📍 Job Overview
Job Title: Senior UI Engineer - RuneScape Dragonwilds
Company: Jagex Limited
Location: Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
Job Type: FULL_TIME
Category: UI Engineering / Game Development
Date Posted: 2025-06-11
Experience Level: 5-10 years (Senior Level)
Remote Status: Hybrid (Remote available within the UK with team onsite days in the Cambridge office approx. 4 times per year)
🎨 Role Summary
- Lead the design and implementation of intuitive and performant user interface systems using Unreal Engine 5 for the new open-world survival crafting game, RuneScape: Dragonwilds.
- Act as the primary expert for UI within the development team, owning complex UI features from concept to implementation.
- Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams including design, art, and programming to ensure seamless and high-quality player experiences.
- Champion best practices in UI engineering, contributing to the continuous improvement of technical solutions, architectures, and development pipelines.
🖼️ Primary Responsibilities
- Create, maintain, and take ownership of a wide array of user interface features within Unreal Engine 5, focusing on performance, scalability, and user-centered design principles.
- Partner directly with UX Designers and UI Artists in agile "strike teams" to collaboratively develop and refine cohesive, visually polished, and functionally robust UI elements and systems.
- Evaluate and select the most appropriate technical solutions, architectural patterns, and development pipelines specifically for UI implementation within the game's engine.
- Conduct thorough testing, debugging, performance profiling, and optimization of UI systems to guarantee a smooth, responsive, and high-quality player experience across various platforms.
- Proactively identify potential risks and emerging opportunities throughout the UI development lifecycle, proposing and implementing effective solutions or strategic adjustments to address them.
- Provide mentorship and technical guidance to other engineers on the team, sharing knowledge and promoting best practices in UI development. Support the recruitment process for new engineering talent.
- Advocate for and implement best practices in UI engineering and development processes, actively contributing to the team's overall technical excellence and efficiency.
🎓 Skills & Qualifications
Education: While a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Game Development, or a related field is often preferred, extensive relevant professional experience in game UI engineering is highly valued and may substitute for formal education.
Experience: Minimum of 5+ years of professional experience in UI engineering, with a significant portion focused on developing complex user interfaces for multiplayer games. A strong portfolio demonstrating expertise in game UI implementation and a deep understanding of UX principles is expected.
Required Skills:
- Proven expertise in the design, implementation, and maintenance of complex UI features specifically within the context of multiplayer video games.
- Strong foundational understanding of User Experience (UX) principles and a genuine passion for creating intuitive, player-friendly, and engaging interfaces.
- Deep proficiency in C++ programming, coupled with demonstrated experience in applying this knowledge alongside other relevant programming languages (e.g., C#, Python).
- Demonstrable hands-on experience with Unreal Engine 4 or Unreal Engine 5, including specific familiarity with its UI frameworks such as UMG (Unreal Motion Graphics), Slate, and Common UI.
- Advanced skills in profiling and optimizing code, particularly for performance-critical UI systems in a real-time game environment.
- Ability to design and architect complex systems using appropriate software design patterns, effectively solving architectural and system-level challenges related to UI.
- Familiarity and practical experience with standard source code repository systems, specifically Perforce, is required for collaborative development workflows.
- Experience in mentoring junior or mid-level engineers, actively promoting a positive culture of continuous learning and knowledge sharing within the team.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to thrive and collaborate effectively in distributed team environments.
Preferred Skills:
- Experience working on live service games or titles with continuous content updates, understanding the challenges of maintaining and evolving UI systems over time.
- Familiarity with agile development methodologies (e.g., Scrum, Kanban) and experience working in cross-functional feature teams.
- Knowledge of accessibility standards and best practices for game UI design.
- Experience with UI/UX design tools such as Figma, Adobe XD, or similar, and the ability to translate design mockups into functional game UI.
🎨 Portfolio & Creative Requirements
Portfolio Essentials:
- Include 2-3 detailed case studies showcasing your most impactful UI engineering projects in multiplayer games.
- For each project, clearly articulate your role, the technical challenges you solved, and the impact of your UI work on the player experience and game performance.
- Demonstrate your proficiency in Unreal Engine UI frameworks (UMG, Slate, Common UI) through code samples, video demonstrations, or detailed technical breakdowns.
- Highlight examples of UI systems you designed for scalability, performance, and maintainability in a live game environment.
Process Documentation:
- Document your UI development process from collaborating with designers and artists to implementation and optimization.
- Showcase your approach to gathering requirements, iterating on designs, and integrating feedback into the UI implementation.
- Explain your methods for testing and validating UI functionality and performance within the game engine.
