Senior Game Simulation Programmer Jobs in Chicago, IL

We are seeking an experienced Senior Talent Acquisition Partner to deliver high-impact recruiting for our game development studios. This senior individual contributor will serve as a trusted talent advisor to studio and HR leadership while independently owning complex, business-critical hiring across creative and technical disciplines. The role requires deep knowledge of game development talent markets, strong sourcing expertise, and the ability to translate studio roadmaps and capability needs into targeted recruiting strategies. Success will be measured through quality of hire, delivery against studio hiring priorities, strength of specialized talent pipelines, stakeholder partnership, candidate experience, and effective use of market intelligence.

• Own end-to-end recruitment for complex and specialized studio roles across game development, including creative and technical disciplines such as game design, art and animation, software engineering, mathematics, UX/UI, production, audio, quality, and related functions.
• Partner closely with studio leaders, hiring managers, and HR Business Partners to understand development roadmaps, team capability needs, critical skill gaps, and hiring priorities; translate those needs into practical recruiting strategies.
• Serve as a senior talent advisor by providing data-informed guidance on talent availability, competitive landscapes, compensation considerations, location strategy, candidate expectations, and other market dynamics affecting studio hiring.
• Build proactive sourcing, talent-mapping, and pipelining strategies for niche and hard-to-fill game development talent, engaging both active and passive candidates through targeted research, networks, communities, events, and direct outreach.
• Apply strong knowledge of game development disciplines and studio environments to improve intake quality, candidate calibration, assessment approaches, and hiring decisions in partnership with subject-matter experts and hiring teams.
• Independently manage the full recruiting lifecycle, including intake and search strategy, sourcing, screening, interview process design and facilitation, candidate management, offer development, negotiation, and close.
• Develop trusted relationships with senior and highly sought-after creative and technical candidates, delivering a high-touch candidate experience and effectively representing IGT, our studios, teams, projects, and employee value proposition.
• Use recruiting analytics, pipeline health, and external talent intelligence to identify risks, adjust search strategies, improve hiring outcomes, and provide clear updates and recommendations to stakeholders.
• Contribute subject-matter expertise to talent acquisition initiatives such as employer branding, studio talent campaigns, sourcing innovation, process improvement, recruiting technology, and talent market research.
• Ensure recruiting practices comply with applicable employment laws, company policies, governance requirements, and consistent selection standards across supported markets.

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Liberal Arts/Social Sciences, or related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 10+ years of progressive talent acquisition experience, with substantial experience independently managing complex, specialized, or senior-level searches.
• Demonstrated in-house or embedded recruiting experience supporting game development studios, gaming, interactive entertainment, or closely related creative technology environments; direct experience hiring both creative and technical game-development talent is required.
• Strong working knowledge of game development disciplines, talent profiles, and studio hiring dynamics, with the credibility to partner effectively with leaders across engineering, art, design, production, and other specialized functions.
• Proven ability to build recruiting strategies and talent pipelines for niche, competitive, and difficult-to-find skill sets using market mapping, research, networking, direct sourcing, and talent intelligence.
• Advanced consultative and stakeholder-management skills, including the ability to influence hiring decisions, challenge assumptions constructively, and provide clear recommendations to senior leaders and hiring teams.
• Strong full-cycle recruiting capabilities across assessment, candidate engagement, interview process management, offer strategy, negotiation, and closing, with a consistent focus on quality and candidate experience.
• Comfort using recruiting metrics and market data to diagnose pipeline challenges, communicate tradeoffs, and improve search strategy and recruiting effectiveness.
• Proficiency with applicant tracking systems, sourcing platforms, recruiting technologies, and modern research tools; experience using data or AI-enabled recruiting tools is a plus.

• Building collaborative relationships
• Decision making
• Drive results
• Foster innovation
• Personal energy
• Self-leadership