Lead Software Engineer, Platform and Console SystemsBlackbird Interactive • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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Lead Software Engineer, Platform and Console Systems
Blackbird Interactive
- Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
About
In 2022, we announced that our studio is implementing a four-day work week as well as supporting in-studio, remote within Canada, and hybrid work arrangements as permanent options to our employees.
We are looking for a Lead Software Engineer to help port a proprietary AAA game engine to current gen console systems. You will lead the technical direction and execution across performance-critical platform systems including memory, CPU scheduling, streaming and I/O, and platform SDK integration. Targets include PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch 2, as well as PC. This role is remote-friendly in Canada with Pacific-time overlap required.
What You'll Lead And Deliver
Lead the effort to port and harden a proprietary AAA game engine for current gen consoles, ensuring performance, stability, and production readiness
Own the platform and console roadmap for core engine-facing systems across PC and consoles, balancing performance, reliability, and delivery timelines
Drive engine-level performance improvements focused on frame-time stability, hitch reduction, load-time reduction, memory efficiency, and scalability across CPU cores
Architect and optimize memory systems including allocators, pools, tagging, lifetime tracking, streaming heaps, fragmentation mitigation, OOM safety, and platform budget enforcement
Build and evolve I/O and streaming foundations including async file I/O, decompression pipelines, asset streaming, prioritization, bandwidth and latency hiding, and patch-friendly data layouts
Improve CPU scheduling and concurrency including job systems, task granularity, contention reduction, cache locality, false sharing mitigation, and thread affinity strategies
Lead platform integration and abstraction layers with clean separation between platform-specific code and cross-platform engine systems. Maintain SDK-facing pipelines and compliance readiness
Establish performance guardrails including budgets, best practices, validation checks, regression detection, automated benchmarks and captures, and telemetry for early detection of issues
Partner cross-discipline with gameplay, rendering, audio, content, and build and release teams to align features and content goals with platform constraints and budgets
Mentor and raise the bar through design reviews, debugging approaches, and best practices. Contribute to hiring, onboarding, and team standards
Communicate clearly to production and stakeholders on constraints, trade-offs, risks, and actionable plans for platform readiness
You'll Thrive Here if you
5+ years of professional game development or performance-critical systems experience, with demonstrated technical leadership through project ownership, mentorship, and setting standards
Expert-level modern C++ and systems debugging skills including multithreading, low-lock patterns, profiling-driven optimization, and low-level investigations
Deep understanding of console constraints and performance fundamentals including CPU architecture, cache and memory hierarchy, storage, I/O characteristics, and platform-specific trade-offs
Track record of shipping or supporting production console titles and improving stability, frame pacing, memory behavior, and load times in real-world conditions
Comfortable defining and enforcing budgets for CPU, memory, and I/O, and partnering with content teams to keep the game performant and stable
Strong ownership mindset with a focus on maintainable solutions, practical prioritization, and team success under deadlines
Pluses
Shipped at least one title on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and or Nintendo hardware, especially in platform, performance, or engine roles
Hands-on expertise with custom allocators, memory tagging, fragmentation analysis, and crash and telemetry-driven stability improvements
Proven experience with streaming and async loading systems including decompression, on-demand loading, prioritization, and large-world or content-heavy constraints
Experience with job systems and frame-time stability work including contention, false sharing, CPU and GPU sync points, and task scheduling strategies
Strong familiarity with platform profiling workflows and internal diagnostics including PIX and equivalent console tooling
Languages
- English
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