Lead Developer (Backend) - Game Studio

Tombola Ltd
Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
1 month ago

Role details

Contract type
Permanent contract
Employment type
Full-time (> 32 hours)
Working hours
Regular working hours
Languages
English
Experience level
Senior

Job location

Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Tech stack

C Sharp (Programming Language)
Code Review
Game Engine
Backend
REST
Web Api
API
Agile Methodologies
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Cloud Engineering
Load Testing
Performance Tuning
Scrum
Redis
SQL Databases
Real Time Systems
Grafana
GIT
Front End Software Development
Software Coding

Job description

This is one of those roles where you genuinely get the best of both worlds. You'll be hands-on leading the development of our backend game engine, shaping how we build, scale and evolve the systems that power our games.

Our Game Engine sits right at the heart of what we do. It's where performance, player experience and regulatory compliance all come together. So if you enjoy solving complex problems, working on real-time systems and having a real say in technical direction, this one's worth a look.

You'll be in the office 3 days a week, working closely with the team, with the flexibility to focus from home the rest of the time. What you'll be doing

  • Leading the design and development of core game engine systems and APIs
  • Owning architectural decisions to ensure performance, scalability and compliance
  • Getting stuck into hands-on coding alongside your team
  • Supporting and mentoring developers, helping them grow and do their best work
  • Running code reviews and driving high engineering standards
  • Working closely with Product, QA, Infrastructure and Compliance to bring everything together
  • Making sure our systems are robust, auditable and ready for regulatory certification
  • Leading sprint planning, shaping priorities and managing technical risk
  • Monitoring performance in production and driving improvements where needed
  • Contributing to technical roadmaps and long-term platform direction

Requirements

  • Strong experience with C#, SQL, AWS and Redis
  • A background in real-time or state-driven systems (game engines, gambling platforms or similar)
  • Solid understanding of system design and scalable architecture
  • Experience working with REST APIs, Git and agile environments
  • Knowledge of real-money gaming (RNG, RTP, game state) would be a big plus
  • Someone who can balance hands-on coding with leading a team

It'd be great if you also have

  • Experience integrating with front-end games, wallets or external APIs
  • Exposure to performance tuning, load testing or observability tools
  • Familiarity with cloud-native or containerised environments

The kind of person you are

  • You enjoy leading but still love being close to the code
  • You're confident making decisions and owning technical direction
  • You naturally support and develop others around you
  • You're collaborative and enjoy working across different teams
  • You care about building quality products and strong teams

Apply for this position