Programmer - Project Vanguard (M/F/D)

Location: Berlin, Germany Contract type: On-Payroll, Full-time (40h/week), fixed-term contract (with a strong possibility of extension or conversion to permanent employment based on performance and project requirements) Expected Start Date: 01.07.2026 Programmer is responsible for day-to-day technical operations across Vanguard and key Torpor Games pipelines. This role translates technical contributions into concrete implementation plans, participates in technical execution, and ensures that systems, tools, and workflows remain stable, scalable, and aligned with production needs. The Programmer works closely with the Lead Programmer, Technical Director, and with design, narrative, art, production, and QA leadership to support both in-development projects and live operations. Essential Extensive experience as a programmer on shipped game projects. Strong proficiency with Unity and C#, including system architecture, UI, and tooling integration. Proven experience working on narrative-heavy games, strategy games, or comparable projects with complex branching content, state management, and data-driven systems. Experience planning and delivering features within milestone-driven production environments. Strong collaboration skills across design, narrative, art, production, and QA. Experience in establishing coding standards, review processes, and maintainable technical practices. Ability to balance hands-on implementation with leadership and coordination responsibilities. Preferred Experience supporting live operations, post-launch updates, or DLC pipelines. Familiarity with localization workflows or content-heavy tooling environments. Practical understanding of AI-assisted development workflows, including strengths, limitations, and appropriate use cases in production environments. Experience evaluating and integrating AI tools responsibly within engineering pipelines, with awareness of quality, security, and maintainability considerations. Experience building or maintaining internal tools and content pipelines. Experience working in mid-sized or growing studios with multiple concurrent projects. Familiarity with dialogue systems, branching narrative tooling, or political/economic simulation mechanics. Experience with performance profiling, optimization, and technical debt management. Familiarity with web technologies, backend development, Python, or cloud services such as Node.js or Firebase. Participate in the day-to-day technical execution for Vanguard and provide technical support across additional Torpor Games pipelines, including LiveOps, localization, and internal tools. Coordinate a team of technical contributors, including engineering and functionally aligned roles such as QA Lead, ensuring clear ownership and follow-through. Own technical planning for features and pipelines, aligning scope, timelines, risk mitigation, and technical debt remediation with production priorities. Maintain coding standards, review routines, and practices that ensure quality and maintainability across projects. Partner with Design, Narrative, Art, and Production leadership to ensure technical solutions support content workflows and player-facing goals. Support build stability and release readiness by coordinating with QA, triaging issues, and driving fixes across milestones. Participate in technical documentation and knowledge transfer to keep pipelines accessible. Health & Wellbeing Free Urban Sports Club membership for all Berlin-based permanent employees. Public Transportation Fully covered Deutschland-Ticket (BVG) for nationwide public transport. Flexible Hours Start your day between 8:00–10:00 CET with core hours from 10:00–15:00 CET. Hybrid Work We embrace a hybrid work schedule, requiring in-office presence on 3 days, with the flexibility to work remotely for the remaining 2 days of the week (calculation is based on full-time position). Work from Abroad Up to 10 remote work days per year from outside Germany. Team Events Regular team events and access to the NLND community network. Feedback & Growth Regular feedback sessions to support your development. Annual Bonus Performance-based annual bonus. Vacation 24 paid vacation days (full-time).