Employment at AstrawareEmployment Opportunities
As Astraware's business continues to grow, we look for qualified staff to fill new positions as they are created. We also try to predict our requirements for as far as a year ahead, and here we've listed some of the opportunities that we expect will become available.
Our office is a non-smoking building near Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, United Kingdom
We have current opportunities at Astraware for:- Java ME Developer
- Quality Assurance (QA) Games Testers - April 2008
We are expecting to have upcoming opportunities over the coming 12 months for:
- Quality Assurance (QA) Games Testers (1-2) - Summer / Autumn 2008
- Game Developers (2-4) - - Summer/Autumn 2008
- Game Artists (1-2) - - Summer/Autumn 2008
Core Requirements & Skills
- You must live within easy commuting distance of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, UK.
- You must be hardworking, flexible and reliable.
- You must have a positive team attitude and a commitment to quality.
- You must have good computer skills.
- You absolutely must have a good sense of humour!
Agencies
Please don't put forward candidates for any posts unless they are marked "AGENCIES WELCOME", since they may be for posts which are not yet open or that we are not yet actively looking to fill.Vacancy Details
Java ME Developer
As a Java ME Developer at Astraware you will be a key member of the team helping Astraware to broaden the range of platforms that we develop for by assisting with the technology for supporting Java-based operating systems, alongside our existing C/C++ based development. BlackBerry is an important first step in this regard.
Key Skills- Excellent coding in Java ME (J2ME) essential
- OO design and implementation.
- Understanding of structuring large projects
- Aptitude for problem solving
- Ability to work with and modify existing code
- Teamwork experience
- Ability to communicate effectively
- Experience in software development for RIM Blackberry
- Experience of the Eclipse IDE
- Previous Game Development or Real-Time / Event Driven experience would be useful.
- Experience of product specification and design.
- C++ experience useful.
- Experience of developing for other small/constrained platforms (PDAs, GameBoy, Phones, other mobile phones)
- Excellent Degree in relevant area (Programming/Software Engineering, Maths, etc)
Applying : After shortlisting, candidates will be expected to show their competence in a real environment, with programming and developent assessments at Astraware. You must be able to show your skills!
To apply for this post, please see the section below on "How To Apply". The subject code for this post is 2008JD
Game Developers
As a Game Developer at Astraware you will be creating the latest and greatest games for Astraware, as well as developing on contracted external projects.
Key Skills- Excellent Coding in C, C++, essential
- OO Design and implementation.
- Understanding of structuring large projects
- Aptitude for problem solving.
- An absolute love of games
- Experience of Visual Studio IDE
- Ability to work with and modify existing code
- Teamwork experience
- Ability to communicate well - i.e. with artists for requirements
- Previous Game Development experience
- Experience of product specification and design.
- Experience of other IDEs (Codewarrior / Eclipse) useful.
- Java, VB, PHP useful.
- Coding in Assembly (68k, ARM) not essential, but some knowledge can be useful.
- Experience of developing for small/constrained platforms (PDAs, GameBoy, Phones, Other handhelds)
- Understanding of one or more game development areas (i.e. 3d, optimisation, game logic, level design, etc.)
- Creativity!
- Good Degree in relevant area (Programming/Software Engineering, Maths, etc)
Applying : After shortlisting, candidates will be expected to show their competence in a real environment, with programming and developent assessments at Astraware. You must be able to show your skills!
To apply for this post, please see the section below on "How To Apply". The subject code for this post is 2008GDGame Artist
As a Game Artist for Astraware, you will be involved in creating the graphical resources for different titles - split between creating new artwork for original games, and converting existing artwork and retouching into multiple resolutions.
Our games often require resource sets in resolutions from 160x160 up to 800x600, and that means being able to create artwork that looks good in each size, so flexibility is key here. Can you make objects recognisable in 20x20 pixels?
Key Skills- Completely at ease in Photoshop
- Experience in at least one "pixel level" art package (i.e. Paint Shop Pro)
- Ability to create frame based animations
- Design and layout (i.e. for title screens)
- Flexibility - from characters to backgrounds to vehicles to fruit to seashells to ....
- Ability to communicate well - i.e. with developers for requirements
- Ability to produce consistently great work under time pressure.
- Creativity and imagination!
- Experience of animation package (i.e. ProMotion)
- Experience of working with limited palettes
- 3D Experience useful (3DS Max) but not critical.
- Experience of working in games
- College (or above) level of education.
It will be necessary to see a small portfolio of your work which would perhaps include some or all of...
- Plenty of 2D "sprite" artwork
- Some examples of hand-drawing. Preferably a pirate. Or a ninja.
- A short animation sequence (avi / animated gif, etc)
- Some work involving a restricted palette
- A couple of pieces of background art
- Any front end (GUI) work examples
- If you have 3D experience, an example of some modelled and rended objects or scenes
- Some artwork drawn in photoshop (psd) along with an optimised 256 colour image of it
- Any background tile-sets
- Any layout work - perhaps a game title screen with a logo
- Small artwork : Icons, tiny sprites, etc.
- Any web art
To apply for this post, please see the section below on "How To Apply". The subject code for this post is 2008GA
Quality Assurance / Games Tester
As a games tester at Astraware, you'll not just be playing games for fun, although that is certainly part of the job! You'll be testing games to their absolute limits, and on dozens of different devices. You'll be devious about just how many ways you can get the game to go wrong, and view bug-finding as a challenge to take pride in. The developers of the titles will look to you not just to find bugs in all aspects of the games, but to follow up with reports of exactly how to reproduce the bug, what devices exhibit it, and after a time, even be able to suggest other games which might have had similar bugs fixed.
Before every one of our titles is shipped - whether developed in-house or by one of our external development groups - you'll be making sure that the first users who will try the game get the best possible experience. You'll also get access to some of the latest PDA hardware and games well before anyone else!
You'll need to be able to use PCs in your day to day work, but you won't be maintaining (or fixing them). Ability to turn your hand to anything to help out is useful!
Key Skills- A love of computer games
- An obsession for gadgets and technology
- A very determined attitude to working out problems
- A good level of Windows experience and confidence, since bug reports are operated by email and a web interface.
- Literate
- Basic HTML knowledge
- Use of MS Word / Excel
- Any knowledge of programming helpful.
- Experience of bug tracking software
- Experience of Wikipedia style software
This position is full time and permanent, however we will consider part time workers or temporary contracts. It is an excellent opportunity for enthusiasts to get into the industry. Age should be 18+, although we'd consider the right applicant who was nearly 18 if they had the right level of commitment and maturity.
Qualifications- College (or above) level of education in subject(s) which include IT.
The salary for these posts will depend on previous experience and qualifications, and would be upwards of £12k p.a. Please also see our Employee Benefits section.
To apply for this post, please see the section below on "How To Apply". The subject code for this post is 2008QA
How To Apply
Reminder : These posts are ONLY open to UK residents within commuting distance of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, UK.
To apply, send your CV to the directors of Astraware at: along with a short covering letter. Please include in the subject line the name of the position and the code (i.e. "Creative Writer : 2008CW") for the post you are applying for, or your email will unfortunately be sorted into a mailbox that is not regularly read.
We will confirm receipt, and will contact you later if we need to ask for further information or to ask for you to visit. Please be sure to include names and addresses of two referees, as well as including your recent work history. We will not contact references or your current employer without your explicit permission.
Employee Benefits
Additional benefits enjoyed by Astraware employees include:
- Generous holidays, increasing with length of service
- Stakeholder pension scheme already in place, available to join after 6 months of employment
- Flexible working conditions
