Expert: Unreal Game Development (Contract, Remote)

About Patronus AI

Patronus AI is a frontier lab developing simulation research and infrastructure to accelerate progress toward human-aligned AGI. We are on a mission to simulate all of the world’s intelligence.

We are the team behind some of the earliest and most influential research in AI evaluation like FinanceBench, Lynx, SimpleSafetyTests, CopyrightCatcher, Humanity’s Last Exam, and more. We are formerly AI researchers and engineers from companies like Meta AI, Amazon AGI, and Google. Our customers include foundation model labs and Fortune 500 enterprises like Adobe. We are backed by top-tier investors like Lightspeed Venture Partners, Notable Capital, Stanford University, Noam Brown, Gokul Rajaram, and more.

At a glance

• Engagement: Independent contractor, fully remote, asynchronous
• Pay: $50 to $150 per hour. Some projects pay per task instead: you are paid when the full task is submitted, with a bonus for each accepted task. Strong performers move up within that range or onto productivity-based pay. The trial task is paid.
• Commitment: 10 or more hours per week
• Start: Rolling
• Location: Remote

The role

You'll design realistic Unreal Engine 5 tasks that an experienced developer, designer or artist could complete with the right project and tools, and that today's AI models get wrong.

Each task starts from a brief we provide for a project area. You write the task the way you would hand it to a mid-level colleague, list the assets involved, build or document the reference solution, and write acceptance checks a tester could verify without opinion. One task is about a working day of developer effort. Your work becomes evaluation and training data for frontier models.

You don't need an AI background. You do need to be the kind of Unreal developer who knows real work from busywork, and can tell when a requirement can be checked objectively and when it can't.

Areas we're hiring for

Each area is defined by the asset you build, so you should fit exactly one. If you work across two, apply under the one where you spend most of your time.

• Gameplay programming and technical design. C++ and Blueprint gameplay systems: the gameplay framework and game state, Enhanced Input, data assets, and the Gameplay Ability System's abilities, effects, attribute sets and cues. Making those systems work across a network belongs to the next area. Typical titles: Gameplay Programmer, Gameplay Engineer, Technical Designer, Systems Designer, Blueprint Scripter.
• Multiplayer and network programming. Replication and RPCs, client prediction and reconciliation, dedicated servers, the Online Subsystem, sessions and matchmaking, and bandwidth and latency budgets. Any gameplay behavior that must hold up across a network belongs here. Typical titles: Network Programmer, Multiplayer Engineer, Online Services Engineer, Netcode Engineer.
• Technical art, rendering and performance. Materials and instances, Niagara, Nanite and Lumen, and the hooks from effects into gameplay cues. Profiling and optimization belong here for every discipline. Typical titles: Technical Artist, VFX Artist, Shader Artist, Rendering Engineer, Graphics Programmer, Performance Engineer.
• Level design and world building. Greybox to a brief, spawn and cover placement, nav mesh and encounter scripting in Blueprint, plus World Partition, PCG and streaming for large maps. Scripting that lives in one level belongs here, and reusable systems belong to gameplay programming. Typical titles: Level Designer, Senior Level Designer, World Builder, Environment Designer, Encounter Designer, Mission Designer.

What you'll do

• Author tasks from a short brief for a project area, written the way you would hand them to a mid-level colleague, with acceptance checks a tester could verify without opinion.
• Build the project materials a task needs, such as Blueprints, C++ classes, materials, levels, test maps and server test setups.
• Solve each task end to end: implement the reference solution and document how you verified it.
• Write scoring criteria precise enough that two independent graders reach the same verdict, including acceptable alternative implementations.
• Review tasks written by others for realism and for whether the checks test the right thing.
• Work in reviewer feedback within agreed turnaround times, and flag guideline gaps or edge cases you run into.

Who we're looking for

Required

• 3+ years of hands-on Unreal Engine development in at least one of the areas above, as a gameplay programmer, technical designer, network programmer, technical artist or level designer. You built the work yourself; directing it is not enough.
• Working command of the engine in your area. Examples: the gameplay framework and Gameplay Ability System, replication and the Online Subsystem, the material and Niagara systems and the profiling tools, or greybox, nav mesh and encounter scripting.
• Ability to open a project in UE 5.8, rebuild it, and work in both C++ and Blueprint.
• The habit of verifying behavior in the editor and in a packaged build, and of showing the evidence behind every conclusion.
• Clear, precise writing in professional English.
• Ability to work independently and asynchronously against deadlines.
• A Windows machine capable of running Unreal Engine 5.8.

Nice to have

• Prior experience writing or reviewing AI evaluation tasks, technical interview questions, tutorials, courses or engine documentation.
• Familiarity with how AI models fail on engine work.

Our standards

• All tasks, project files and solutions are human-authored. LLM-generated code, content or text is not permitted.
• Tasks and solutions must be original. Nothing may be copied from published or easily searchable sources, including tutorials and marketplace content.
• Never include code, assets or project files from a current or former employer, client or studio, or anything covered by an NDA. All studios, projects and scenarios are fictional, and all code and content is your own.
• Quality is judged on accuracy, rubric validity, difficulty and reviewer agreement, not volume.

How hiring works

1. Short AI interview and resume review
2. One paid trial task, scored against a fixed quality checklist
3. Onboarding and your first project

Patronus AI is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in our workplace, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or other legally protected characteristics.

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