Tech UI Designer at Epic Games

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Tech UI Designer
Company: Epic Games
Location: Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil / São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Job Type: Full-Time
Category: Game Design & Development Operations
Date Posted: 2025-08-12T12:55:37
Experience Level: Mid-Senior (5-10 years inferred)
Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

Implement sophisticated UI systems design within the Unreal Engine for a high-impact product like Fortnite, focusing on efficient component breakdown and structure.
Develop rapid prototypes and visual scripting solutions to bring UI designs to life, ensuring seamless integration with game logic and user flows.
Collaborate closely with UX Designers, UI Artists, and UI Engineers to translate wireframes and design concepts into performant, user-friendly interfaces across multiple platforms.
Enhance UI performance by adhering to best practices, profiling UMG/Slate/C++ costs, and managing memory constraints, contributing to a smoother user experience for millions.
Drive workflow improvements by assisting in organization, documentation, and process optimization within the UI development pipeline, fostering a more efficient and collaborative environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role is explicitly technical, focusing on the implementation and optimization of UI systems within Unreal Engine, rather than purely visual design. The emphasis on "game math," programming principles, and performance profiling indicates a need for a designer with a strong technical aptitude.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

Design and implement robust UI systems, breaking down complex features and wireframes into modular widgets, structures, and classes.
Optimize UI performance by ensuring adherence to best practices and identifying/resolving memory and CPU constraints for UMG, Slate, C++, and texture usage.
Implement blueprint logic for presentation elements, collaborating with UI Artists on special presentation behaviors and consulting with UI Engineers on blueprint vs. native code implementation.
Debug UMG/Blueprint issues efficiently using established tools and techniques, ensuring prompt resolution and minimal disruption to development cycles.
Proactively identify and implement improvements in organization, documentation, and workflow processes to support UX, UI Art, and UI Engineering teams.
Assist UI Artists in implementing unique presentation behaviors and special effects within the UI framework.
Conduct performance profiling and analysis to identify and mitigate UI performance bottlenecks.
Translate technical requirements and challenges into clear, actionable tasks for team members.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of design implementation, technical problem-solving, and process improvement, common in specialized UI/UX roles within large-scale game development. The focus on performance and collaboration with engineering teams underscores the technical nature of the role.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong foundation in computer science principles, human-computer interaction, or a related field is highly beneficial. Experience: 3-6+ years of experience in building user interfaces and experiences within game engines across various platforms (mobile, web, PC, consoles) or similar transferable experience. Additionally, 2+ years of experience shipping regular updates and new features to a live user base is required.

Required Skills:

Expertise in UI Systems Design and implementation within game engines (Unreal Engine preferred, but experience with Unity, Lumberyard, or custom engines is transferable).
Proficiency in design tools such as Adobe Photoshop and Figma for asset creation and prototyping.
Strong understanding of fundamental programming principles and logical problem-solving abilities.
Experience with visual scripting languages, specifically Unreal Engine's Blueprint system, for implementing UI logic.
Ability to profile and debug UI performance issues, understanding memory and CPU constraints.
Excellent communication skills to effectively translate between technical and non-technical team members across departments (e.g., engineering, art, design).
A keen eye for detail and pixel-perfect UI implementation, identifying and resolving discrepancies between mockups and engine implementation.
Experience in translating communication across departments, summarizing technical issues, and empowering team members.

Preferred Skills:

Familiarity with "Game math" (introductory algebra and geometry) for UI layout and system design.
Experience with 3D software packages (e.g., 3ds Max, Maya) for understanding asset pipelines.
Knowledge of UMG (Unreal Motion Graphics) and Slate UI frameworks.
Experience with performance profiling tools and techniques within Unreal Engine.
Familiarity with version control systems (e.g., Git, Perforce).
Experience in documentation and workflow improvement initiatives.

📝 Enhancement Note: The experience requirement is nuanced, asking for both broad UI/UX experience in game engines and specific experience in shipping regular updates, suggesting a need for candidates who understand live service operations and continuous delivery. The "game math" and "fundamental programming principles" are critical differentiators for this technical UI role.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

Showcase a minimum of 3-6 years of UI development work within game engines, demonstrating complex UI systems, interactive elements, and platform-specific adaptations.
Include case studies of features or projects where you were responsible for breaking down wireframes into UI widgets, structures, and classes, detailing the process and rationale.
Present examples of rapid prototyping and visual scripting implementation, illustrating your ability to bring UI logic to life within a game engine.
Demonstrate your understanding of UI performance optimization through examples of how you managed memory and CPU constraints or improved UI efficiency.
Clearly articulate your role in collaborative projects, highlighting how you worked with UX Designers, UI Artists, and UI Engineers to ship features.

