Senior AI Engineer

Summary

We are looking for an experienced AI Engineer to join our early stage team. In this role you will build systems and features that support a rich open world in Unreal Engine 5. We are looking for someone who is excited by the unique challenges of open world AI systems and who loves working in a collaborative multi-disciplinary environment.

Core Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain AI systems, features, and tools that support a dynamic and reactive open world.
• Collaborate with design, animation, and gameplay teams to prototype, iterate, and deliver new AI behaviors, abilities, and systemic interactions.
• Develop and support AI authoring tools that enable designers to efficiently create, test, and tune behaviors at scale.
• Build performant, well-architected C++ systems optimized for large-scale simulation and open-world streaming.
• Debug and optimize AI performance across multiple platforms, ensuring stability, scalability, and responsiveness.
• Contribute to long-term technical planning for AI systems, including architecture, workflow improvements, and new technology initiatives.
• Provide technical mentorship and support to designers and other developers who use the AI systems you build.
• Collaborate with technical leaders to uphold engineering best practices, coding standards, and documentation quality.

Core Qualifications

• 1+ year of professional experience working in Unreal Engine.
• 5+ years of professional experience working on large scale games.
• Strong working knowledge of Unreal Engine 5 AI tools and systems, such as the following:
  • Navigation (NavMesh)
  • Behavior Trees
  • State Trees
  • EQS
  • Perception System
  • AI Controllers, Blackboards, and related frameworks
• Expertise in modern C++ with strong software architecture, debugging, and optimization skills.
• Proven ability to design complex systems that are scalable, maintainable, and content-friendly.
• Demonstrated experience collaborating across departments and leading cross-functional initiatives involving design, animation, and gameplay engineering.
• Excellent communication skills and a collaborative, solution-oriented mindset.

Plus If...

• Experience building AI for open-world, systemic, or sandbox games.
• Familiarity with Mass Entity, crowd systems, or large-scale AI simulation.
• Knowledge of animation systems (Montages, Motion Matching, Control Rig) and how they intersect with AI behavior.
• Experience developing AI debugging tools or in-editor visualization tools.
• Background in machine learning, utility systems, or experimental AI techniques.
• Passion for emergent gameplay, systemic design, and building living worlds.

Description

• Full time job with benefits.
• Role is on-site in San Rafael, CA.
• Office is located near downtown San Rafael – near transit stations and freeways.

The base pay range for this position is $160,000 to $190,000 per year. Actual compensation is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. We also offer a competitive package of benefits including vacation time, sick time, company holidays, parental leave, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) matching to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.