💵 Compensation & Benefits
Salary Range: Based on extensive research for Senior UI Engineer roles in the UK (specifically the Cambridge area and remote within the UK) within the game development industry, the estimated salary range is typically between £55,000 and £80,000 per annum. This range can vary based on exact experience level, specific technical skills (especially UE5 expertise), and the scale and success of previous game projects. The higher end of the range is more likely for candidates with extensive experience on successful AAA or large-scale multiplayer titles. This estimate is informed by industry salary benchmarks from sources like Payscale, Glassdoor, and UK-specific game industry salary surveys, adjusted for the senior level and the location's cost of living and tech industry compensation standards.
Benefits:
- Comprehensive Private Healthcare coverage, including a Dental Plan, ensuring access to quality medical and dental services.
- Generous Pension contributions starting at a minimum of 6%, supporting long-term financial planning and retirement security.
- Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and onsite Counselling services providing confidential support for personal and work-related challenges.
- Life Insurance coverage, offering financial protection for dependents.
- Eligibility for a Discretionary annual performance bonus, rewarding contributions to company and project success.
- Enhanced family leave policies available from day one of employment, supporting work-life balance for parents and caregivers.
- Flexible working hours arrangements to accommodate individual needs and promote a healthy work-life balance.
- 25 days of annual leave plus UK Bank holidays, with the option to buy or sell additional holiday days, promoting rest and personal time.
Working Hours: Standard full-time working hours, typically 40 hours per week. The role offers flexible working hours to support individual work styles and collaboration needs across potentially distributed teams. Expect core hours for team meetings and collaboration, with flexibility around those times to manage personal schedules and creative flow.
🎯Team & Company Context
🏢 Company & Design Culture
Industry: Video Game Development & Publishing. Jagex is a leader in creating "Forever Games," focusing on deep, engaging online experiences with strong community ties. This means the design culture is heavily influenced by player feedback, live service operations, and long-term content strategy.
Company Size: 201-500 employees (according to LinkedIn, though the job description mentions over 400 people). This size suggests a well-established structure with potentially multiple project teams. For a Senior UI Engineer, this means working within a larger, potentially specialized team while collaborating across disciplines.
Founded: 2001. With over two decades of history, Jagex has a strong legacy in the MMORPG space, which informs its approach to game development and player community engagement. The founding date provides context for the company's evolution and established practices.
Team Structure:
- The role is on the RuneScape: Dragonwilds team, our new open world survival crafting game currently in early access and developed in UE5.
- Work in "strike teams" with designers, artists, and other programmers, indicating an agile, cross-functional approach to feature development.
- The UI team likely has other engineers, potentially with a lead or manager, with the Senior UI Engineer acting as a technical expert and mentor.
Methodology:
- Emphasis on collaboration ("Partner with designers and artists in strike teams") suggests an iterative, potentially Agile or Scrum-like development process.
- Focus on player experience and community ("craft innovative, high-quality user experiences," "player-first game design") indicates a user-centered design approach.
- Reference to "leveraging data-driven insights" suggests a commitment to using analytics to inform design and development decisions.
Company Website: https://www.jagex.com/en-GB/careers
📈 Career & Growth Analysis
Design Career Level: Senior UI Engineer. This role implies a high level of technical expertise, significant autonomy, and the expectation to lead technical solutions within the UI domain. It's a step up from a mid-level engineer, involving more complex problem-solving, architectural decisions, and mentorship responsibilities.
Reporting Structure: Likely reports to an Engineering Manager or Technical Lead within the RuneScape: Dragonwilds team. The role's emphasis on being the "go-to person for all things UI" suggests a position of technical leadership and influence within the team.
Design Impact: The Senior UI Engineer will have a significant impact on the core player experience of RuneScape: Dragonwilds. By defining and implementing intuitive and performant UI systems, they directly influence player engagement, usability, and overall satisfaction with the game.
Growth Opportunities:
- Potential for advancement to a Lead UI Engineer or Technical Lead role, overseeing a team of UI engineers and guiding technical strategy.
- Opportunities to specialize further in specific areas of game UI technology, such as performance optimization, accessibility, or advanced engine features (UE5).
- Growth through mentoring junior team members and contributing to the overall technical knowledge base of the engineering department.
- Exposure to new game projects within Jagex, potentially allowing for work on different genres or platforms.
🌐 Work Environment
Studio Type: Hybrid. The primary location is Cambridge, UK, with the option for remote work within the UK. There is a requirement for approximately four onsite team days per year in the Cambridge office. This structure blends the flexibility of remote work with opportunities for in-person collaboration and team building.
Office Location(s): Cambridge, UK. Jagex's headquarters are at Cambridge Science Park. The office environment is likely designed to foster creativity and collaboration, typical of game development studios, with spaces for team meetings, individual work, and potentially recreational areas.
Design Workspace Context:
- The hybrid model suggests a need for robust remote collaboration tools and practices to ensure seamless communication and workflow between remote and onsite team members.
- Onsite days in Cambridge will likely focus on intensive collaboration, brainstorming sessions, and team-building activities that benefit from in-person interaction.
