Game Developer Manager - Huntsville, AL

ATTENTION MILITARY AFFILIATED JOB SEEKERS - Our organization works with partner companies to source qualified talent for their roles. The following position is available to Veterans, Transitioning Military, National Guard and Reserve Members, Military Spouses, Wounded Warriors, and their Caregivers. If you have the required skill set, education requirements, and experience, please click the submit button and follow the next steps. Unless specifically stated otherwise, this role is "On-Site" at the location detailed in the job post.

Job Description
Pinnacle is seeking an experienced and driven Game Developer Manager to lead our game developer team within our Virtual Programs business area. This role is ideal for a hands-on leader who thrives in a technical, mission-focused environment and is motivated to build, mentor, and scale a high-performing team. 
 

This Game Developer Manager will lead the game developer team, owning personnel tasking, production planning, and cross-project resource allocation. Working closely with Subject Matter Experts, Instructional Systems Designers, Software Engineering Leads, Art Leads, QA, and Program Managers, this role will define development schedules, ensure design quality and technical accuracy, and drive efficient execution across multiple concurrent efforts.  
 

In addition to people leadership and production management, the Game Developer Manager will actively contribute to content creation for virtual instruction, setting technical standards, content implementation in game engine, and a custom development tool set. Daily work will require experience in Unity 3d and/or Unreal game engines and the ability to learn custom frameworks and toolsets.   
 

Success in this role requires the ability to operate in a fast-paced, highly collaborative production environment, balancing realism, performance, and instructional fidelity while supporting the evolving needs of military training customers.  
 


Responsibilities

Lead and manage game development team, providing technical direction, mentorship, performance feedback, and day-to-day production guidance.  
Own game development production planning and execution across multiple projects, including task breakdown, resource allocation, schedule development, and dependency coordination in partnership with engineering, design, and production leads.  
Establish, document, and evolve the game development pipeline, ensuring consistency, efficiency, and scalability across platforms and projects.  
Set and enforce technical quality standards for game development, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and performance for training-focused applications.  
Serve as a hands-on contributor, creating and reviewing virtual training content, based on provided reference and subject-matter-expert input.  
Oversee the implementation of game developer content into Unity and Unreal Engine, ensuring content meets performance budgets, virtual trainer standards, and engine-specific requirements.  
Collaborate cross-functionally with engineering and design teams to support interactive training goals, instructional fidelity, and technical constraints.  
Review and approve deliverables, providing clear, actionable feedback and ensuring they meet both development and customer-driven requirements.  
Continuously improve team capabilities, tools, and workflows to support evolving project demands and emerging real-time rendering technologies.  

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in game design, Game Development, Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline.   
10+ years of professional experience in Game Development, with at least 4+ years in a lead or supervisory role managing game developers and production pipelines.  
Advanced proficiency in Unity and/or Unreal.  
Proven ability to balance hands-on production with leadership responsibilities in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.  
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to coordinate across disciplines and translate technical requirements into actionable development tasks.  
Understanding of software development best practices, including version control, code review, and testing methodologies.  
Proficiency in debugging, performance analysis, and optimization tools within game engines.  
Experience in Software and Hardware integration and testing.  
Must be a US Citizen with the ability to obtain a Secret Security Clearance.
Any clearance requirements for this position are established by the government contract.
 

Preferred Qualifications:  
 

Experience supporting simulation, training, or serious games projects and familiarity with military vehicles, aircraft, or technical platforms is strongly preferred.  
Experience developing and establishing standards and performance guidelines for real-time applications.  
Experience using Jira (or similar project management tools) to plan, track, and manage tasks, sprints, and dependencies across multiple projects and team members.  
Familiarity with file versioning and asset management workflows (e.g., Git, SVN, Perforce), with the ability to define, enforce, and troubleshoot team-wide source control practices.  
Strong scripting skills in C#, C++, and LUA.  
Familiarity with VR/AR development for training applications.