Process Documentation:

Provide documentation or case studies that illustrate your approach to workflow improvements, organization, and documentation within a UI development pipeline.
Detail your process for debugging UMG/Blueprint issues, including the tools and techniques you employed.
If possible, include examples of performance profiling and analysis conducted on UI elements, showcasing your methodology for identifying and resolving bottlenecks.

📝 Enhancement Note: A strong portfolio is critical for this role, not just for showcasing visual design skills but also for demonstrating technical implementation prowess, problem-solving abilities, and process optimization contributions within a game engine context. The emphasis is on tangible results and the technical process behind achieving them.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: For Porto Alegre and São Paulo, Brazil, a Mid-Senior level Tech UI Designer with 5-10 years of experience would typically command a salary between R$ 10,000 to R$ 18,000 per month, depending on specific experience, skills, and the company's compensation structure. This range is estimated based on industry benchmarks for experienced UI/UX professionals in the Brazilian tech and gaming sectors, adjusted for the cost of living and market demand in these major metropolitan areas.

Benefits:

Comprehensive medical, dental, and life insurance coverage for both employees and dependents.
Daily meal vouchers, providing a valuable daily benefit.
Commuter benefits for employees working onsite, assisting with transportation costs.
Opportunity to work on a globally recognized, high-impact game title (Fortnite).
Access to cutting-edge game development technology and tools.
Collaborative and innovative work environment within a leading game development studio.

Working Hours: The role is structured around a standard 40-hour work week, typical for full-time positions in the industry, with potential for flexibility depending on project needs and team agreements.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary figures are estimates based on general market data for Brazil and the specified experience level. Specific compensation will be determined by Epic Games based on individual qualifications and the internal compensation framework. The benefits package is highly competitive, particularly the full coverage for dependents.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Video Game Development, Digital Entertainment, and Technology. Epic Games is a leader in creating influential games and foundational engine technology that drives innovation across interactive entertainment and beyond. Company Size: Over 4,500+ employees globally, with a significant presence across 25 countries and 46 studios. This indicates a large, well-established organization with robust processes and resources, offering stability and opportunities for growth. Founded: Over 25 years ago, with a history of innovation in game development and graphics technology, including the groundbreaking Unreal Engine. This long-standing presence signifies deep industry expertise and a commitment to pushing technological boundaries.

Team Structure:

The UI team is likely structured to support major titles like Fortnite, comprising specialized roles such as UX Designers, UI Artists, UI Engineers, and Technical UI Designers.
Reporting structures would typically involve a lead/manager for the UI/UX department, with designers collaborating closely with game directors, producers, and other development disciplines.
Cross-functional collaboration is a cornerstone, with UI teams working intimately with gameplay programmers, artists, and QA to integrate UI elements seamlessly into the overall game experience.

Methodology:

Epic Games emphasizes a data-driven approach, leveraging analytics and user feedback to inform design decisions and optimize user experiences, especially for live service games.
Workflow planning and optimization are critical, with a focus on agile methodologies to facilitate rapid iteration and adaptation to evolving game designs and player needs.
Automation and efficiency practices are valued, particularly in the context of UI development, to streamline the implementation process and ensure high-quality output for millions of users.

Company Website: https://www.epicgames.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: Epic Games is renowned for its innovation, player-centric approach, and cutting-edge technology. The company culture fosters collaboration, creativity, and a drive for excellence, which are all crucial for success in a high-stakes environment like developing Fortnite.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a Mid-Senior level Technical UI Designer. It requires significant experience in UI implementation within game engines and a proven track record of shipping features. The scope involves not just executing designs but also contributing to system architecture, performance optimization, and workflow improvements, indicating a role with considerable responsibility and influence.

Reporting Structure: The Technical UI Designer will likely report to a UI/UX Lead or Manager. They will work collaboratively within a cross-functional team, interacting frequently with UI Artists, UX Designers, UI Engineers, and potentially gameplay programmers and producers.

Operations Impact: The work of a Technical UI Designer directly impacts the player experience, influencing usability, accessibility, and overall engagement with Fortnite. By ensuring a performant, intuitive, and visually polished UI, this role contributes significantly to player satisfaction, retention, and the monetization success of the game. Effective UI design and implementation are critical operational components for a live service game.