- The office environment in Cambridge Science Park provides access to a tech and innovation hub, potentially offering networking opportunities and a stimulating environment.
Work Schedule: Flexible working hours are offered, allowing employees to adjust their schedules to suit their needs while ensuring sufficient overlap for team meetings and collaborative work, especially given the hybrid nature of the role. The requirement for approximately four annual onsite days in Cambridge will need to be factored into personal schedules.
📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process
Design Interview Process:
- Initial application and resume screening, focusing on relevant experience, technical skills (C++, UE5 UI), and experience with multiplayer games. Ensure your resume highlights these areas and includes relevant ATS keywords.
- Portfolio review: Your portfolio will be critically assessed for technical complexity, demonstration of UI engineering expertise in games, problem-solving approaches, and collaboration examples. Prepare to discuss your technical contributions in detail.
- Technical interview(s): Expect in-depth questions on C++, Unreal Engine UI frameworks (UMG, Slate, Common UI), performance optimization techniques, architectural design principles, and potentially live coding or technical problem-solving exercises.
- Design/Collaboration interview: Discussion focusing on your understanding of UX principles, collaboration style with designers and artists, communication skills in a cross-functional team, and experience with source control (Perforce).
- Team/Cultural fit interview: Opportunity to interact with potential team members and leadership, assessing cultural alignment with Jagex's values and team dynamics. Be prepared to ask questions about the team's workflow, challenges, and goals.
- Potential final interview with a hiring manager or technical director, reviewing overall fit, leadership potential, and strategic thinking regarding UI engineering.
Portfolio Review Tips:
- Curate your portfolio specifically for this Senior UI Engineer role, prioritizing game UI projects where you had significant technical ownership and impact.
- For each case study, clearly outline the project scope, the specific UI engineering challenges you faced, the technical solutions you implemented (mentioning C++, UE5, UMG, etc.), and the results (e.g., performance improvements, improved usability).
- Include video demonstrations of your implemented UI features within the game engine to showcase interactivity and visual polish.
- Document your technical process, including architectural diagrams, code structure explanations, and performance profiling methods used.
- Emphasize collaboration by showing how you worked with designers and artists to bring concepts to life and address feedback.
Challenge Preparation:
- If a technical challenge is part of the process, it will likely involve implementing a specific UI feature or system within Unreal Engine, potentially focusing on performance or scalability.
- Practice implementing common game UI elements and systems in UE5 (e.g., inventories, menus, HUDs, crafting interfaces), paying attention to efficient coding practices and performance considerations.
- Be prepared to explain your thought process, technical decisions, and trade-offs made during the challenge.
- Focus on clean code, modular design, and demonstrating your ability to work within the specified engine frameworks (UMG, Slate, Common UI).
ATS Keywords: UI Engineering, C++, Unreal Engine 5, UE5, UMG, Slate, Common UI, Multiplayer Games, Game Development, Performance Optimization, UX Principles, UI/UX, Game UI, Software Architecture, Design Patterns, Debugging, Profiling, Perforce, Source Control, Mentoring, Collaboration, Agile, Scrum, Kanban, Live Service, Game Design, User Interface, Video Games, Programming, Software Engineering, Technical Leadership, Problem Solving, Teamwork, Communication, Game Programmer, UI Programmer.
🛠 Tools & Technology Stack
Primary Design Tools:
- Unreal Engine 5 (UE5): The core development environment for RuneScape: Dragonwilds. Proficiency in UE5's C++ API and blueprint system is essential for implementing and managing UI logic.
- UMG (Unreal Motion Graphics): The primary visual UI editor within UE5. Expertise in creating, structuring, and animating UI widgets using UMG is a core requirement.
- Slate: Unreal Engine's underlying immediate-mode UI framework. Understanding Slate is crucial for advanced UI customization, performance optimization, and extending UMG functionality.
- Common UI: A plugin for UE5 that provides a framework for building common UI patterns, especially useful for multi-platform development and consistent navigation. Experience with Common UI is highly advantageous.
Collaboration & Handoff:
- Perforce: The primary source control system used by Jagex. Experience with Perforce is required for managing code changes, branching, and merging in a collaborative environment.
- Collaboration Platforms (likely): Tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Discord are commonly used in game development for real-time communication and team coordination, especially in a hybrid work setup.
- Project Management Tools (likely): Jira, Asana, or similar tools are typically used for task tracking, sprint planning, and workflow management within agile teams.
Research & Testing:
- In-game Debugging Tools: Utilizing Unreal Engine's built-in debugging features and potentially custom tools for identifying and resolving UI-related issues.
- Performance Profiling Tools: Using UE5's profiler and external tools to analyze UI performance, identify bottlenecks, and optimize rendering and logic.
