Senior Software Engineer, Backend in Brighton

The opportunity Unity Spark is our browser-based game editor, with an ambitious vision for how real-time 3D games are created, shared, and played on the web. As a Senior Backend Engineer on the Spark team, you will design and run the cloud services behind the product: real-time multi-user collaboration, build and publishing pipelines, and the platform APIs the editor is built on. Our team moves fast and uses AI coding tools every day. That shifts the work from typing code to deciding what to build, checking it is right, and owning it once it is live. We value generalists who pick up whatever the product needs next, whether that is a new service, a deploy pipeline, or a bug on the other side of the stack. You will work closely with engineers, designers, and product managers from day one, and own meaningful parts of the backend from first idea to production.

What you'll be doing:

• Design, build, and operate the services and APIs behind real-time collaborative editing, game publishing, and content delivery, built to perform at scale.
• Own features end to end, from a loosely defined problem to a design, shipped code, and a service running in production.
• Weigh multiple approaches, make sensible trade-offs, and break complex problems into clear tasks while leading the design with your team.
• Work across the stack when needed, including infrastructure as code, CI/CD, internal tooling, or the occasional frontend change.
• Keep the platform reliable: anticipate failure modes, watch it, respond to production issues, and fix the cause rather than the symptom.
• Use AI coding tools as a normal part of your work, and help the team learn where they help and where they don’t.
• Review code and designs, mentor engineers, and raise the team’s engineering bar.

What we're looking for:

• A track record building, operating, and owning backend services at scale in production, including monitoring, debugging, and fixing them when they break.
• Strong proficiency in at least one modern backend language, and willingness to pick up others.
• Deep knowledge of distributed systems, including API design, data persistence, data consistency, and state management.
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms and containerized, orchestrated deployments.
• Experience with real-time or multiplayer systems, such as WebSockets, collaborative editing, or state synchronization.
• Sound judgment that teammates trust, and effective written/verbal communication with technical and non-technical colleagues.
• Comfort with ambiguity and with AI coding tools, reviewing what they produce as critically as a colleague's code.

You might also have:

• Experience with the Unity Engine or other interactive 3D technology.
• Experience building backend services for games or interactive media.

Additional information:

• Relocation support is not available for this position.
• Work visa/immigration sponsorship is not available for this position.

Base Salary Range: We determine the base salary range for this role based on your primary work location: Zone A: 55,700 - 83,500 GBP gross; Zone B: 63,700 - 95,500 GBP gross. This range reflects the anticipated base salary for this position. Beyond base salary, this role may be eligible for equity awards and participation in our company incentive plans (such as annual discretionary bonuses or sales commissions). The final offer amount will depend on several factors, including geographic location and the candidate’s relevant experience, professional background, and skill set.

Benefits: At Unity, we want our team members to thrive. We offer a wide range of benefits designed to support well-being and work-life balance. Please note: Benefits eligibility, specific offerings, and coverage vary based on the country and employment status. While specific benefits vary, here are some of the ways we strive to take care of our eligible team members globally: Comprehensive health, life, and disability insurance; Commute subsidy; Employee stock ownership; Competitive retirement/pension plans; Generous vacation and personal days; Support for new parents through leave and family-care programs; Office food snacks; Mental Health and Wellbeing programs and support; Employee Resource Groups; Global Employee Assistance Program; Training and development programs; Volunteering and donation matching program.

Life at Unity: Unity (NYSE: U) is the world’s leading game engine, powering play for more than 3 billion consumers each month. The top mobile games in the world, the most played PC indie titles, the most innovative console games, and virtually all of the top XR and Web Games are developed, deployed, and grown in Unity. Unity also enables teams across industries like automotive, manufacturing, and healthcare to design, simulate, and collaborate in 3D — closing the gap between ideas and reality.

Unity is a proud equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment and celebrate our employees across age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, disability, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or any other protected status in accordance with applicable law. Our differences are strengths that enable us to support the growing and evolving needs of our customers, partners, and collaborators.

If you have a disability that means there are preparations or accommodations we can make to help ensure you have a comfortable and positive interview experience, please fill out this form to let us know.

This position requires the incumbent to have a sufficient knowledge of English to have professional verbal and written exchanges in this language since the performance of the duties related to this position requires frequent and regular communication with colleagues and partners located worldwide and whose common language is English.

This posting is intended to fill an existing vacancy, and we are committed to providing applicants with updates throughout the hiring process in accordance with applicable law.

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Summary Location: Brighton, United Kingdom Type: Full time