Principal Software Engineer, Unannounced Title

PeopleFun is an award-winning creator of mobile games for players across the globe. We are part of AppLovin, a publicly traded company, with world-class projects, resources, and infrastructure. PeopleFun is a Dallas-based game studio founded and led by game industry veterans, where game developers thrive on collaboration, creativity, teamwork, and fun. Our games are played by over 25 million players each month, and we have a number of exciting mobile games in development to fuel the future growth of PeopleFun.
We believe in bringing People together through Fun by creating the best in class social features and communities in our games that enables our players to engage deeply with other players. Secondly we endeavor to bring our studio teammates together by creating the very best game teams that foster healthy collaboration, incredible productivity, and life-long professional relationships.
Candidates who reside or will reside in the following locations are eligible for this role: California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington State.
Job Summary
PeopleFun is seeking an experienced and highly skilled Principal Software Engineer to join our team and help lead the development of a new casual mobile game currently in pre-production. As a key technical leader, you will play a pivotal role in architecting and building prototypes that validate game concepts and shape the future of our project.
You will collaborate closely with a cross-functional team to ensure technical excellence and alignment with our team’s vision. This role requires a proactive engineer who can manage priorities, assess tradeoffs, mitigate risks, and deliver high-quality solutions in a dynamic environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture discussions and planning sessions with a cross-functional team.
• Design scalable, maintainable, and efficient systems for mobile game development.
• Build rapid prototypes to validate game concepts and core gameplay mechanics.
• Transition prototypes into production-ready code as the project progresses.
• Manage priorities, assess trade-offs, and mitigate risks to ensure on-time delivery of committed projects.
• Collaborate closely with game designers, artists, and product managers to align technical solutions with business goals and player needs.
• Proactively communicate status, risks, and offer mitigation strategies to our cross-functional team.
• Identify and resolve complex technical challenges.
• Stay current with emerging technologies and industry trends to uphold high quality engineering standards.
• Ensure high standards of code quality through code reviews, testing, and documentation as needed.
• Advocate for and implement engineering initiatives that can directly lead to product growth.
• Work within an agile development environment, adapting to evolving requirements and priorities.

Requirements

• Proven experience in the mobile gaming industry.
• Strong technical skills in object-oriented programming, design patterns, data structures, and algorithms.
• Ability to lead architecture discussions.
• Deep understanding of application logic and architecture , especially within Unity or similar game engineers.
• Proficiency in full-stack development and familiarity with mobile optimization techniques.
• Ability to manage priorities, assess trade-offs, and mitigate risks effectively.
• Experience delivering projects on aime and within scope in a dynamic environment.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Proactive in communicating status, risks, and mitigation strategies to the team.
• Ability to build strong relationships with stakeholders and contribute positively to team dynamics.
• Deep knowledge of the casual mobile gaming market and a passion for creating engaging player experiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ability to think creatively and bring innovative technical solutions in advocacy of the player experience.
• Comfortable working in a startup-like environment with a hands-on approach to problem-solving.
• Empathy for players and a commitment to delivering high-quality gaming experiences.
• Experience on projects from concept through launch, contributing at every stage.
• Experience with multiplayer or social features in mobile games.

PeopleFun provides a competitive total compensation package with a pay for performance rewards approach. The expected base pay range for this [CA based or North America based] position is $160,000 - $205,000. Base compensation at PeopleFun is based on a number of factors including market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Depending on the position offered, equity, sign-on payments, and other forms of compensation may be provided as part of a total compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical and other benefits.
BenefitsMedical/Dental/Vision Insurance Performance Bonuses401K Match Policy Flexible PTO PolicyWellness Stipend Free Lunch each FridayGenerous Parental Leave & Family-Friendly CultureAnnual Credits for Professional Development & In-App Purchases 
PeopleFun is proud to be an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status, or other legally protected characteristics. Learn more about EEO rights as an applicant here. Apply