Undead Labs

using our brains to save yours

Jobs

Undead Labs, creators of the smash hit survival-fantasy game State of Decay, is home to an elite team of programmers, artists, designers, musicians, and producers. Above all else, we love games and we love to try new things. If you think you could help to create our unique brand of innovative games for gamers on all platforms, we want to hear from you.

What can you expect from us?

  • You can expect to work with people you admire, respect, and trust, and you can expect to have it returned in kind. We are not a “rock star” studio. You won’t find anyone’s name in front of our game titles, or any single person taking credit for the design of the game.
  • You can expect to work on games you’re truly excited about, while also living a full life. We have a sustained track record of building and nurturing development cultures that are respectful of personal lives and families.
  • You can expect to work in open, collaborative environments, and that everyone else in the company will do the same. Offices, cubicles, and development cultures just don’t mix.
  • You can expect to work for a company that pursues excellence and sets ambitious goals. We’re not in this to create mere games; we strive to create cultural phenomena.
  • You can expect to be asked to contribute to the design of our games and challenge the boundaries of your role, rather than working strictly to a specification that someone else gives you.
  • You can expect candor, honesty, and transparency from the company. We’re in this together, and we’ll treat you as a peer.
  • You can expect to be compensated fairly for your hard work. You should be passionate about what you do for a living, but you should never let anyone try to shame you into believing that you must sacrifice fair compensation for a job that you love.
  • You can expect to love your job. In fact, you should demand it.

If you’d like to know more about what to expect from us — and what we’ll expect from you — you can check out the official Lab Culture statement.

“We’re always on the lookout for talented people…”

Well, no. We’re not. You probably see that statement frequently, but we’re actually not always on the lookout for talented developers. We’re a tight-knit studio with strong production and development infrastructure, and we don’t simply throw bodies at problems. When we decide to add a person to the team, it’s only after careful thought about both our short-term needs and our long-term goals. We don’t hire carelessly. That means when you see an open position below we are actively working to fill it, and when we find that perfect person, it’s gone. If you think you want to join us, let us know now.

Our open positions are listed below. Unless otherwise stated, all positions are for full-time employment at the Undead Labs studio in downtown Seattle. If one of them describes you, send us an email expressing your interest in joining us. If you know someone who works at the Lab, please express your interest to that person directly. If we haven’t had the opportunity to meet you yet, please send us an email with links to your online portfolio and resume to jobs@undeadlabs.com.

Be assured that any contact with the Lab will be held in the strictest confidence.

 

Desktop Support Technician

    Job Title(s):
    Desktop Support Technician
    Position Type:
    Full-time

    Undead Labs is looking for someone to help make the day-to-day technical operation of our studio silky smooth. As a Desktop Support Technician, you will be crucial to making sure the development environment for State of Decay 2 is operating at peak efficiency so that we can deliver on our vision of creating the world’s best zombie survival fantasy game.

    Are you the perfect person to contribute to this quest? If so, you are probably equipped with the following traits:

    • Strong familiarity and interest in system hardware: What are some of the best pieces of gear for a great gaming system today? What if you were on a tight budget? Does more RAM really solve all problems? Inquiring minds want to know.
    • Strong hardware and software troubleshooting skills including performance profiling and tuning: “So I bought that amazing new video card you recommended, but my framerate is still chunky sometimes. Why?”
    • Great bedside manner: You should be confident and comfortable providing support for a veteran engineer who knows more about the deep inner workings and architecture of hardware than you do. You should also be comfortable helping my 97-year-old grandmother try to use Facetime to talk to her great-great-grandkids. (Note: You won’t actually be asked to help my 97 year old grandmother use Facetime.)

    Other important skills and experience:

    • A knack for continual process refinement and improvement.
    • Familiarity with software commonly used in game development (Perforce, Git, Maya, Photoshop, Visual Studio, etc).
    • Experience with account and security management via Active Directory.
    • Familiarity with automating system builds and configuration (Sysprep, WDS, Chocolatey, etc).
    • Familiarity with network hardware and the basics of TCP/IP networking.
    • Familiarity with VOIP devices and simple Audio Video (A/V) hardware and configuration.

    Nice to haves:

    • A demonstrated interest in automating appropriate tasks with a scripting or programming language.
    • Interest in, or experience with, modern infrastructure technologies and concepts like virtualization, cloud computing, DevOps methodologies, Software-defined networking and storage, etc.

    A small sample of day to day responsibilities includes:

    • Break/fix support of lab hardware and software; mostly game development desktops, laptops and associated software.
    • Support and troubleshooting for remote contractors and partners accessing development resources over VPN.
    • Account management and auditing for both local accounts and common cloud collaboration services.
    • Security monitoring and patch management.
    • Hardware inventory and software license tracking and ordering.
    • Backup maintenance and monitoring.
    • Planning and travel for boots-on-the-ground support at games conventions and expos.

    If you’d like to join an amazing company doing cool stuff, one that needs someone like you now more than ever, send your resume to jobs@undeadlabs.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

    Game Engine Programmer

      Job Title(s):
      Programmer

      Want to do something completely different? With the highly successful release of State of Decay behind us, we’re heading into uncharted territory with State of Decay 2, and we need a few more hardcore programmers to help us get there.

      We need somebody who will work with others to identify, define, and implement visual improvements and technologies for our next game. Someone with experience working on large titles with small teams. Someone who knows the graphics technology required for online-world games.

      This is complicated stuff, and requires an elite team of programmers who really know what they are doing. Are you an elite programmer? Among the best? If so, we want talk to you.

      Here’s what we look for in a programmer. Remember that this is not a checklist of “must haves,” but rather a guideline that we use to find great candidates.

      • A true passion for the craft of writing clean, efficient, well-structured code
      • The ability to think quickly and communicate thoughts effectively
      • Proficiency in C and C++
      • Knowledge of C# and higher-level languages such as Lua, Python, and Ruby a plus
      • Expertise in multithreaded programming and CPU architecture
      • Thorough understanding of the rendering pipeline and GPU architecture
      • Up to date on current graphics research
      • Exceptional understanding of the mathematics behind modern graphics techniques
      • Experience in gaming console and high-profile PC development a big plus
      • Game engine development experience
      • Open world or MMOG development a plus
      • Demonstrated end-to-end experience getting art to the screen
      • A degree in Computer Science or equivalent from an accredited four-year program
      • As with all our positions, a love of gaming is a must

      This position is for full-time employment at the Undead Labs studio in Seattle. (For more on our culture, be sure to check the jobs page.) If you think you have what it takes, send your resume and some code samples in C++ or C# to jobs@undeadlabs.com.

      Make sure your code sample shows us something meaningful — we like to see real solutions to real problems, as opposed to class wrappers or thin API layers. Your code sample is your portfolio, so put your best foot forward and blow us away! We won’t compile your code, so please don’t send entire projects; just the highlights. Also rest assured that any code you send will be used solely to evaluate your candidacy, and will be held in the strictest confidence.

      We’re looking forward to hearing from you.