Game Creation Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Posting Details
The University of Utah, an AA/EO employer, encourages applications from all qualified individuals, and provides reasonable accommodation to the known disabilities of applicants and employees. The University of Utah values candidates who have experience working in settings with students, staff, faculty and patients from all backgrounds and possess a strong commitment to improving access to higher education, employment opportunities, and quality healthcare for historically underrepresented groups.
Position Information
Proposed Faculty Rank
Assistant Professor (Lecturer)
Department
01508 - Games
City
Salt Lake City, UT
Track
Non Tenure Track
New Position to Begin
1/1/2027
Details
The Division of Games at the University of Utah invites applications for a non-tenure-track career-line Assistant Professor (Lecturer) in Games, with a focus on entrepreneurship and industry leadership, to begin Spring 2027 or Fall 2027. We seek an applicant with firsthand experience founding and building a games company, combined with a substantial career as an executive or senior leader within the games industry. Candidates should bring deep, practical knowledge of the business of game development, including studio formation, funding and financing, publishing and distribution models, team and product leadership, and the operational realities of running a game studio at scale.
The successful candidate will teach existing courses in game creation and will work with Division leadership and faculty to expand our curriculum, engaging students in entrepreneurship and the industry practices that surround the business of making and shipping games. This is an opportunity to help shape how the next generation of game makers understands founding, financing, and leading a studio, not only how to build the game itself.
Successful candidates will share our vision of the power that games hold to transform players, groups, and society. Hires are part of the PRESS PLAY Initiative (https://games.utah.edu/pressplay/), a significant, multi-year commitment for faculty growth in the Division of Games.
Note: The Division of Games is dedicated to connecting students with industry professionals and contemporary game development practices. For industry professionals wishing to transition into academia, the Division provides training and onboarding around academic and administrative practices.
Necessary Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience as a founder of a games company (studio, publisher, or games-adjacent venture).
• Ten or more years as an executive or senior leader within the games industry (e.g., studio head, CEO, COO, general manager, or equivalent leadership role).
• Teaching experience is required.
• Ability to lead existing courses in game creation and to teach across the B.S. in Games and Master's of Entertainment Arts & Engineering (MEAE) curricula to students in person on the Salt Lake City campus.
• Demonstrated commitment to teaching and/or mentoring undergraduate and graduate students in lectures and studio-based courses.
• Ability to develop new curriculum connecting entrepreneurship, business practice, and the games industry for students across the Division.
• A Bachelor's degree plus ten or more years of industry leadership experience in the games industry, or a terminal degree in a related field.
• In addition to teaching, candidates are expected to contribute to university and professional service, for example, collaborative work to expand our curriculum, outreach to local industry and government partners, and recruitment efforts.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience founding or leading more than one games company or venture, or leading a games company through founding to operation at significant scale.
• A network of active relationships across the games industry that can support student mentorship, internships, and placement.
• Experience fundraising, financing, or negotiating publishing and distribution agreements.

About the Division
The Division of Games is a world leader in games education, with consistently top-ranked programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and is currently ranked #1 among public institutions by both the Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report. We are one of the four academic units of the College of Architecture and Planning, which also includes the School of Architecture, the Department of City and Metropolitan Planning, and the Division of Multi-Disciplinary Design.
The Utah Games faculty includes artists, computer scientists, designers, learning scientists, philosophers, producers, social scientists, writers, and other games makers and scholars who collectively work together to push the boundaries of what is possible in games. This breadth of backgrounds is one of the core elements of our identity. We strongly value inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to research and education, and we seek to foster collaboration across the University of Utah. Currently, our faculty sustain ongoing collaborations with other departments within our College of Architecture + Planning, as well as the School of Medicine, the Colleges of Education, Humanities, Social and Behavioral Science, and Engineering, and other campus partners. We also maintain strong collaborations with the vibrant local game development community and other significant industry-wide partners.
Our unit is committed to being a responsible member of our campus and professional community, and we strive to recruit and support faculty committed to acting in furtherance of our unit's values. Interested candidates may view these values by visiting games.utah.edu/utah-games-values.
If you are interested in joining us to build a culture of academic excellence; to create ideas that advance our understanding of games; to share those ideas with our students, communities, and society; and to apply those ideas to change the world for the better, we strongly encourage you to apply.
About the University of Utah
The University of Utah is a Carnegie Research I institution located in Salt Lake City, nestled in the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains. With thriving arts and culinary scenes and a growing high-technology sector, Salt Lake City offers a mix of urban life alongside access to national parks, ski resorts, hiking, and climbing, all just minutes from campus.
EEO/Non-Discrimination Information
The University of Utah values candidates who have experience working in settings with students and possess a strong commitment to improving access to higher education.
Veterans' preference is extended to qualified applicants, upon request and consistent with University policy and Utah state law. Upon request, reasonable accommodations in the application process will be provided to individuals with disabilities.
Consistent with state and federal law, the University of Utah does not discriminate based upon race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, or protected veteran's status. The University does not discriminate on the basis of sex in the education program or activity that it operates, as required by Title IX and 34 CFR part 106. The requirement not to discriminate in education programs or activities extends to admission and employment. Inquiries about the application of Title IX and its regulations may be referred to the Title IX Coordinator, to the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, or both.
To request a reasonable accommodation for a disability or if you or someone you know has experienced discrimination or sexual misconduct including sexual harassment, you may contact the Director/Title IX Coordinator in the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX (OEO). More information, including the Director/Title IX Coordinator's office address, electronic mail address, and telephone number, can be located at https://www.utah.edu/nondiscrimination/.
Online reports may be submitted at https://oeo.utah.edu.
Notice
The University is a participating employer with Utah Retirement Systems ("URS"). Eligible new hires with prior URS service may elect to enroll in URS if they make the election before they become eligible for retirement (usually the first day of work). Contact Human Resources at (801) 581-7447 for information. Individuals who previously retired and are receiving monthly retirement benefits from URS are subject to URS' post-retirement rules and restrictions. Please contact Utah Retirement Systems at (801) 366-7770 or (800) 695-4877 or University Human Resource Management at (801) 581-7447 if you have questions regarding the post-retirement rules.
This position may require the successful completion of a criminal background check and/or drug screen.
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Special Instructions for Candidates
All qualified individuals are strongly encouraged to apply. Review of applications will begin immediately. All applications must be submitted prior to September 7, 2026. To apply, candidates must submit the following materials:

• Current CV
• Cover letter describing your interest in the position, identifying the area(s) of expertise for which you wish to be considered in evaluation and summarizing your industry-related expertise and personal academic goals.
• A Teaching Statement that addresses your experience and plans for teaching and student mentoring.
• Contact information for three references.

Open Date
08/14/2026
Close Date
Open Until Filled
Yes
Requisition Number
PRN01558CF
Type
Faculty