Principal Software Architect

Position Summary The Principal Software Architect defines and drives the technical architecture strategy that enables Light & Wonder’s transition from legacy gaming technology stacks to the next‑generation Carbon platform. This critical technical leader aligns engineering standards, development frameworks, tooling, and platform capabilities across multiple business units to support scalable, modern game development enterprise‑wide. Essential Job Functions Enterprise Architecture & Technology Strategy Define and drive architectural strategy supporting the migration from legacy game technology stacks to the Carbon platform. Establish enterprise‑wide engineering standards, architectural patterns, and development best practices across studios and business units. Partner with studio and platform leaders to align technologies, tooling, and workflows while preserving studio agility and innovation. Evaluate and guide strategic technology decisions, including framework adoption, engine strategy, and modernization initiatives. Lead architectural reviews and technical design sessions across game platform and development initiatives. Drive standardization around shared frameworks, SDKs, CI/CD pipelines, telemetry, deployment, and development tooling. Make build‑vs‑buy recommendations considering scalability, maintainability, cost, time‑to‑market, and long‑term platform strategy. Stay current with emerging technologies, architecture patterns, and game engine trends relevant to modern game development. Technical Leadership & Solution Design Design scalable, maintainable, and performant software architectures supporting the enterprise game development ecosystem. Provide architectural guidance for game engine technologies, including Unity, Godot, proprietary engines, and supporting toolchains. Develop architectural blueprints and technical roadmaps that enable modernization and long‑term platform evolution. Ensure systems meet enterprise standards for performance, reliability, security, and regulatory compliance. Partner with development teams to resolve complex technical challenges and remove architectural bottlenecks. Guide integration efforts between shared platform technologies and studio‑specific game implementations. Support adoption of modern engineering practices, including automated testing, DevOps, CI/CD, observability, and cloud‑enabled workflows. Cross‑Functional Collaboration Collaborate with product, compliance, infrastructure, QA, and studio engineering teams to align technical solutions with business objectives. Influence technical direction across teams through strong communication, credibility, and collaboration. Communicate complex architectural concepts clearly to technical and non‑technical stakeholders. Balance innovation, consistency, studio autonomy, and regulatory requirements in decision‑making. Act as a trusted advisor to leadership regarding technical risks, modernization opportunities, and platform investments. Ensure gaming platform architectures comply with regulatory, security, and operational requirements across global markets. Remain engaged with enterprise architecture and security groups to align with evolving standards and compliance requirements. Identify technical risks early and guide mitigation strategies to ensure long‑term platform stability and scalability. Promote maintainable, supportable, and operationally efficient solutions across the organization. Qualifications Deep expertise in game development technologies, modern software architecture, and cross‑functional technical leadership. Experience with game engines and frameworks such as Unity, Godot, and custom engine technologies. Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field or equivalent work experience required. Physical Requirements: The employee is regularly required to sit, stand, walk, bend, use hands, operate a computer, and maintain required visual acuity. Work Conditions: Studio located in Las Vegas, NV. Presence on‑site 4 days a week is required. Candidates based in Chicago, IL are considered but preference is given to those based in Las Vegas. Light & Wonder and its affiliates (collectively, L&W) are engaged in highly regulated gaming businesses, and may require compliance with licensing, background investigations, or other regulatory requirements. Employees must consent to due diligence/background investigation as required. Light & Wonder is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against applicants on the basis of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability, or any other federally or state‑protected class. For more information about your equal employment opportunity rights, see the EEOC Poster. #J-18808-Ljbffr Light & Wonder