Lead Game Engineer

At Trailmix, our players are the reason we exist, and this drives our mission: to create delightful spaces where millions of people can flourish. Our hit game Love & Pies, launched in September 2021, has resonated with millions worldwide, and we build free-to-play mobile games that are snackable yet filled with heart, humour, and stories that stick.

We’re a focused and highly collaborative team with a big creative spirit. We believe the best games are made when the people behind them feel inspired, supported, and proud of the work they do.

That’s why our values sit at the heart of how we work
, shaping every decision and creative choice we make.

• We win as one: Success is shared, and collaboration fuels everything we do, because great games are never built solo.
• We are resilient by nature: We adapt and rise stronger each time, because every challenge is a chance to evolve.
• We are powered by our players: Every choice begins with them, because when our players thrive, so do we.
• We are kind and direct: We speak with honesty and care, because clarity and compassion build the trust that makes us better.
• We stay curious and grow: We ask, explore, and learn, because curiosity keeps our creativity alive.
• We decide boldly and own fully: We move with courage and conviction, because great ideas only matter when we stand behind them.

As Lead Game Engineer on a New Game Project in Berlin
, you are accountable for the technical direction, delivery confidence, and people leadership of the engineering team building our next game. This role carries full hands‑on engineering craft and extends into people management and delivery accountability. You will still write code – often hands‑on prototyping – but your primary impact comes from enabling others, owning the technical approach, and turning early concepts into validated, scalable builds.

You hold direct line‑management responsibility for the engineering team (initially small), and are accountable for their performance, growth, and clarity of ownership. We are hiring this role to build toward a sustainable Live Games team – not a career‑prototyper function – so you set architecture and standards now that will hold as your project scales from discovery into live.

The New Game Project in Berlin is in discovery. Your job is to move fast and validate – prove ideas out or kill weak ones quickly. You optimise for learning speed now, while bringing the architectural judgment and standards that set the game up to be built well as it moves toward production.

• Own the game’s architecture and technical direction
  ; make the major technical calls and bring the team in where it matters. You define which decisions you own, delegate, or take to the team – and you are accountable for the outcome, not for making every call alone.
• Match engineering investment to the stag
  e – keep prototyping fast and lightweight, and know when something warrants production‑grade rigour.
• Uphold engineering standards, code quality, and performance; stay hands‑on in complex or high‑impact work, often at the prototyping coalface.
• Set the architecture, standards, and validated learnings the production build will be based on as the game moves toward greenlight.
• Line manage the engineering team, including Senior Engineers, accountable for their performance, growth, and clarity of ownership.
• Run regular 1:1s and give kind, direct, actionable feedback
  ; support career‑progression conversations and development planning.
• Set clear expectations, address performance concerns early and constructively, and grow engineers who can make strong calls without you – your impact is measured by the team’s effectiveness, not just your own output.

• Break large initiatives into clear, parallelisable deliverables
  ; identify critical‑path risks early and communicate trade‑offs.
• Partner with Product/Design and Production to align on scope and feasibility.
• Improve processes, tooling, and automation to reduce last‑minute heroics; protect both delivery predictability and team sustainability.
• Instrument features so concepts can be validated quickly against…