Head of Game Development

Company Overview

Twin Harbour Interactive develops high-quality strategy games with a focus on accessibility. The company integrates Artificial Intelligence to reduce repetitive tasks and prioritizes strategic thinking and human connection. With studios in Hamburg (St. Pauli) and San Ġiljan, Malta, the organization maintains a flat hierarchy, a multicultural environment, and a global team of over 30 nationalities.

Role Overview

The Head of Game Development owns the engineering side of the game portfolio, including people leadership, standards, and long-term capability. This senior leadership role reports directly to the VP Technology and is responsible for building and managing the department that develops the games. The focus is on developing engineering leads and engineers, setting technical standards, and establishing conditions for long-term success.

Responsibilities

People and Careers

• Own the people development, career growth, and performance of all game engineers.
• Directly line manage Tech Leads and coach them to develop their own teams to build autonomy.
• Build and maintain career frameworks for engineering leads and individual contributors.
• Drive the recruitment and retention of diverse engineering talent across frontend, game server, and backend disciplines.
• Cultivate a team environment where engineers feel safe to raise problems, challenge assumptions, and perform their best work across live and new games.

Standards and Quality

• Define and uphold the quality bar for game engineering, empowering Tech Team Leads to maintain it.
• Partner with the VP Technology and Tech Team Leads to ensure technical standards are coherent across all titles.
• Champion continuous improvement in workflows, including the use of emerging tools and AI-assisted processes.

Portfolio and Strategy

• Partner with the VP Technology and Head of Platform to define the technical strategy for all live and new game development.
• Manage engineering staffing allocation, balancing live ops growth against new development velocity, and addressing capacity risks.
• Monitor trends in engineering culture and developer experience to integrate relevant practices.

Delivery Partnership

• Partner with peer Heads of Department (Art, Design) to represent engineering constraints, capacity, and standards.
• Ensure engineering reality shapes decisions early in the process.
• Serve as the escalation point for cross-title conflicts or decisions requiring senior engineering judgment.

Profile Requirements

• People Leadership: Proven track record of developing engineers and engineering leads. Ability to manage careers, provide effective feedback, and build teams.
• Technical Credibility: Experience with Unity, TypeScript, or Java. Background in client, backend, or game server development with enough depth to engage in architecture and technical trade-offs.
• Live Service Experience: Ability to ship into live environments at a consistent pace and maintain team focus on long-term growth through features and optimizations.
• Agile Fluency: Ability to balance structure with flexibility, managing the pace of new title teams while maintaining stability for live game teams.
• Passion for Games: Genuine enthusiasm for games and the players who interact with them.
• Communication: Fluent English is required.
• Education: Degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience; depth of knowledge is prioritized over credentials.

Tech Stack

• Games are built using C#, JavaScript/HTML5, Java, and PHP.

Benefits and Perks

• Flexible Work: Hybrid work models supporting offices in Hamburg (St. Pauli) and San Ġiljan, Malta.
• Professional Growth: Career Path Framework, mentorship culture, language courses, e-learning platforms, and support for conferences and training.
• Company Culture: Human-first approach including game nights, casual drinks, quiz nights, and karaoke.
• Environment: Creative and collaborative setting combining the agility of an indie team with the reach of a global studio.

Employment Details

• Department: Game Programming/Engineering
• Employment Type: Permanent, Full time
• Locations: Hamburg (St. Pauli); San Ġiljan, Malta
• Remote Status: Hybrid