Technical Director

Business Unit LIGHTSPEED STUDIOS is made up of passionate players who advance the art & science of game development through great stories, great gameplay, and advanced technology. We are focused on bringing next generation experiences to gamers who want to enjoy them anywhere, anytime, across multiple genres and devices. What the Role Entails We are building a new AAA first-person shooter IP for a global audience. As Technical Director, you will own the technical vision, architecture, and execution strategy required to deliver a high-performance, scalable, and reliable player experience across PC and console. You will lead internal and global co-development engineering teams, align technology decisions to milestone goals, and ensure technical delivery supports both creative ambition and operational realities. Own the end-to-end technical strategy and architecture across all phases: Vertical Slice, Early Access, launch, and live operations. Define the technical roadmap aligned to production milestones, identifying risks early and driving mitigation plans. Architect core systems and make build-vs-buy decisions, including evaluation and integration of third-party technologies. Establish and enforce engineering standards across architecture, code quality, performance budgets, build systems, and release processes. Lead and evaluate work from global co-development teams, ensuring quality, alignment, and accountability across time zones. Partner with design and art to build scalable tools and pipelines that maximize content velocity. Drive multiplayer performance, networking stability, backend scalability, and live-service readiness. Oversee CI/CD, branching strategy, DevOps practices, and platform certification requirements. Mentor and grow engineering leadership, contributing to hiring and org design. Use playtest data, telemetry, and player-facing metrics (performance, stability, latency) to inform technical priorities. Who We Look For Shipped at least one AAA PC or console title as Technical Director or Lead Engineer. Proven experience leading and evaluating global co-development teams. Demonstrated experience architecting large-scale systems, including third-party integrations. Experience defining and maintaining performance budgets, stability targets, and scalability goals. Broad technical foundation across gameplay systems, engine development, rendering, AI, networking, or cloud infrastructure. Deep expertise in at least one core technical domain. Proven ability to align cross-discipline leadership and drive execution through ambiguity. Player-focused mindset grounded in measurable quality outcomes. Pluses Shipped titles on both PC and console platforms. Experience managing co-development across time zones, languages, and cultures. Delivered or operated a multiplayer FPS at 100k+ peak concurrency. Experience taking a game from prototype through launch and into live operations. Experience with Unreal Engine. Background in engineering, computer science, or related field. Bilingual in English/Mandarin preferred to communicate with relevant stakeholders and international team. What We Offer Opportunity to shape a new AAA IP from the ground up. High ownership and cross-disciplinary influence. Collaborative, high-talent global team. Competitive compensation and benefits. Location State(s) US-California-Los Angeles The expected base pay range for this position in the location(s) listed above is $168,500.00 to $347,200.00 per year. Actual pay may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Employees hired for this position may be eligible for a sign on payment, relocation package, and restricted stock units, which will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Subject to the terms and conditions of the plans in effect, hired applicants are also eligible for medical, dental, vision, life and disability benefits, and participation in the Company’s 401(k) plan. The Employee is also eligible for up to 15 to 25 days of vacation per year (depending on the employee’s tenure), up to 13 days of holidays throughout the calendar year, and up to 10 days of paid sick leave per year. Your benefits may be adjusted to reflect your location, employment status, duration of employment with the company, and position level. Benefits may also be pro-rated for those who start working during the calendar year. Equal Employment Opportunity at Tencent As an equal opportunity employer, we firmly believe that diverse voices fuel our innovation and allow us to better serve our users and the community. We foster an environment where every employee of Tencent feels supported and inspired to achieve individual and common goals. Who we are Tencent is a world-leading internet and technology company that develops innovative products and services to improve the quality of life for people around the world. Equal Employment Opportunity at Tencent As an equal opportunity employer, we firmly believe that diverse voices fuel our innovation and allow us to better serve our users and the community. We foster an environment where every employee of Tencent feels supported and inspired to achieve individual and common goals.