Senior Full-Stack Software Engineer

Jackbox is a small game studio (~80 people) best known for our Jackbox Party Pack franchise: a set of five social party games released every fall. Since 2014, our games--like Quiplash, Drawful, and Trivia Murder Party-- have been featured on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, by Polygon, and in living rooms and finished basements across the world.

In 2020, we had over 200 million users. And we have hard evidence that one of those users was Academy Award-winner Charlize Theron.

You can learn everything you ever wanted to know about how our games work (spoiler: your phone is the controller!) and who we are and what we make at jackboxgames.com.

What is the job?

At Jackbox Games, we create unique, social games that bring people together. We’re looking for a Senior Full-Stack Software Engineer who thrives in ambiguity, enjoys tackling large-scale challenges, and can independently drive projects from idea to completion. If you have a history of taking loosely defined problems, structuring them into actionable solutions, and delivering results, we want to talk to you.

🚨 This is not a game development role. 🚨

What you'll do:

• Own and drive complex engineering challenges from concept to execution, breaking down open-ended problems into structured, deliverable projects.
• Design, develop, and maintain scalable, high-performance backend systems in Go (Golang) and frontend components in Vue.js, ensuring reliability, maintainability, and test coverage.
• Estimate work effectively and deliver solutions within reasonable timelines, while keeping stakeholders informed on progress, risks, and trade-offs.
• Collaborate with designers, artists, and engineers to create seamless player experiences and improve development workflows.
• Contribute to and maintain clear, useful technical documentation to support knowledge sharing and consistency across the team.
• Continuously improve performance, scalability, and engineering practices through mentorship, code reviews, and process enhancements.

What we're looking for:

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, ideally in full-stack or backend development.
• Strong proficiency in Go (Golang) and Vue.js (or a similar frontend framework).
• Proven experience taking large, ambiguous problems, structuring them into deliverable projects, and successfully shipping them.
• Deep understanding of scalable, high-performance systems and real-time communication protocols.
• Strong debugging and problem-solving skills in complex environments.
• Strong communication skills: you can articulate technical challenges and solutions clearly.
• Experience with cloud platforms and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).

OKAY, BUT WHAT ARE THE PERKS?!

• Pay range: $105,393 - $157,464. Please note: individual compensation packages are based on factors unique to each candidate and position, including (but not limited to) skill set, experience, and qualifications.

• 401(k) with matching and various medical plans. We pay 100% of the cost of premiums for dental, vision, disability, and life insurance for our employees. We also cover a really nice chunk of the cost of premiums for spouse/partner/dependent medical, dental, and vision insurance. 
• Flexible work schedule and environment. Currently, our employees are encouraged to work where they feel the safest and most productive. Our office in Lincoln Park in Chicago is open (and fully stocked with snacks) for folks who prefer to work in the office. We also offer remote work in the following states: California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
• Flexible PTO. Take time off when you need to recharge, take a trip, or just catch up on life.
• Annual stipends for therapy, education, wellness, and home office equipment to encourage our employees’ lifelong learning pursuits and support mental and physical health.
• Creative work environment. We are lucky to work in a place that is full of talented and innovative folks. Most of the day, the place is pretty quiet (we’re a focused bunch), but this is punctuated with hilarious outbursts and general merriment.
• Free food either virtually or in the office. We stock our kitchen with snacks as well as offer doordash credits quite frequently.

Interested?

Great, we look forward to reading your application. Please include:

• Your resume.
• A cover letter. You don't need to be a professional writer for this job (we have those) but communication is important so we weigh cover letters heavily. 

On the fence? If you're interested in the job but worried you aren't qualified, we encourage you to err on the side of applying. We'd hate to miss out on great candidates just because they're worried they don't check every box on the job description.

We know it is a time commitment to prepare an application and we respect that effort by thoughtfully reviewing every complete application and responding one way or the other. But that kind of thoughtful review means that it sometimes takes us a while to get back to applicants, so please be patient with us and no phone calls.

Thanks for your interest in Jackbox Games!