Lead Graphics Programmer

We’re looking for a Lead Graphics Programmer  to join our award winning team in Middlesbrough (UK), home to the beautiful North Yorkshire coastline and countryside. 

As the Lead Graphics Programmer, your primary focus will be leading, mentoring, and guiding a talented graphics team to push forward the rendering technology that powers our custom graphics engine used on an exciting, high profile project. While this is a hands-on role where you will contribute directly to the codebase, your fundamental responsibility is to empower your engineers and ensure the successful delivery of next-generation rendering features.

Working closely alongside the Technical Director and other discipline leads, you will collaborate to set the engine-level rendering strategy and ensure technical alignment across the project. Furthermore, you will act as the primary point of contact for our external clients, proudly representing the graphics team in critical discussions with external partners, hardware vendors, and internal stakeholders to ensure our rendering solutions meet and exceed project demands.

Double Eleven is one of the largest independent video games developers and publishers in the UK. Headquartered in Middlesbrough, we employ over 400 people across our UK and Kuala Lumpur studios.

We are incredibly proud to partner with some of the world’s leading developers and publishers, including Rockstar Games, Obsidian Entertainment, Mojang, Bethesda Game Studios and Facepunch. 

As a global games company, we've collaborated to create new worlds in The Outer Worlds 2, helped deliver unforgettable experiences for players of Red Dead Redemption, enabled millions to battle in Rust Console Edition and created new adventures in Fallout 76. 

Double Eleven is more than a place to work, we are deeply values-driven in all that we do and we know that we are at our best when our people feel fulfilled. We offer flexible working hours to allow you to truly enjoy work/life balance and always strive to deliver a workplace experience like no other.  We regularly bring our people together to connect and have fun through our many different events, parties and hobby-based clubs.

On this occasion, we’re unable to sponsor a visa for this role. 

What you’ll be doing

On a daily basis, your focus will be on the success and direction of your team, supported by targeted hands-on technical execution. Your core responsibilities will include:

• Team Management & Mentorship: Serve as the leader for the graphics team. You will conduct 1:1s, guide career development, coordinate workloads, and mentor engineers to upskill them in modern rendering paradigms.

• Lead Technical Direction: Drive the rendering strategy in close collaboration with the Technical Director, engineering leadership, and production.

• Client & Stakeholder Communication: Act as the primary technical point of contact for external clients, hardware vendors, and internal partners, translating complex technical jargon for non-technical audiences and managing expectations.

• Cross-Discipline Collaboration: Work closely with the art team to align visual goals with technical solutions and ensure assets meet strict performance and memory budget targets.

• Targeted Hands-on Implementation: Maintain hands-on involvement by coding critical graphics technology.

• Performance & Optimization Oversight: Guide the team in profiling and optimizing the entire rendering pipeline. You will set memory and performance budgets and assist in diagnosing GPU/CPU bottlenecks.

• Technology Strategy: Evaluate and guide the integration of modern rendering technologies

What we’re looking for

• Proven Leadership: Extensive experience managing and guiding engineers, coordinating workloads, and successfully owning significant graphics or engine-level systems in a cooperative, cross-functional environment.
• Communication: Strong communication skills, and the ability to work effectively in a co-dev environment.
• Strong C++ & GPU Programming: Demonstrably strong C++ skills in a large shared codebase, alongside deep knowledge of common shader languages, Shader Model 6 and HLSL/GLSL.
• Modern Graphics APIs: Extensive experience with modern graphics APIs (DirectX 12, Vulkan) and modern GPU driven rendering.
• Ray Tracing: Deep, practical knowledge of DXR/Vulkan ray tracing, BVH acceleration structures, path tracing and denoising techniques..
• Applied Mathematics: Strong foundation in 3D math, linear algebra, geometry, and calculus as they apply to graphics rendering pipelines.
• Physically Based Rendering (PBR): Proven experience with PBR pipelines, the lighting equation, Micro-Facet BRDFs and Global Illumination systems.
• Advanced Debugging: Exceptional debugging skills to help your team effectively track, diagnose, and solve complex rendering issues.

Considered a bonus

• AAA Experience: Experience working on AAA game engines or large-scale real-time rendering systems.
• Console Architecture: Familiarity with console-specific graphics APIs and hardware architecture (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Switch).

