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Principal Physics Programmer, C++ – Modeling & Simulation

Jobtailor

Berlin, State of Berlin, Germany

16 September 2026

Architect and implement the core C++ runtime behind a large-scale, interactive wargaming platform Own the structure, performance, and long-term health of a substantial engine codebase Design and evolve an entity-component-system architecture for large numbers of heterogeneous simulation entities Build data-oriented component storage, entity lifecycle management, system queries, execution graphs, and dependency-aware scheduling Define engine interfaces for physics, AI, sensor, weapon, behavior, and environmental models Create stable extension points for model developers Design simulation loops, time stepping, event processing, system ordering, state transitions, and deterministic replay Develop multithreaded and task-based execution systems Optimize memory layout, allocation, cache locality, component access, serialization, and data movement Profile and improve CPU utilization, memory use, latency, throughput, and simulation rate Build spatial indexing, broad-phase query, collision-candidate, visibility, and proximity-query infrastructure Integrate externally developed physics and mathematical models Develop checkpointing, snapshotting, state replication, save-and-restore, and reproducible replay systems Establish architecture for networked and distributed simulation Build tooling for entity inspection, system debugging, profiling, and simulation-state analysis Identify and eliminate architectural bottlenecks Lead engine design reviews, mentor programmers, and raise C++ architecture and performance standards Remain hands‑on in implementation, profiling, debugging, and code review Requirements Extensive professional C++ development experience, or equivalent experience, building performance‑critical production software Significant experience in commercial game development, game‑engine development, or a similarly performance‑constrained real‑time environment Experience shipping at least one commercial game, engine, platform, or interactive real‑time product Ownership of foundational engine systems rather than primarily gameplay features, scripting, tools, or application‑level integrations Experience building or substantially extending a physics engine, game engine, simulation runtime, ECS, job system, or comparable core technology Expert command of modern C++, including object lifetimes, ownership, templates, concurrency, synchronization, profiling, and low‑level debugging Strong understanding of data‑oriented design, memory layout, cache behavior, allocation strategies, and performance‑sensitive data structures Experience designing or extending an entity‑component system or comparable composition‑based runtime architecture Experience with engine loops, execution graphs, task systems, event systems, dependency management, or runtime scheduling Demonstrated ability to optimize against hard CPU, memory, latency, and frame‑or‑tick‑time budgets Experience using commercial profiling and debugging tools Working knowledge of real‑time physics concepts including coordinate systems, numerical integration, collision detection, spatial partitioning, constraints, and simulation stability Experience designing APIs, plugin systems, SDKs, or extension frameworks used by other programmers Experience maintaining and improving a large C++ codebase while continuing to deliver production capabilities Experience leading major technical initiatives while remaining an active individual contributor Active Secret clearance or eligibility to obtain one Principal level expectation: 10+ years of experience Strongly preferred: SIMD, GPU compute, custom allocators, job systems, lock‑free structures, or platform‑specific optimization Strongly preferred: very large worlds or simulations with large numbers of active entities Strongly preferred: engine‑level serialization, snapshotting, replay, world partitioning, or streaming Strongly preferred: aerospace, robotics, autonomy, and defense simulations Strongly preferred: Air Force, Space Force, joint, or broader DoW acquisition and mission‑analysis programs Strongly preferred: models for sensors, weapons, electronic warfare, jamming, communications, logistics, or command and control Strongly preferred: active U.S. security clearance (Secret, Top Secret, or SCI/SAP) U.S. citizenship may be required for certain project assignments involving security clearance Legally authorized to work in the United States Core Competencies Demonstrates extensive expertise in C++ development for performance‑critical applications, with a strong focus on engine architecture, multithreading, and real‑time simulation. Proven ability to optimize complex systems and mentor teams while maintaining high standards in code quality and performance. Highest‑signal resume keywords C++ Development Game Engine Development Entity‑Component System Architecture Performance Optimization Multithreaded Execution Systems ATS Optimization Keywords Hard Skills C++ Data‑Oriented Design Memory Layout Optimization Entity Lifecycle Management Simulation Loop Design Profiling and Debugging Physics Engine Development Task‑Based Execution API Design Concurrency Soft Skills Mentoring Leadership Collaboration Certifications & Qualifications Active Secret Clearance Eligibility for Security Clearance Industry Keywords Game Development Real‑Time Simulation Aerospace Robotics Defense Simulations Tools & Technologies Commercial Profiling Tools Debugging Tools Simulation State Analysis Tools #J-18808-Ljbffr