Principal Engineer - Unreal Engine and Systems

Who are We?

Jackbox is a small game studio (~80 people) best known for our Jackbox Party Pack franchise: a set of five social party games released every fall. Since 2014, our games--like Quiplash, Drawful, and Trivia Murder Party-- have been featured on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, by Polygon, and in living rooms and finished basements across the world.

In 2020, we had over 200 million users. And we have hard evidence that one of those users was Academy Award-winner Charlize Theron.

You can learn everything you ever wanted to know about how our games work (spoiler: your phone is the controller!) and who we are and what we make at jackboxgames.com.

What’s the Job?
We’re hiring a Principal Engineer to lead and guide the core systems architecture for Trivia Murder Party 3 and future online multiplayer party games. This is a high-impact role focused on owning Unreal technical strategy, scope, planning, system design, and build pipelines for the game’s gameplay and cross-platform multiplayer systems.

You’ll be responsible for steering how the game works under the hood. From gameplay systems to how players connect and interact, to how sessions are managed, data flows through the system, and player identity is preserved across platforms. You’ll work closely with engineers, designers, producers, and platform teams to make sure every system is aligned, maintainable, and built for scale while getting your hands dirty at the same time.

This is a hands-on leadership role focused on unblocking others, setting technical processes and quality bars, mentoring and directing our team of Unreal engineers, and helping the team make smart trade-offs while remaining flexible to jump in where it counts.  People management experience is a plus, but not required.

What You’ll Be Responsible For:

• Setting and communicating the technical architecture for cross-platform multiplayer systems and game runtime logic
• Guiding other engineers on best practices for networking, replication, input handling, and simulation flow within Unreal Engine
• Directing the structure and integration of systems like matchmaking, session flow, player identity, progression, and cross-platform entitlements
• Acting as a bridge between engineering and other disciplines, helping design, production, and backend teams collaborate effectively with engine constraints in mind
• Supporting the adoption and integration of services like Epic Online Services (EOS), platform SDKs, and custom backend APIs
• Mentoring engineers across experience levels, providing technical feedback, and shaping a healthy, sustainable engineering culture
• Identifying long-term risks, bottlenecks, and architectural inconsistencies—and working proactively to address them
• Writing code to help clarify direction, de-risk implementation, or demonstrate novel approaches
  
  Required Qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience in game development, with deep Unreal Engine (UE4 or UE5) expertise at the systems or engine level
• Experience shipping at least one cross-platform online multiplayer title, ideally with live service elements or real-time audience interaction
• Hands-on experience navigating platform requirements and constraints, including compliance with TRCs as well as deep integration work with first-party SDKs
• Skilled at managing certification timelines, interpreting platform guidelines, and resolving compliance issues
• Strong architectural instincts—able to evaluate tradeoffs, simplify complexity, and communicate clearly across technical and non-technical audiences
• Track record of guiding large features or systems from design through shipping in a collaborative, cross-functional environment
• Fluency in C++, networking fundamentals, and asynchronous system design
• Deep familiarity with replication, session management, platform services (e.g., EOS, PlayFab), and backend integration patterns
• Experience mentoring other engineers and uplifting a team’s technical quality and ownership mindset
• Familiarity with browser-based controller interfaces, WebSockets, and real-time audience voting/input
• Interest in telemetry, live debugging, and supporting liveops teams with real-world observability
• Passion for weird, social, or audience-participation games like Jackbox titles
  
  

We value kind, motivated, and creative people. Jackbox Games is a group effort and you must work collaboratively. Everyone here is committed to excellence and desires to work in a comfortable, friendly atmosphere.

Jackbox Games is committed to providing opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, ancestry, age, veteran status, or disability. 

Okay, but what are the perks?

• Pay range: $148,985 - $208,392. Please note: individual compensation packages are based on factors unique to each candidate and position, including (but not limited to) skill set, experience, and qualifications.

• 401(k) with matching and various medical plans. We pay 100% of the cost of premiums for dental, vision, disability, and life insurance for our employees. We also cover a really nice chunk of the cost of premiums for spouse/partner/dependent medical, dental, and vision insurance. 
• Flexible work schedule and environment. Currently, our employees are encouraged to work where they feel the safest and most productive. Our office in Lincoln Park in Chicago is open (and fully stocked with snacks) for folks who prefer to work in the office. We also offer remote work in the following states: California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
• Flexible PTO. Take time off when you need to recharge, take a trip, or just catch up on life.
• Annual stipends for therapy, growth, wellness, and home office equipment to encourage our employees’ lifelong learning pursuits and support mental and physical health.
• Creative work environment. We are lucky to work in a place that is full of talented and innovative folks. Most of the day, the place is pretty quiet (we’re a focused bunch), but this is punctuated with hilarious outbursts and general merriment.
• Free food either virtually or in the office. We stock our kitchen with snacks as well as offer doordash credits quite frequently.

Interested?

Great, we look forward to reading your application. Please include:

• Your resume.
• A cover letter. You don't need to be a professional writer for this job (we have those) but communication is important so we weigh cover letters heavily. We would love to hear a bit about why you are interested in working at Jackbox Games.

Notice something that doesn't quite make sense--great. We want engineers that think critically and understand the nuances of job postings in this day and age.

On the fence? If you're interested in the job but worried you aren't qualified, we encourage you to err on the side of applying. We'd hate to miss out on great candidates just because they're worried they don't check every box on the job description.

We know it is a time commitment to prepare an application and we respect that effort by thoughtfully reviewing every complete application and responding one way or the other. But that kind of thoughtful review means that it sometimes takes us a while to get back to applicants, so please be patient with us and no phone calls.

Thanks for your interest in Jackbox Games!