• Big Viking Games is hiring a Head of Engineering & AI to drive AI-first transformation across our live-service games while providing hands-on engineering leadership for our development teams
• Reporting to the CEO, this role owns the technical roadmap for AI/ML capabilities, game and backend architecture, engineering standards, and infrastructure across the portfolio
• BVG is actively investing in a 2.0 product roadmap, a next-generation rebuild of our games with the potential to significantly expand our addressable market
• We are re-architecting how we work with AI and agentic systems, modernizing our game and backend infrastructure, and rethinking how we deliver personalized, dynamic player experiences
• This role sits at the intersection of applied AI and live-service game engineering, and is responsible for building the technical foundation for what comes next
• Architect and build agentic systems for automated game content production (art, items, events, narrative) and live-ops workflows
• Lead implementation of AI-native features across our games, including intelligent NPCs, dynamic in-game interactions, AI-assisted moderation, and real-time player personalization
• Design and build scalable data pipelines that integrate player behaviour, social graphs, CRM data, and game telemetry to power AI-driven decisions across live ops, monetization, and retention
• Drive adoption of AI tooling and workflows across engineering, game design, art, product, and live-ops teams
• Own the technical roadmap for AI/ML capabilities supporting current titles (YoWorld, FishWorld) and the 2.0 game platform
• Build context engineering systems and infrastructure to enable agentic automation across both internal studio operations and live game environments
• Serve as a key member of the leadership team, translating technical capabilities into business and product strategy
• Own engineering budget priorities and investment trade-offs aligned with studio and game-level goals
• Evaluate and manage third-party technology partnerships, game tech vendors, middleware, and build-vs-buy decisions
• Partner with game design, product, and creative leadership on technical feasibility, architecture decisions, and implementation planning
• Prepare and present technical updates to the CEO and Board, including roadmap progress, risks, and trade-offs
• Provide technical direction for client (Unity) and backend game services teams
• Drive strategy, architecture, and adoption of AI-enabled software development practices across the engineering organization
• Establish engineering standards, workflows, and best practices across the game development lifecycle, from prototyping to live operations
• Own cloud infrastructure strategy, cost optimization, and scaling decisions for live game services
• Ensure live-service reliability, security posture, anti-cheat and fraud controls, and incident management practices
• Elevate DevOps and SRE maturity including build pipelines, deployment automation, observability, and infrastructure-as-code for live games
• Collaborate with data and analytics teams on game telemetry, instrumentation, and player analytics infrastructure
• Hire, mentor, and develop game engineering talent, building technical capabilities across the studio
• This is a rare opportunity to shape the technical direction of a profitable, scaled live-service studio at the exact moment AI is rewriting what is possible in game development. You will have the autonomy to make big bets, the resources to execute, and a team that is ready to move

Benefits

• Extended Health + Dental Insurance: We provide extended health & dental insurance, along with an ample Health and Wellness Spending Account, so that you and your family can prioritize well-being.
• Hybrid Work: We offer various remote positions across Ontario and hybrid positions for team members based in Toronto. Regardless of location, we adapt our work practices to ensure everyone is supported.
• Generous Paid Time Off: Vikings enjoy 15 days of paid vacation and 5 paid sick days annually. We also offer Flex days for hybrid employees who occasionally need to work from home on typical office days.
• Flexible Work Hours: We prioritize collaboration during core working hours, while offering flexibility outside of that to help you manage life’s demands.
• Continuous Learning: We champion self-directed learning and offer support for courses, certifications, and programs that help you grow in your role - and beyond.
• Fair & Evolving Compensation: We’re committed to paying fairly for your role and contributions. Salaries are reviewed twice a year to ensure they stay aligned with your impact and the market.- The ideal candidate is an AI-forward technical leader who combines hands-on applied AI/ML experience with the ability to lead game engineering teams through complex technical challenges
• You thrive in environments where you can architect strategic solutions, move at startup velocity with emerging technologies, and roll up your sleeves to solve hard technical problems
• You are equally comfortable driving organization-wide AI adoption as you are shipping scalable, production-grade game systems
• Track record of building technical infrastructure and platforms from the ground up
• High AI affinity and early adopter mindset; comfortable with rapid technology shifts
• Applied AI/ML expertise with a track record implementing systems in production - must demonstrate hands-on production AI experience beyond exploratory work
• Strong architectural thinking across backend systems, data pipelines, and AI infrastructure
• Proven ability to ship and operate live products at scale with high reliability and performance requirements
• 10-15+ years of software engineering experience with 5+ years in senior technical leadership roles, leading technical teams of 20+
• Experience with real-time or interactive application frameworks
• Hands-on experience building and shipping live games on Unity (or directly comparable real-time game engines)
• Background in consumer products with large-scale daily active user bases
• Familiarity with platform economics and user segmentation