Software Engineer, Games

Title: Software Engineer, Games

Location: United States

Job Description:

The mission of The New York Times is to seek the truth and help people understand the world. That means independent journalism is at the heart of all we do as a company. It’s why we have a world-renowned newsroom that sends journalists to report on the ground from nearly 160 countries. It’s why we focus deeply on how our readers will experience our journalism, from print to audio to a world-class digital and app destination. And it’s why our business strategy centers on making journalism so good that it’s worth paying for. 

About the Role

New York Times Games helps people bring fun, thoughtful, and rewarding play into their daily lives through an expanding slate of original games, classic puzzles, and the iconic New York Times Crossword. The team consists of engineers, designers, and product managers, focusing on shipping user-centered, experiment-driven features.

As a Software Engineer on the Games team, you will engineer exciting features across desktop and mobile that promote understanding of our Games subscription benefits to players no matter where they are in their Games experience. CASH Squad approaches this by optimizing conversion surfaces, such as sales and the free trial, and driving players to higher value surfaces like our apps.

You will work in React & TypeScript on the frontend, Node.js for web applications, and Go-based APIs, all running on the AWS cloud platform. You will help develop, test, and operate features end-to-end, from idea to production, alongside a collaborative team that values learning and continuous improvement.

This is a hybrid role based in our New York City headquarters. You'll report to the Engineering Manager, Games CASH squad.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and test entry points across NYT surfaces (web and mobile) using React, TypeScript, and modern HTML/CSS to help players see the value of a Games subscription and become subscribers.
• Collaborate with partner teams to monetize our games through subscriptions, notably running Games Sales and iterating our marketing landing page.
• Participate in the full development lifecycle, including technical design, implementation, code review, testing, and release.
• Instrument features for observability and experimentation, working with analytics and product partners to define success metrics.
• Debug and resolve issues in frontend code, Node.js services, and supporting infrastructure.
• Help improve our frontend architecture, shared components, and developer tooling.
• Participate in an on-call rotation for the systems you help build.
• Demonstrate support and understanding of our value of journalistic independence and a strong commitment to our mission to seek the truth and help people understand the world.

Basic Qualifications:

• 2+ years of full-time software engineering experience building and supporting user-facing features in large-scale web applications using TypeScript and modern frontend frameworks such as React
• Demonstrated understanding of frontend web fundamentals (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, web performance) to deliver accessible, responsive user interfaces
• Experience in version control tools (Git, Bitbucket, etc.)
• Familiarity with server-side web development (for example, Node.js, Go, or a similar language), or a clear interest in learning it
• Comfort troubleshooting issues in production using logs, metrics, and monitoring tools
• Experience collaborating with designers, product managers, and other engineers to ship features
• Experience creating detailed technical documentation, including the ability to explain tradeoffs and rationale in writing and in conversation

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with A/B testing or experimentation platforms
• Prior experience working on consumer-facing or subscription products
• Prior experience working on sales or growth initiatives, such as revenue-focused features, funnels, or acquisition/retention projects

#LI-Hybrid

REQ-020318

The annual base pay range for this role is between:

$110,000 - $130,000 USD

For roles in the U.S., dependent on your role, you may be eligible for variable pay, such as an annual bonus and restricted stock. Benefits may include medical, dental and vision benefits, Flexible Spending Accounts (F.S.A.s), a company-matching 401(k) plan, paid vacation, paid sick days, paid parental leave, tuition reimbursement and professional development programs.