaders for multiple platforms.
• Experience with analysis tools like Unity’s Profile Analyzer and Memory Profiler as well as RenderDoc, PIX, or NSight.
• 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.
• Demonstrated ability to drive technical decisions, produce design RFCs, and persuade stakeholders through clear written and verbal communication.
• Excellent mentorship and technical leadership skills; comfortable guiding other senior engineers.
• Experience with GI solutions for procedurally generated scenes.
• Knowledge of HDRP and ability to work across multiple rendering pipelines.
• Experience with testing methodologies in C# and Unity.
• 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 Cover.
• Contributory Pension Scheme (employer contributions up to 7% of annual salary).
• Eligibility to participate in the company’s discretionary bonus scheme.
• Access to life assurance and income protection Cover.
• Access to Travel Insurance for yourself and your family.
• Confidential mental health, therapy and coaching support with subsidised access.
• Flexible gym and fitness options via our benefits platform.
• Access to on-site physiotherapy and massage services.
• Free onsite evening bar in the Sports Interactive London HQ.
• A well-stocked breakfast bar with cereals, fruit, tea and coffee.
• Free access to games released under the SEGA Europe umbrella.
• Regular events and experiences in collaboration with our partnered football clubs.
• Multiple clubs and societies to join (including book club, art workshops and more).
• Personalised football shirt upon passing probation.
• Trophies & gift cards for length of service milestones.
• Cupcakes sent to you on your birthday.

What is it like to work here?

We approach everything with passion, whether that is making our mark on the gaming and 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. Collaboration is the key to constantly topping our best. We believe everyone matters, no matter which part of the business you are in, so 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 move quickly 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, boast one of the lowest staff turnover rates in the industry and are proud to have won the ‘Best Places to Work’ award by Gamesindustry.biz in large company category in 2023. 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.