Growth Opportunities:

Technical Specialization: Deepen expertise in Unreal Engine's UI systems (UMG, Slate), performance optimization, and advanced blueprint scripting, potentially becoming a subject matter expert.
Leadership Development: Transition into a Lead Technical UI Designer role, mentoring junior team members, guiding UI system architecture, and taking on more strategic design responsibilities.
Cross-Disciplinary Skill Development: Gain exposure to broader game development disciplines, such as gameplay programming or technical art, by collaborating closely with these teams.
Project Leadership: Lead UI implementation efforts for specific features or game modes, managing scope, timelines, and team coordination.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Operations" aspect here relates to the crucial function of UI as an operational component of a live-service game, directly impacting user experience and retention. Growth opportunities are geared towards specialization within UI/UX or movement into leadership within game development.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: On-site, indicating a collaborative physical workspace designed to foster team interaction and innovation. Office Location(s): Porto Alegre and São Paulo, Brazil. These are major metropolitan hubs, likely offering modern office facilities with amenities conducive to creative and technical work.

Workspace Context:

The workspace is expected to be highly collaborative, encouraging direct interaction and knowledge sharing among UI designers, artists, and engineers.
Access to state-of-the-art hardware, software, and internal tools will be provided to facilitate complex UI development and performance analysis.
Opportunities for regular team syncs, brainstorming sessions, and informal discussions will be prevalent, supporting a dynamic and iterative development process.

Work Schedule: A standard 40-hour work week is expected, with potential for flexibility to accommodate project deadlines and team needs. The emphasis is on efficient work and achieving project goals within established frameworks.

📝 Enhancement Note: The on-site requirement emphasizes Epic Games' commitment to fostering a collaborative environment where in-person interaction drives innovation and problem-solving, which is common in the fast-paced game development industry.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

Initial Screening: A review of your resume and portfolio to assess technical skills, relevant experience, and alignment with the role's requirements.
Technical Interview(s): In-depth discussions focusing on UI systems design, Unreal Engine implementation, blueprint scripting, performance optimization, and problem-solving methodologies. Expect scenario-based questions and discussions around your portfolio projects.
Portfolio Review: A dedicated session where you will walk through your portfolio, explaining your design process, technical contributions, problem-solving approaches, and the impact of your work.
Team/Cultural Fit Interview: Meetings with potential team members and hiring managers to assess collaboration style, communication skills, and cultural alignment with Epic Games' values.
Potential Practical Exercise: A small design or technical challenge related to UI implementation or problem-solving in Unreal Engine may be given.

Portfolio Review Tips:

Highlight Technical Implementation: Focus on showcasing your ability to take wireframes and designs and implement them within a game engine, detailing the technical solutions you devised.
Demonstrate Problem-Solving: For each project, clearly articulate the challenges you faced (technical or design) and how you overcame them, emphasizing your logical thinking and attention to detail.
Showcase Performance Optimization: If possible, include examples where you specifically addressed UI performance, memory constraints, or optimization techniques, detailing your approach and results.
Explain Your Process: Clearly articulate your design and implementation process, from understanding requirements to final execution and iteration. Use visual aids and concise explanations.
Quantify Impact: Where possible, quantify the impact of your work, such as improvements in usability, performance metrics, or user satisfaction.

Challenge Preparation:

Unreal Engine Fundamentals: Brush up on core Unreal Engine concepts, including UMG, Slate, Blueprint scripting, and common performance profiling tools.
UI System Design: Practice breaking down complex UI features into modular components and considering their technical implementation.
Problem-Solving Scenarios: Prepare for questions that test your ability to diagnose and solve technical issues related to UI implementation and performance.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process heavily emphasizes practical skills and a portfolio that demonstrates technical proficiency in implementing UI within a game engine context. Candidates should be ready to discuss their contributions in detail and articulate their problem-solving approaches.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

Unreal Engine: The primary development environment for implementing UI systems, including UMG (Unreal Motion Graphics) and potentially Slate for lower-level UI development.
Adobe Photoshop: Essential for creating UI assets, textures, and mockups.
Figma: A collaborative interface design tool for wireframing, prototyping, and design handoff.

Analytics & Reporting:

While not explicitly listed for this role, experience with analytics platforms used in game development (e.g., internal tools, or general analytics suites) to track user engagement with UI elements would be beneficial.

CRM & Automation:

Not directly applicable to this UI design role, as it focuses on game development tools rather than sales or marketing operations tools.

📝 Enhancement Note: Proficiency in Unreal Engine, particularly UMG, is paramount. Photoshop and Figma are standard tools for UI designers and are expected. Familiarity with performance profiling tools within Unreal Engine is a significant plus.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

Innovation: A drive to create fresh, innovative, and user-centric experiences that push the boundaries of interactive entertainment.
Collaboration: Strong emphasis on teamwork and cross-functional communication to achieve shared goals.
Excellence: A commitment to high-quality standards, pixel-perfect execution, and continuous improvement in design and implementation.
Problem-Solving: A proactive approach to identifying and addressing challenges with intuitive and valuable solutions.
User Focus: Prioritizing the player experience by understanding user behavior and anticipating their needs.

