Senior Unity Developer

About Magpie

At Magpie, we envision a world where every child, no matter their background, becomes a confident reader. Our nonprofit team combines research-backed instruction, joyful game design, and innovative technology to tackle America’s reading crisis head-on — with the goal of eradicating illiteracy through a digital-first, student-centered approach.

Role Summary

We’re seeking a pragmatic, mission-driven Senior Unity Developer to join our small, high-ownership team building Magpie’s next generation of learning games. You’ll wear many hats, work across boundaries, and lead two games from inception through alpha-ready delivery—shipping clear, consistent milestones along the way.

In this role, you’ll design and deliver the core gameplay systems that power joyful, effective reading experiences for students. You’ll work cross-functionally with Product, Learning Design, and Engineering to turn learning specifications into engaging gameplay, and you’ll own quality and performance—especially for web delivery (Chromebook-friendly).

You’re drawn to missions that matter. You think deeply about the systems behind learning, not just the visuals. You balance pragmatism with curiosity and build for the long term. The ideal candidate pairs strong technical execution with deep empathy for users, thrives in a collaborative startup environment, and is motivated by the opportunity to make reading joyful and accessible for all.

What You’ll Do:

• Design and build core gameplay architecture that is reliable, testable, and scalable (game states, core loop, progression, input, UI flow).
• Build and iterate on novel game components and reusable systems (animation/state machines, interaction systems, dialogue/tutorial systems, level/puzzle frameworks).
• Collaborate closely with product managers, learning designers, and fellow engineers to create new gameplay experiences and improve existing ones.
• Integrate with backend / live game services for personalization and persistence (APIs, data flows, offline/online resilience).
• Approach the games as products: understand learner and educator needs, identify friction, and take ownership of outcomes with metrics-informed decision making.
• Take ownership across all phases of development, from design to production, and monitor performance in live environments (especially WebGL).
• Implement a pragmatic automated testing strategy: unit tests + integration tests tied to game states, services, and core systems.
• Drive playtesting loops: instrument builds for fast feedback, triage issues, ship fixes, and improve stability.
• Write clean, efficient, and well-documented code following best practices.
• Ensure application performance, quality, and responsiveness across platforms (Chromebook-friendly, web constraints).
• Participate in code reviews, testing, and debugging to maintain high-quality deliverables.
• Mentor other engineers and contribute to their growth.
• Contribute to architectural decisions and help define technical standards and best practices.
• Stay up to date with emerging technologies and suggest improvements to enhance development processes.