Contract Game Developer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

At Rockstar Games, we create world-class entertainment experiences. 

Become part of a team working on some of the most rewarding, large-scale creative projects to be found in any entertainment medium - all within an inclusive, highly-motivated environment where you can learn and collaborate with some of the most talented people in the industry.

Rockstar Games is seeking a Senior Software Engineer in Data Engineering to join a team focused on building a cutting-edge game analytics platform and tools to better understand our players and enhance their experience in our games.   

The ideal candidate will be skilled in developing complex ingestion and transformation processes with an emphasis on reliability and performance. In collaboration with Data Engineers, Machine Learning Engineers, and other Software Engineers, the candidate will empower the team of Analysts and Data Scientists to deliver data driven insights and applications to company stakeholders.  

This is a full-time, in-office position based out of Rockstar's new state-of-the-art game development studio in Carlsbad, CA.

• The Rockstar Games Online Services team builds the technology foundation that powers our games and delivers world-class player experiences.  
• Our Data Engineering group manages petabyte-scale data, integrating dozens of streaming and batch sources with strict requirements for reliability, compliance, and low-latency processing. 
• We approach data engineering with the rigor of software engineering by applying modern practices such as clean architecture, modular design, and automated testing. Our focus is on building scalable, reusable platforms and frameworks that enable our partners in Data Science and Game Development to deliver insights and unlock new possibilities for players. 

• Design, build, and maintain high-throughput streaming and batch data processing services, with a primary focus on raw and bronze-level ingestion. 
• Develop and operate stream-based applications responsible for real-time data transformation, enrichment, validation, and routing. 
• Own and evolve event schemas and data contracts, including Avro schemas and Schema Registry governance. 
• Ensure scalability, fault tolerance, and performance of streaming and ingestion pipelines under heavy load. 
• Contribute to platform-level concerns such as deployment automation, observability, operational tooling, and CI/CD. 
• Participate in the design and implementation of cloud-native data infrastructure supporting real-time and batch workloads. 

• 5+ years of professional experience building production software systems, preferably in a distributed or data-intensive environment. 
• Strong experience with Java (and/or Scala) as well as Python, in backend or data processing applications. 
• Experience designing and operating streaming systems using Kafka or Kafka Streams (or similar). 
• Experience working with event-driven architectures, including schema evolution and compatibility. 
• Experience building real-time and/or near-real-time data pipelines at scale. 
• Solid understanding of distributed systems concepts (partitioning, fault tolerance, backpressure, exactly-once/at-least-once semantics). 
• Familiarity with Avro, Protobuf, or similar serialization formats and schema governance practices. 

Please note that these are desirable skills and are not required to apply for the position.

• Experience with Databricks, particularly for ingestion, bronze-layer processing, or structured streaming. 
• Experience deploying and scaling applications in containerized environments (e.g., Kubernetes, AKS). 
• Experience working with artifact repositories (e.g., Artifactory, ProGet, Maven repositories). 
• Experience with Infrastructure-as-Code (e.g., Terraform, Databricks Asset Bundles). 
• Familiarity with the Microsoft Azure cloud ecosystem. 
• Familiarity with Apache Spark. 
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and deployment workflows. 

Please apply with a resume and cover letter demonstrating how you meet the skills above. If we would like to move forward with your application, a Rockstar recruiter will reach out to you to explain next steps and guide you through the process.

Rockstar is committed to creating a work environment that promotes equal opportunity, dignity and respect. In line with this commitment, Rockstar will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified job applicants with disabilities during the recruitment process in order for such applicants to be considered for the position for which they are applying, as well as to qualified employees to enable them to perform the essential functions of their roles. If you need more information about Rockstar's reasonable accommodation policies or process, or need to request an accommodation, please notify your recruiter during the interview process.                             

If you've got the right skills for the job, we want to hear from you. We encourage applications from all suitable candidates regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, belief, race, or any other protected category.

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