Want a Top-Secret Project Kinect Dev job? Microsoft wants you...

Today's post comes to use via 123Kinect's recent post, Microsoft Wants “Kinect Hackers” For New Team Working On Top Secret Kinect Projects!. It's not something I usually post here, but given you all are Kinect enthusiasts and are likely interested in developing with the Kinect, I thought you might find this interesting.

The key quote is "...if you’re passionate about the potential for Kinect to continue to revolutionize entertainment and are a seasoned software engineer with the skills to prototype and build the future of premium Kinect-powered experiences, we have a growing team of talented people who want to take entertainment into the future...."

Software Development Engineer, Senior-IEB-XBOX Live (816776) Job

Location: Redmond, WA, US

Job Category: Software Engineering: Development
Location: Redmond, WA, US
Job ID: 816776-97306
Division: Interactive Entertainment Business

Changing the world with technology takes a special kind of person in just the right environment. At Microsoft, Xbox and Xbox LIVE forever changed living room entertainment by connecting people with each other and the entertainment they love. Then we turned around and created Kinect, which redefines how people interact with their entertainment in new ways every day. And we’re just beginning.

A new team is forming in Microsoft’s entertainment division with a specific purpose: to push the envelope of today’s and tomorrow’s technology as we explore new ideas from the ground floor. It begins with veterans from Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and Kinect. But we’re growing as quickly as our imaginations can be translated into code.

Joining this team comes with risks. Most of what we work on is top-secret; you may not know what your new project is until you’ve accepted an offer. Not all of our ideas will fly. We will fail, and fail fast, on some projects. We will celebrate those failures because they are vital to making sure the right ideas take off in a big way.

If you want a comfortable, standard-role job at Microsoft with no ambiguity or risk, please don’t apply. But if you’re passionate about the potential for Kinect to continue to revolutionize entertainment and are a seasoned software engineer with the skills to prototype and build the future of premium Kinect-powered experiences, we have a growing team of talented people who want to take entertainment into the future.

In this role your technical skills and creativity will be pushed to their limits as you weave together disparate technologies to tell the story of what the future of entertainment will look like. You’ll learn more than you even knew existed about machine vision, data mining, AI, voice recognition, and embedded systems. You’ll become an expert in one or more of those areas. You will work on a truly agile team to build and iterate on prototypes to evolve and demonstrate our creative vision.

You must have an outstanding track record for providing technical leadership, delivering quality code and shipping products, and should have experience in every phase of the ship cycle. You need to have shipped at least one consumer-focused product (game, app, site or service), have multiple side projects (such as Kinect hacks, games or websites) that showcase your creativity. You need to be able to tell a story about your work and what you’ve learned doing it. You will work closely with artists and designers, and demonstrate a high degree of initiative. When you apply, please include links to published apps, videos or portfolios of work along with your resume.

RESPONSIBILITIES
- Creative and rapid prototyping in collaboration with producers, game designers and artists
- Develop implementation plans and software according to functional requirements & feature specifications
- Collaborate with team members in multiple disciplines to clarify and deliver tools, technology, and feature work
- Multitask between projects and teams fluidly

QUALIFICATIONS
- A bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Computer Science
- 5+ years professional software development experience in C/C++ as well as knowledge of programming fundamentals such as debugging, memory management and threading
- Understanding of video game architecture, UI programming, and client web services/networking
- Excellent communication skills
- Passion about gaming and online entertainment
- Knowledge of tools/technology that can be used for rapid prototyping (JavaScript, XAML, Flash) is desired but not required
- Experience with modern game engines like Unreal, CryEngine, or Unity
- Experience with the Kinect for Windows SDK or similar Kinect development technologies

Project Information URL: http://www.microsoft-careers.com/job/Redmond-Software-Development-Engineer%2C-Senior-IEB-XBOX-Live-%28816776%29-Job-WA-98052/2268213/