Principal Backend Programmer

Are you ready to dive into the world of cutting-edge video game development? Headquartered in Montreal, Behaviour Interactive is at the forefront of the gaming industry, crafting unforgettable experiences across PC, console, and mobile platforms. We’re a dynamic, independent studio of over 1200 passionate employees, with studios in Toronto (Behaviour Toronto), Rotterdam (Behaviour Rotterdam) and in the UK (Behaviour UK–North & South). Our day to day revolves around two core business focuses: Services and Original Games. Our Services team collaborates with gaming and entertainment giants like Disney, Sony, Activision, and Nintendo, delivering exceptional work-for-hire development and pioneering immersive location-based entertainment (LBE). Meanwhile, our Original Games unit pushes our creative limits, with our signature IPs, including the iconic Dead by Daylight. Join us and be a part of the future of interactive entertainment!

At Behaviour Interactive, we believe in giving everyone a fair shot. We embrace a diverse and creative environment where everyone is celebrated. We value folks of all ages, sex, ethnicity, colour, ethnic or national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, civil status, disability, or any other protected characteristics as per applicable law.

Dead by daylight’s team is seeking a Principal Backend Programmer to push the boundaries of online gaming. If you’re ready to reinvent backend systems for a title with millions of active players, we want you on our team.

As a core member of the development team, you’ll play a pivotal role in crafting the backbone of our online infrastructure. From concept to deployment, you’ll architect, optimize, and maintain backend systems that fuel new and legacy features—delivering seamless gameplay at global scale.

In this role you will:

• Design and develop new server features, while enhancing the existing codebase.
• Write detailed technical specifications before implementation.
• Troubleshoot issues to elevate the robustness and performance of backend services.
• Collaborate closely with other programmers to deliver gameplay-compliant server services.
• Create and execute functional and load testing strategies.
• Continuously optimize code for a live, high-availability multiplayer experience.

What we're looking for:

• 12+ years of backend development experience, with a deep understanding of scalable system design.
• Proven track record building high-speed server applications using Typescript and Node.js.
• Advanced expertise with REST and WebSocket communication protocols.
• Hands-on experience with relational and NoSQL databases like DynamoDB, MongoDB, MySQL.
• Strong grasp of performance-oriented data modeling and backend maintainability.
• Skilled in load testing with distributed load generators.
• Profiling and optimizing backend systems across network, CPU, memory, and I/O layers.

Nice to have:

• Front-end exposure using React and/or Angular.
• Experience in client/server architecture with a focus on security and traffic management.