Qualifications

• All relevant qualifications considered

What to expect

Working life at Double Eleven 

• Start your day any time between 8:00am and 10:00am
• 35 working hours per week with a 1 hour lunch break (with the opportunity to flex down to 30 minutes or up to 2 hours)
• Opportunity to apply for hybrid working  (up to 2 days working from home per week) 
• 28 days annual leave (20 days annual leave + 8 days bank holiday) 
• 1 day leave for your birthday and 1 day leave if you’re moving house
• Up to 10 days discretionary annual leave during our end of year break
• A brand new, state-of-the-art studio facilities that includes a market hall serving nutritious, subsidised meals, round-the-clock gym access, an auditorium and more
• Subsidised market hall with food, freshly prepared daily by our in-house hospitality team
• Free breakfast options, juice, hot drinks and fruit.
• Employee referral bonus (up to £2000!)
• Electric Car Scheme
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Free game codes, game swag and merchandise
• Family-friendly leave available
• Christmas Saving Scheme
• Free parking
• Best-in-class tools and workflows so you can focus on creativity

Recognising your contribution - award schemes

• Annual Profit Share
• Length of Service
• Annual High Performer Award

Professional development and wellbeing

• Vitality Private Healthcare, discounts and rewards for you, your spouse and children (upon the successful completion of your 6 month probationary period) 
• Access to mental health and wellbeing support via Plumm (includes 4 free video therapy sessions per month for both the employee and up to 3 family members aged 18+), unlimited text therapy, courses, meditations
• A personalised development plan with dedicated support tailored to your growth and goals
• Access to an accredited Academy providing professional qualifications (and access to 500 UK discounts and offers via TOTUM when registered as a student) 
• A dedicated Workplace Experience team responsible for work environments, workplace and quality of employee life services to help foster collaboration, creativity and innovation
• In-studio wellbeing programmes and People team support

Team life 

•  Free activities via our Bus Tours programme (where on occasion, partners and children are welcome to join you) 
• Many team events to celebrate team and game milestones
• Sponsored team activities including football, basketball, book club, movie club and more 
• Opportunity to contribute to our internal Employee Diversity and Equality Network

Ways to reach us

If you have a general query or if you need support with your application and/or an alternative way to apply, please do not hesitate to contact our Talent team at Double Eleven

Team Management & Mentorship: Serve as the leader for the graphics team, conduct 1:1s, guide career development, coordinate workloads, and mentor engineers in modern rendering paradigms. Lead Technical Direction: Drive the rendering strategy in close collaboration with the Technical Director, engineering leadership, and production. Client & Stakeholder Communication: Act as the primary technical point of contact for external clients, hardware vendors, and internal partners, translating complex technical jargon for non-technical audiences and managing expectations. Cross-Discipline Collaboration: Work closely with the art team to align visual goals with technical solutions and ensure assets meet strict performance and memory budget targets. Targeted Hands-on Implementation: Maintain hands-on involvement by coding critical graphics technology. Performance & Optimization Oversight: Guide the team in profiling and optimizing the entire rendering pipeline, set memory and performance budgets, and assist in diagnosing GPU/CPU bottlenecks. Technology Strategy: Evaluate and guide the integration of modern rendering technologies. Proven Leadership: Extensive experience managing and guiding engineers, coordinating workloads, and successfully owning significant graphics or engine-level systems in a cooperative, cross-functional environment. Strong Communication skills, and the ability to work effectively in a co-dev environment. Strong C++ & GPU Programming skills in a large shared codebase, alongside deep knowledge of common shader languages, Shader Model 6 and HLSL/GLSL. Extensive experience with modern graphics APIs (DirectX 12, Vulkan) and modern GPU driven rendering. Deep, practical knowledge of DXR/Vulkan ray tracing, BVH acceleration structures, path tracing and denoising techniques. Strong foundation in 3D math, linear algebra, geometry, and calculus as they apply to graphics rendering pipelines. Proven experience with PBR pipelines, the lighting equation, Micro-Facet BRDFs and Global Illumination systems. Exceptional debugging skills to help your team effectively track, diagnose, and solve complex rendering issues.