Software Engineer - Games

About The New York Times

The New York Times is dedicated to truthful, independent journalism, delivering news from nearly 160 countries. We prioritize exceptional journalistic quality across print, audio, digital, and mobile platforms, aiming to produce content that is valuable enough to merit subscription.

Role Overview

The Games team at The New York Times develops engaging and thoughtful original games, puzzles, and the prestigious Crossword. The collaborative team—comprised of engineers, product managers, and designers—focuses on shipping user-focused, experiment-driven features. As a Software Engineer on the Games Team, you will create dynamic features across desktop and mobile platforms that enhance user understanding of Games subscription benefits, facilitating conversions and driving engagement toward premium surfaces like mobile apps. Your technology stack includes React and TypeScript on frontend, Node.js for web applications, and Go-based APIs, all operating on AWS cloud infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Build and test user entry points on web and mobile platforms using React, TypeScript, HTML, and CSS to illustrate the value of Games subscriptions and convert players to subscribers.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to monetize games through subscriptions, including managing Games Sales and enhancing the marketing landing page.
• Engage in the complete software development lifecycle: design, implementation, code reviews, testing, and deployment.
• Implement instrumentation for observability and experimentation, collaborating with analytics and product teams to determine success metrics.
• Troubleshoot and resolve frontend and backend issues involving code, Node.js services, and infrastructure.
• Enhance frontend architecture, shared components, and developer tools.
• Participate in on-call rotations for system support.
• Embrace and promote the values of journalistic independence and the mission to seek truth and help people understand the world.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum 2 years of experience building and maintaining user-facing features in large-scale web applications using TypeScript and frameworks like React.
• Strong grasp of frontend fundamentals including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and performance optimization to deliver accessible and responsive UI.
• Hands-on experience with version control systems such as Git or Bitbucket.
• Familiarity or interest in server-side development using Node.js, Go, or similar languages.
• Ability to debug production issues using logs, metrics, and monitoring tools.
• Experience working collaboratively with designers, product managers, and engineers to deliver features.
• Skilled at preparing detailed technical documentation, clearly communicating tradeoffs and design decisions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with A/B testing or experimentation platforms.
• Background in consumer-facing or subscription-based products.
• Experience designing revenue-generating features, sales funnels, or growth initiatives related to acquisition and retention.

Compensation and Benefits

The position offers an annual base salary ranging from $110,000 to $130,000 USD. Eligible employees in the United States may receive variable compensation such as bonuses and restricted stock. Benefits include medical, dental, vision coverage, Flexible Spending Accounts (F.S.A.s), a 401(k) plan with company matching, paid vacation, sick leave, parental leave, tuition reimbursement, and professional development opportunities. Benefits details for roles outside the U.S. will be provided during the interview process.

Diversity and Inclusion

The New York Times is committed to building a diverse workforce and is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Hiring decisions are made without regard to legally protected personal characteristics. We offer reasonable accommodations during the application and interview process upon request and encourage individuals with criminal histories to apply, consistent with applicable Fair Chance laws.

Additional Information

Applicants are encouraged to submit their original work without the use of generative AI tools except those expressly allowed for technical assessments. Beware of fraudulent job postings; The New York Times will never request financial information or payments during recruitment. Suspected fraudulent activity can be reported via email or government agencies.