Collaboration Style:

Highly collaborative, with designers working closely with artists, engineers, and other disciplines to ensure seamless integration of UI into the game.
Open communication and feedback exchange are encouraged to foster iterative design and efficient problem-solving.
A culture of knowledge sharing and mutual support, empowering team members to learn and grow.

📝 Enhancement Note: Epic Games values a culture of innovation, collaboration, and a relentless pursuit of quality. Candidates should demonstrate an ability to work effectively in a team, communicate clearly, and contribute to a positive and productive development environment.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

Scale and Complexity: Working on a massive, live-service game like Fortnite presents challenges in managing complex UI systems, ensuring performance across diverse platforms, and adapting to frequent updates and new features.
Performance Optimization: Balancing visual fidelity and feature richness with stringent performance requirements (memory, CPU) is a constant challenge in game development.
Cross-Functional Alignment: Effectively communicating and aligning UI design and implementation with the needs and constraints of various other development disciplines.
Adapting to Evolving Trends: Staying current with UI/UX design trends and technological advancements in the gaming industry.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

Unreal Engine Specialization: Opportunities to become an expert in Unreal Engine's UI frameworks and tools through hands-on experience and internal training.
Cross-Disciplinary Exposure: Working closely with engineers and artists provides exposure to different areas of game development, broadening skill sets.
Industry Best Practices: Learning and applying best practices in UI design, implementation, and performance optimization from a world-class team.
Mentorship: Potential for mentorship from senior designers and engineers, fostering career growth and skill development.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are inherent to AAA game development, requiring resilience, adaptability, and a strong technical foundation. The growth opportunities are significant, offering deep specialization and broad exposure within a leading game development studio.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

UI Systems Design: Be prepared to discuss how you would architect a complex UI system from scratch, detailing the components, data flow, and implementation strategy within Unreal Engine. Consider how to ensure scalability and maintainability.
Performance Optimization: Expect questions about how you would diagnose and resolve UI performance issues, such as frame rate drops or increased memory usage. Be ready to discuss profiling techniques and optimization strategies for UMG/Blueprint.
Collaboration & Communication: Prepare examples of how you have successfully collaborated with artists, engineers, and other stakeholders, and how you handle disagreements or translate technical information between teams.
Problem-Solving: Be ready to walk through a challenging UI implementation problem you encountered and how you solved it, focusing on your thought process and the technical solutions you applied.

Company & Culture Questions:

Epic Games' Vision: Research Epic Games' mission, values, and recent projects. Understand their commitment to technology and player experience.
Fortnite's UI: Familiarize yourself with Fortnite's current UI. Think about its strengths, potential areas for improvement, and how your skills align with its design philosophy.
Team Dynamics: Consider how you contribute to a collaborative team environment and how you handle feedback and integrate it into your work.

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

Storytelling: Frame your portfolio pieces as stories that highlight the problem, your solution, and the outcome. Emphasize your specific role and contributions.
Technical Depth: Be prepared to dive deep into the technical implementation details of your projects, explaining your choices regarding UMG, Blueprint, performance considerations, and asset integration.
Visual Clarity: Use clear, concise visuals and annotations in your presentation to illustrate complex UI structures and implementation details.
Conciseness: Respect the time allocated for your presentation. Focus on the most relevant and impactful projects that showcase your technical UI design skills.

📝 Enhancement Note: Candidates should be ready to demonstrate not only their design eye but also their technical aptitude for implementing UI within Unreal Engine. The ability to articulate process, problem-solve, and collaborate effectively will be key.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Tech UI Designer position:

Submit your application through the Epic Games careers portal, ensuring all required fields are completed accurately.
Portfolio Customization: Tailor your portfolio to specifically highlight projects demonstrating your experience with UI systems design, implementation in game engines (especially Unreal Engine), performance optimization, and collaborative workflows. Select 2-3 of your most relevant and impactful projects.
Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly articulates your experience in game UI development, proficiency with Unreal Engine (UMG, Blueprint), design tools (Photoshop, Figma), and any experience with performance profiling or workflow improvements. Use keywords from the job description.
Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your design process, technical solutions, and problem-solving approaches for your portfolio projects. Prepare to discuss your experience with game math and programming principles.
Company Research: Gain a thorough understanding of Epic Games, its culture, and the products you would be contributing to, particularly Fortnite, to demonstrate genuine interest and cultural alignment.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.

Tech UI Designer