Software Architect, Poker

Zynga is looking for a client architect in the Austin, San Mateo, or Toronto areas, and more specifically, someone whose level of experience should be equivalent to an Architect.

We have a well-rounded and tight-knit distributed team with a healthy mix of engineering skill levels, and are looking to expand our team to tackle a variety of new tasks and challenges that we face.  We need a self-driven and motivated architect who is a strong leader, communicator, works well as a team player and under pressure, and can assist with building resilient, stable and performant front-end client technology.  The candidate would have an opportunity to work on user-facing gameplay features, core engine functionality, and have a general focus on solving complex and challenging problems for high profile titles.

Our mission is to “Connect the World through Games” by building a truly social experience that makes the world a better place.  To be successful in this role you will have a passion for games, a high level of integrity, great technical depth and skills, and a strong desire to build successful software. 

• Architectural Leadership: Define and own the client application's technical architecture, including code structure, systems, data flow, and state management 

• Technical Design & Strategy: Translate high-level product and feature requirements into clear, technical designs and actionable development plans, ensuring the solution is efficient, stable, and maintainable.

• Performance and Optimization: Establish and enforce best practices for performance optimization, framerate, asset management, memory usage, and loading times across target platforms (e.g., iOS, Android, Steam, Web).

• Code Quality & Standards: Establish coding standards, conduct thorough code reviews, and mentor other engineers on advanced programming patterns 

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with backend engineers, designers, artists, QA, and product managers to ensure client-side solutions integrate seamlessly with other services and meet creative/functional requirements.

• Tooling & Pipeline: Evaluate and recommend third-party tools, plugins, and internal development workflow improvements to enhance team productivity and the quality of the final product.

• Troubleshooting: Act as the final point of technical escalation for complex client-side bugs, performance bottlenecks, and systems integration issues.

• Planning & Execution: Scope out very large tasks and systems, and coordinate the delegation of that work; Lead month long efforts and participate in planning for quarter long efforts.

• Evangelism & Mentorship: Give team and/or divisional tech talks on architectures that you’ve built; Work to identify and help to improve team and process inefficiencies; Help mentor and interview other engineers.

• B.Sc. in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent education / work experience

• 10+ years of professional software development experience, with at least 5 years focused on the Unity engine in a senior, lead, or architectural role.

• Expert proficiency in C# and Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) principles, with a deep understanding of design patterns (e.g., MVC, MVVM) and how to apply them effectively in a Unity context.

• Extensive experience with Unity's core systems: UI (uGUI/UIToolkit), Profiling tools, AssetBundles/Addressables, Animation, and Shaders/Rendering Pipelines (URP/HDRP).

• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing scalable, performant client network architectures for real-time multiplayer or live-service applications.

• Solid understanding of software testing methodologies (unit testing, integration testing) and experience incorporating them into the development pipeline.

• Extensive experience with client error reporting and logging (Bugsnag, Splunk, or equivalents), and best practices for gathering client telemetry and prioritizing issues.

• Proficiency with version control systems (Git) and collaborative development workflows (branching, merging).

• Exceptional analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders in a highly collaborative environment.

• Prior game development experience (shipped titles or live games experience)

• Self-motivated, self-directed, with proven experience researching, developing, and optimizing for a variety of platforms. 

• Hands-on experience with Unity's Data-Oriented Technology Stack (DOTS), including the Entity Component System (ECS), Jobs System, and Burst Compiler.

• Experience with advanced rendering techniques, custom shaders (ShaderLab/HLSL), and GPU-side optimization.

• Mobile development experience with a focus on iOS & Android.

• Familiarity with deployment and platform-specific optimization for Mobile (iOS/Android).

• Experience developing apps for non-mobile platforms like WebGL, Facebook, and Steam. 

• Knowledge of cloud services (e.g., AWS) as they relate to client-side data management and live operations.

• Prior experience in a technical consulting or client-facing solutions architect role.

• A strong portfolio of high-quality, shipped interactive products.

• Experience creating and maintaining build scripts and pipelines (e.g., Jenkins).

• Back-end development

• LiveOps experience, including managing post-release events and content delivery.

Zynga offers a world-class benefits package that helps support and balance the needs of our teams. To find out more about our benefits, visit the Zynga Benefits site

The pay range for this position in  California at the start of employment is expected to be between $163,400 - $241,820 per year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations.

Subject to those same considerations, the total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a bonus and/or equity awards and eligibility to participate in our 401(K) plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program.

Regular, full-time employees are also eligible for a range of benefits at the Company, including: medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance coverage; 14 paid holidays per calendar year; paid vacation time per calendar year (ranging from 15 to 25 days) or eligibility to participate in the Company’s discretionary time off program; up to 10 paid sick days per calendar year; paid parental and compassionate leave; wellbeing programs for mental health and other wellness support; family planning support through Maven; commuter benefits; and reimbursements for fitness-related expenses.