Software Architect, Zynga
More information about location
Social game developer
Be an early applicant
Social game developer
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
More information about location
1001+ employees
Company mission
To connect the world through games.
Role
Who you are
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, or equivalent
- 8+ years of professional experience in software development of cloud based software
- Experience with AI/ML systems integration at the platform layer
- Demonstrated expertise in Python across multiple programming languages, architectures, and system types
- Strong familiarity and experience using AWS and/or other cloud computing platforms (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS)
- Experience with containers and Kubernetes/EKS
- Experience with database systems (SQL, NoSQL)
- Deep understanding of algorithms, design patterns, debugging and performance optimization
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate with senior leadership with confidence and clarity
- Familiarity with web development using JS, Angular and React is a plus
What the job involves
- Come join the AI team at Zynga making an impact across all of the company's games - Central Technology! As a Software Architect you will be responsible for the technical vision, design and implementation of AI-powered tools and systems that elevate developer productivity and player experiences at scale. We're looking for outstanding engineers with a passion for artificial intelligence and the desire to work in a team with dynamic strengths
- Design and architect scalable AI systems, full stack applications, and cloud infrastructure running in AWS with a focus on LLM-powered services and agentic workflows
- Own cross-cutting architecture decisions and the technical strategy for AI tools that multiple game studios and engineering teams across Zynga depend on
- Establish and uphold engineering standards: code quality, testing, review culture, CI/CD, and reliability practices
- Advocate for and implement new AI technologies, frameworks, and engineering standards, keeping the team at the forefront of a rapidly evolving landscape
- Evaluate and choose AI platforms and infrastructure with a long-term lens
- Document and build comprehensive plans for architecture and system designs across the AI tooling ecosystem
- Work collaboratively across game studios, product, and central technology teams to understand developer needs and propose AI-driven solutions that meaningfully improve productivity
- Establish engineering processes and metrics to measure software process, operations, and quality
- Partner with stakeholder on realistic scoping and sequencing; flag technical risk early
- Coach and mentor engineers
Our take
Zynga is a games developer that rode Facebook's platform to success back in the late noughties and early 2010's. It is now one of the biggest casual game producers globally, with a presence across over 170 countries and regions and millions of monthly active users.
Though the company hit a number of roadblocks after its initial success - such as falling stock prices, and numerous calls it was copying other games - its subsequent resurgence is proof of its staying power. It continues to use social media as a distribution channel, and boasts titles such as FarmVille, Merge Dragons! and Words With Friends.
Future success will lie in the company's continued investment in building viral games that people love. It will also need to attune to the social media waves and keep track of where users can be found, as the landscape has become more mobile. In 2024 the company announced it was developing push notifications that enable gameplay without entering the application, which will be an interesting addition to its outputs.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
7% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 7 rounds)
Mar 2011
$490m
SERIES C
Oct 2010
$6.3m
EARLY VC
Total funding: $865.5m
Company benefits
- COMPENSATION - Performance bonuses, opportunities for equity participation & retirement/pension savings support
- HEALTH - Medical, dental & vision covered for employees, with participation for employees eligible dependents, plus disability and life insurance program
- FAMILY - Generous parental leave for birth parents, partners and adoptive families, plus Infertility support, emergency child care and flexible time-off policies
- WELLNESS - Gym benefits, wellness programs, employee assistance programs and generous time-off policies
- FOOD - Food and snacks made in-house or delivered, healthy snack kitchens with drinks and treats, coffee bars, regular social gatherings and happy hours
- WORK & LIFE - Flexible time-off policies (DTO), office rest areas, gaming spaces, employee discounts and more
- TRANSIT BENEFITS - Shuttle service in select locations, commuter/parking benefits, secure bicycle storage, business travel assistance
- RESOURCE GROUPS - Women at Zynga (WAZ), zCares charitable giving, zParents, zEndurance adventure club, BZU, zPride LGBTQ+ inclusion and belonging
Company HQ
SoMa, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Mark Pincus
(Chairman & Co-founder)Previously founder and CEO of Freeloader, Supportsoft and Tribe.net, an early social network
Michael Luxton
(Co-founder)Previously an engineer at NetApp
Salary benchmarks
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