Principal Software Developer - Full Stack (Unity, C#)

United States·San Francisco,Austin,Toronto+3 more

EngineeringFullstack Developer

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Quick Summary

Key Responsibilities

Define, architect, and develop core systems and client infrastructure in Unity and C# Diagnose and resolve complex, game-wide technical issues such as slow load times, low frame rates,

Technical Tools

EngineeringFullstack Developer

At Zynga, we bring people together through the power of play. As a global leader in interactive entertainment and a proud label of Take-Two Interactive, our games have been downloaded over 6 billion times—connecting players in 175+ countries through fun, strategy, and a little friendly competition.

From thrilling casino spins to epic strategy battles, mind-bending puzzles, and social word challenges, our diverse game portfolio has something for everyone. Fan-favorites and latest hits include FarmVille™, Words With Friends™, Zynga Poker™, Game of Thrones Slots Casino™, Wizard of Oz Slots™, Hit it Rich! Slots™, Wonka Slots™, Top Eleven™, Toon Blast™, Empires & Puzzles™, Merge Dragons!™, CSR Racing™, Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells™, Match Factory™, and Color Block Jam™—plus many more!

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in California, our teams span North America, Europe, and Asia, working together to craft unforgettable gaming experiences. Whether you're spinning, strategizing, matching, or competing, Zynga is where fun meets innovation—and where you can take your career to the next level.

Join us and be part of the play!

Zynga is looking for a Principal Software Engineer level in the Austin, Eugene, Toronto, San Mateo, Carlsbad, or Chicago areas.

This position will be to develop and maintain the core client technology, engine-level systems, and infrastructure for a game with a cozy vibe targeting a casual audience. You should have a passion for engineering excellence and be comfortable diagnosing and solving deep, systemic technical problems, such as improving load times, frame rate, memory footprint, and other cross-cutting performance concerns. You’ll need to operate with rigorous engineering discipline while working largely independently to plan and execute complex, multi-week technical initiatives.

We have a well-rounded, highly motivated, distributed team with a mission-driven culture working on a new game. We need a self-driven engineer who confronts challenges with optimism, communicates clearly and easily, and takes a great deal of pride in their work. You’ll have an opportunity to own core engine and infrastructure work, including upgrading and maintaining third-party libraries and dependencies, evolving build and tooling pipelines, and making foundational changes to the client architecture that unlock future feature roadmaps for the rest of the engineering team.

Responsibilities

~1 min read

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Define, architect, and develop core systems and client infrastructure in Unity and C#
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Diagnose and resolve complex, game-wide technical issues such as slow load times, low frame rates, memory pressure, and build/runtime stability
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Own the evaluation, upgrade, and maintenance of third-party libraries, SDKs, and engine dependencies
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Design and implement foundational architecture changes that enable future feature roadmaps for feature-focused engineers to build upon
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Produce technical design documentation and implementation plans for infrastructure and systemic initiatives
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Scope and cost work accurately from loosely defined requirements, presenting estimates with clear assumptions and identified risks
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Adapt plans and technical approaches when requirements or platform constraints change
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Review code, technical design documentation, and implementation plans for other team members
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Proactively profile, optimize, and refactor code to meet team performance and stability KPI goals
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Explore, develop, and integrate new technologies and tools that benefit the broader engineering team
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Work closely with other engineers to lead multi-week or month-long infrastructure and tooling efforts
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Give team and divisional tech talks on architectures that you’ve built
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Work to improve and evolve team process and engineering standards
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Help to mentor other engineers

B.Sc. in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent education / work experience
6+ Years game industry / mobile app experience as a software developer
Shipped titles and/or live games experience, especially mobile (iOS / Android)
Expert knowledge in C#
3+ Years Unity experience, including engine-level and low-level systems work
A solid understanding of client/server architecture in modern mobile games
Understanding, interest and knowledge of server-side architecture in mobile games
Solid foundation in data structures, algorithms and software methodologies
Demonstrated experience diagnosing and resolving performance issues such as load times, frame rate, and memory usage
Experience upgrading, integrating, or maintaining third-party libraries, SDKs, or engine versions
Experience with the AWS ecosystem, Kubernetes, and back end monitoring technologies such as Datadog
Excellent communication skills and comfort working in a collaborative environment
Excellent ability to foresee and proactively resolve blockers, technical risk, and points of failure
Excellent ability to function in an asynchronous distributed work environment while still tuning in to key team meetings
Experience with git
Experience with performance profiling and optimization tools

Nice to Have

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Experience with Unity engine source modification or custom engine forks
Experience with build pipeline, CI/CD, or dev tooling for game teams
Experience playing and working on games that target a casual audience
Experience using Claude Code or a similar AI coding tool

What We Offer

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Zynga offers a world-class benefits package that helps support and balance the needs of our teams. To find out more about our benefits, visit the Zynga Benefits site

The pay range for this position in Toronto at the start of employment is expected to be between $114,300 and $164,300 per Year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations.

The pay range for this position in California at the start of employment is expected to be between $133,900 and $180,000 per Year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations.

The pay range for this position in Illinois at the start of employment is expected to be between $120,600 and $170,000 per Year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations.

Subject to those same considerations, the total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a bonus and/or equity awards and eligibility to participate in our 401(K) plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program.

Regular, full-time employees are also eligible for a range of benefits at the Company, including: medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance coverage; 14 paid holidays per calendar year; paid vacation time per calendar year (ranging from 15 to 25 days) or eligibility to participate in the Company’s discretionary time off program; up to 10 paid sick days per calendar year; paid parental and compassionate leave; wellbeing programs for mental health and other wellness support; family planning support through Maven; commuter benefits; and reimbursements for fitness-related expenses. The use of Artificial Intelligence is not being used to screen candidates. The position is for an existing vacancy.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, which means we are committed to creating and celebrating diverse thoughts, cultures, and backgrounds throughout our organization. Employment with us is based on substantive ability, objective qualifications, and work ethic – not an individual’s race, creed, color, religion, sex or gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, alienage or citizenship status, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, status as a victim of domestic violence or sex offenses, reproductive health decision, or any other characteristics protected by applicable law.

As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to providing the necessary support and accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities, health conditions, or impairments (subject to any local qualifying requirements) to ensure their full participation in the job application or interview process. Please contact us at accommodationrequest@zynga.com to request any accommodations or for support related to your application for an open position.

Please be aware that Zynga does not conduct job interviews or make job offers over third-party messaging apps such as Telegram, WhatsApp, or others. Zynga also does not engage in any financial exchanges during the recruitment or onboarding process, and will never ask a candidate for their personal or financial information over an app or other unofficial chat channel. Any attempt to do so may be the result of a scamp or phishing attack, and you should not engage. Zynga’s in-house recruitment team will only contact individuals through their official Company email addresses (i.e., via a zynga.com, take2games.com, naturalmotion.com, smallgiantgames.com, themavens.com, gram.gs email domain).