Technical Lead (Unity)

About the role

We are looking for an experienced and passionate Technical Lead to join Secret Level Studios and help drive the development of our current and upcoming projects.

As Technical Lead, you will play a key role in shaping the technical direction of our games, working closely with design, production, and art teams to deliver high-quality player experiences. You will be responsible for maintaining technical standards across projects, guiding other developers, and ensuring our technology supports both the creative vision and long-term goals of the studio.

This is an opportunity to help shape the future of a growing independent studio, influencing not only our games but also the technology, tools, and development practices that will support them for years to come.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who enjoys solving complex technical challenges while helping a team grow and succeed.

Responsibilities

Technical Leadership

• Lead technical development using Unity, designing, implementing, and maintaining core game systems.
• Define and champion technical standards, coding practices, and architectural decisions across projects.
• Drive the development of scalable and maintainable systems that support long-term development and re-use across multiple projects.
• Balance technical requirements with gameplay, design, and production needs.
• Provide technical direction and guidance across multiple projects within the studio.

Development & Implementation

• Develop gameplay systems, tools, UI systems, and supporting technology.
• Collaborate closely with designers, artists, and producers to bring features from concept to implementation.
• Evaluate, prototype, and implement new technologies, workflows, and development tools.
• Identify technical risks early and work with production to develop mitigation strategies.
• Ensure projects maintain strong performance, stability, and scalability throughout development.

Team Support & Mentorship

• Mentor and support junior and mid-level developers.
• Conduct code reviews and provide constructive technical feedback.
• Help improve team skills through knowledge sharing and technical guidance.
• Foster a collaborative development culture focused on quality and continuous improvement.
• Work closely with other disciplines to remove technical blockers and improve workflows.

Performance & Optimization

• Champion performance optimization across gameplay systems, rendering, memory usage, and loading times.
• Profile and troubleshoot performance issues on target platforms.
• Ensure technical solutions remain efficient, maintainable, and production-friendly.
• Support platform certification, release preparation, and post-launch technical requirements where needed.

Studio Contribution

• Contribute to long-term technical planning and studio-wide development practices.
• Help evaluate project feasibility, technical scope, and development estimates.
• Work alongside production and leadership to ensure projects remain technically feasible within schedule and budget constraints.
• Support the studio's growth by helping improve pipelines, workflows, and development processes.

Requirements

Essential skills & experience

• Significant professional experience developing games using Unity and C#.
• Proven track record of shipping one or more commercial game titles.
• Deep understanding of software architecture, clean code practices, and maintainable system design.
• Experience developing gameplay, systems, UI, and technical features within Unity.
• Experience mentoring developers and leading technical initiatives.
• Strong debugging, problem-solving, and analytical skills.
• Excellent communication and collaboration abilities.
• Ability to balance technical excellence with practical production realities.

Highly desirable

• Experience with procedural generation systems.
• Experience developing multiplayer or networked gameplay systems.
• Experience creating custom tools and editor workflows.
• Familiarity with PC and console development pipelines.
• Strong understanding of profiling, optimization, and performance analysis.
• Experience supporting projects through release and post-launch development.
• Interest in game design and contributing to gameplay discussions.
• Passion for cosy games, ARPGs, farming games, strategy games, simulation games, or related genres.

Important to us at SLS

• Technical systems are robust, maintainable, and support the long-term needs of the project.
• Developers have clear technical guidance and consistently improve through mentorship.
• Performance and stability targets are achieved throughout development.
• Technical risks are identified and addressed before they impact project delivery.
• Designers and artists can work efficiently because of strong tools and workflows.
• Projects are delivered with a solid technical foundation that supports future growth and content development.
• The development team operates with confidence, consistency, and technical excellence.

About Secret Level Studios

Secret Level Studios is an independent game development studio based in Letchworth Garden City. We develop original IP alongside co-development projects, creating high-quality games for PC and consoles. We are currently developing multiple exciting projects and are looking for talented people who are passionate about making great games.

What we offer

• Competitive salary (depending on experience).
• Flexible hybrid working.
• Company pension.
• 25 days holiday + bank holidays.
• Opportunity to influence the technical direction of a growing studio.

Location & working arrangement

This role follows a hybrid working model:

• Two days per week in our Letchworth Garden City office (Tuesday and Wednesday).
• Three days per week working remotely.
• Candidates must be comfortable working within this arrangement.