About the role
Mission
Your contributions will help millions of players experience Call of Duty as it's meant to be played: competitive, fair, and thrilling. You'll solve complex challenges involving Windows kernel development, driver security, platform architecture, and low-level system behavior while helping shape the future of anti-cheat technology on both traditional PC and Windows on Arm devices. Your work will directly influence the security, reliability, and effectiveness of the RICOCHET platform and help protect one of the world's largest gaming communities.
Responsibilities
- Build and Evolve Platform Protections: Design, develop, and maintain kernel-mode driver capabilities that provide a strong foundation for anti-cheat protections across x64 and Windows on Arm platforms.
- Strengthen Core Driver Systems: Analyze, port, debug, and enhance production driver functionality while ensuring stability, performance, and compatibility across a wide range of hardware and Windows configurations.
- Investigate and Counter Advanced Threats: Research cheat techniques and evasion methods, leveraging expertise in Windows internals, reverse engineering, and kernel architecture to develop resilient detection and protection mechanisms.
- Collaborate Across Studios and Platforms: Partner with security engineers, platform teams, and external partners to validate hardware compatibility, improve development and testing infrastructure, and successfully ship and operate driver technology in live products.
Minimum Requirements
Experience
- 10+ years of professional software development experience with deep expertise in C/C++
- 5+ years developing, debugging, and maintaining Windows kernel-mode drivers
- Proven experience building and supporting production-quality system software
- Windows on Arm, ARM64, or ARM64EC development experience
- Experience diagnosing and resolving complex driver, platform, and OS compatibility issues
- Experience with automated build, test, and validation environments
Knowledge & Skills
- Deep understanding of the Windows on Arm, Windows kernel, driver model, and operating system internals
- Strong proficiency in C/C++ and Arm, x86/x64 assembly
- Expert-level debugging skills using WinDbg and related tooling
- Strong understanding of Windows Internals, process, memory, and executable image internals
- Solid understanding of algorithms and data structures
Key Attributes
- Passion for building reliable, high-quality low-level software
- Curiosity to understand how systems work internally and solve complex technical problems
- Comfortable analyzing and debugging code at the assembly level
- Strong troubleshooting and root-cause analysis skills
- Clear and effective communication skills
Extra Points
Experience
- Windows security or security software development experience
- Reverse engineering experience
- Experience developing anti-cheat, endpoint security, anti-malware, or EDR solutions
- Experience working with multiplayer game technology
Knowledge & Skills
- Understanding of advanced cheat-evasion techniques, rootkits, bootkits, including hypervisors, DKOM, EPT manipulation, and vulnerable-driver abuse
- Deep understanding of C++ build systems, compilation, linking, and toolchains
Company Overview
Activision Central Tech works to support development studios and their titles. The organization comprises seven main teams including big data, privacy and security, motion capture and animation pipeline technologies, graphics, build and infrastructure for studio development and data centers, optimization, systems programming, and online services. Central Tech is distributed globally with offices across the U.S., Canada, England, Ireland, and Japan. Most teams are comprised of both engineering and research talent.
Compensation and Benefits
Base Pay
- The standard base pay range for this role in the U.S. is $166,990.00 - $308,980.00 Annual.
- Specific offers are based on factors including relevant experience, performance, and work location.
- Employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation, which is not guaranteed. New hire compensation is negotiable.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance
- 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching
- Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave
- Mental health and wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games
- Various voluntary benefit programs including supplemental life and disability, legal service, ID protection, and rental insurance
- Relocation assistance may be available if geographic relocation is required by the company