Lead Programmer - C++

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Remote
Posted Sep 19, 2026
1 position

$110,000–$140,000 / year

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Employment type: Full-time
Experience level: Senior · 5+ years
Minimum education: Bachelor’s degree
Posting language: English
Working hours: 40 hours per week
Location requirements: Country, Canada

Job summary

The Lead Programmer will collaborate with the Technical Director to establish technology vision, oversee technical design, and manage a team of programmers. They are responsible for producing high-quality code, mentoring staff, and coordinating project milestones with production.

Job details

Company Description Smoking Gun Interactive, a Keywords Studio, is an industry-leading game development studio founded in 2007 by award-winning industry veterans. SGI is fearless in creating IP and boldly partners with renowned brands to develop a wide range of world-class, immersive titles and interactive experiences that resonate with strategy gamers worldwide and entertain millions of casual players every day. Job Overview: As a Lead Programmer at Smoking Gun Interactive (SGI), you’re a talented and driven person who enjoys working on great projects. You have experience in a variety of areas of game development and are able and willing to work on any area of game programming needed, with a focus on full-stack development experience. You’re experienced in mentoring and training programmers and are responsible for the oversight and management of a team of programmers. *Whilst this position is being offered on a remote basis, we are only able to consider applicants who are currently located in BC, and ideally within the greater Vancouver area In this role, you will: Collaborate with the Technical Director to establish a unified technology vision for the project including writing and reviewing technical design documents; Produce high-quality, efficient, clean, and modular code; Collect and document users' requirements and develop logical specifications; Research, evaluate and synthesize technical information to design, develop and test computer-based systems; Develop data, process and network models to optimize architecture and to evaluate the performance and reliability of designs; Plan, design and co-ordinate the development, integration and operation of computer-based systems; Assess, test, troubleshoot, document, upgrade and develop maintenance procedures for applications software; Lead and co-ordinate teams in the development of software and integrated information systems, process control software and other embedded software control systems; Show proactivity in identifying tasks/problems that need tackling, outside of known scheduled work, from refactoring to bug fixing; Be able to go above and beyond in their daily tasks as required; Provide mentorship and training for programmers to create an atmosphere of cooperation and learning; Provide and accept feedback on all aspects of code quality (performance, readability, testability, design); Demonstrate forward thinking in regards to what impact design and implementation decisions will have on the overall project during each phase of development; Work with Production in the creation and risk-management of project milestone goals and schedules; Coordinate the hiring, supervising and managing of other members of the team. To be successful in this role, you must have: 5+ years’ experience as a programmer in the game industry and or related field; A bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering or equivalent; Passion for playing and creating innovative games – you consider yourself a gamer; Shipped at least one game as a senior or lead programmer; A natural affinity for being strongly self-motivated and an independent worker; Expert working knowledge of C++, Standard Library and Object Oriented Design; Strong understanding of general and 3D math, statistics and probability; Excellent problem-solving abilities, proven ability to tackle hard problems in creative ways; Excellent oral and written communication skills; A positive attitude with a desire to work within a team environment towards a common goal; An impressive ability to estimate work load and execute on the work in the time estimated; Contributed to planning product releases alongside production or project management; Mentored multiple programmers in both coding capabilities and forwarding their career. It would also be great if you had experience with: Any of the following languages, C#, Java, Lua, HLSL/Cg shaders; Mobile: iOS, Android; Test Driven Development; Visual Studio, Perforce; Unit testing and TDD for server development; C# server environments, AWS, Azure, GCP; Running a live server environment and supporting operations. 10 days vacation leave 5 paid days personal leave 7 paid sick days Life Insurance & Accidental Death & Dismemberment Dependent Life Insurance Long Term Disability (LTD) Extended Healthcare Benefit Dental Care Hybrid working Training & Development Salary Range: 110,000 to 140,000 CAD Smoking Gun Interactive is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran’s status, age or disability. Keywords Studios is dedicated to following a well-established Equal Opportunities Policy. We endeavor to create a workplace which provides for equal opportunities for all employees and potential employees. PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY By providing your information in this application, you understand that we will collect and process your information in accordance with our Applicant Privacy Notice. For more information, please see our Applicant Privacy Notice at https://www.keywordsstudios.com/en/applicant-privacy-notice. Role Information: EN Studio: Smoking Gun Location: Americas, Canada, Vancouver Area of Work: Game Development Service: Create Employment Type: Full Time Working Pattern: Remote

What you’ll do

Requirements

Candidates must have at least 5 years of game industry experience and a bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Engineering. A proven track record of shipping at least one game as a senior or lead programmer and expert knowledge of C++ are required.