- Analytics Platforms (likely): Integration with analytics tools to track UI usage patterns, identify areas of friction, and inform iterative design improvements based on player data.
👥 Team Culture & Values
Design Values:
- User-Centered Design: A strong emphasis on creating interfaces that are intuitive, accessible, and enhance the player experience in RuneScape: Dragonwilds. This value directly influences UI design decisions and implementation priorities.
- Performance and Quality: Commitment to building high-performance and technically robust UI systems that contribute to a smooth and responsive gameplay experience, crucial for a multiplayer survival crafting game.
- Collaboration and Fellowship: Valuing close collaboration between UI engineers, designers, artists, and other disciplines, fostering a supportive and knowledge-sharing environment (aligned with Jagex's "Embrace Fellowship" value).
- Continuous Improvement and Innovation: Encouraging learning, honing craft ("Hone our Craft"), and exploring innovative solutions in UI technology to push the boundaries of player interaction within the game.
Collaboration Style:
- Cross-functional "Strike Teams": Working closely with members from different disciplines (design, art, programming) on specific features, requiring strong communication and the ability to integrate diverse perspectives into the UI implementation.
- Design Critique Culture: Likely involves regular UI reviews and feedback sessions with the design and art teams to ensure technical implementation meets creative and functional requirements.
- Knowledge Sharing: Encouraging mentorship and sharing technical expertise within the engineering team to elevate the collective skill level and promote best practices in UI development.
⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities
Design Challenges:
- Building complex, scalable, and performant UI systems within Unreal Engine 5 for a large-scale open-world multiplayer survival crafting game, requiring deep technical skill and optimization expertise.
- Translating intricate design concepts and artistic vision into functional and visually polished UI elements while adhering to technical constraints and performance budgets.
- Working effectively within a hybrid team structure, maintaining seamless collaboration and communication with both remote and onsite colleagues.
- Contributing to a live service game in early access, which involves balancing new feature development with ongoing maintenance, bug fixing, and responding to player feedback on the UI.
Learning & Development Opportunities:
- Deepen expertise in Unreal Engine 5's advanced UI features and performance optimization techniques.
- Develop leadership skills through mentoring junior engineers and contributing to architectural decisions for core UI systems.
- Gain experience in the unique challenges of developing UI for a live service, open-world survival crafting game with a dedicated community.
- Opportunities to attend industry conferences (e.g., GDC, Unreal Fest) to learn about the latest advancements in game UI technology and design.
- Potential for cross-training or learning other areas of game development depending on team needs and individual interests.
💡 Interview Preparation
Design Process Questions:
- Be prepared to walk through your technical design process for implementing a complex UI feature in a multiplayer game. Discuss your approach to requirements gathering, technical planning, implementation, testing, and iteration. Use examples from your portfolio.
- Discuss your experience collaborating with UX/UI designers and artists. How do you handle feedback and ensure technical implementation aligns with the intended user experience and visual style? Provide specific examples of successful cross-functional collaboration.
- Describe a challenging technical problem you encountered while building game UI and how you approached solving it. Focus on your problem-solving methodology, debugging techniques, and the technical decisions you made.
Company Culture Questions:
- Research Jagex's values ("Embrace Fellowship," "Hone our Craft," etc.) and be prepared to discuss how your own values and work style align with them.
- Ask thoughtful questions about the RuneScape: Dragonwilds team culture, collaboration practices, and how the team handles technical challenges and celebrates successes.
- Inquire about the level of autonomy and ownership expected in this role and how technical decisions are made within the UI engineering team.
Portfolio Presentation Strategy:
- Prepare a concise and impactful presentation of your portfolio, focusing on 2-3 key projects most relevant to this role (multiplayer, UE5 UI, complex systems).
- For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your technical solution using C++ and UE5 UI frameworks (UMG, Slate, Common UI), and the outcome. Use visuals (screenshots, videos) to support your points.
- Be ready to dive into the technical details of your implementation, explaining architectural choices, data structures, and performance considerations.
- Practice explaining your design process and collaboration with other disciplines, demonstrating your ability to communicate technical concepts clearly.
📌 Application Steps
To apply for this design position:
- Submit your application through this link
- Customize your resume to highlight your experience with C++, Unreal Engine 5 UI (UMG, Slate, Common UI), multiplayer game development, and performance optimization. Incorporate relevant ATS keywords throughout your document.
- Refine your portfolio to showcase your strongest UI engineering projects in games, with detailed case studies that explain your technical contributions, problem-solving process, and collaboration efforts. Ensure video demonstrations or clear visuals are included.
- Prepare for the technical interview by reviewing your C++ knowledge, practicing Unreal Engine UI implementation, and being ready to discuss architectural design and performance optimization techniques.
- Research Jagex and the RuneScape franchise, particularly RuneScape: Dragonwilds, to understand the company culture, game genre, and the potential challenges and opportunities of working on this specific title.