Employment opportunities

Our beliefs about work environments are pretty simple: give talented and experienced people the tools they need, the colleagues who will stimulate them, and the opportunity to build games they want to play. We are constantly on the lookout for self-motivated, self-directed individuals who are interested in all aspects of building great entertainment experiences.

The people who work at Valve are multi-talented, with expertise in one or two particular areas. We don’t have managers or producers of any kind. We tend to hire senior people who have shipped several titles before arriving here. And we have also hired a few people right out of school when we've been impressed by an interesting game, mod, or level that the candidate built.

We are always looking for smart, talented, creative, interesting people who are solving interesting problems—people who will make our products and our company the best in the industry.

If you think Valve sounds like the place for you, feel free to contact us even if you don't see a specific job listing that matches your background.

GENERAL EXPERIENCE GUIDELINES

Artists
3 + years industry experience
Working knowledge of Maya or XSI and Photoshop, Mudbox, Zbrush a plus
Ability to take a piece from concept to final product

Animators
3 + years industry experience
Working knowledge of Maya or XSI
Ability to animate from concept to final product

Engineers
3 + years industry experience
C++ expert
Other graphics, AI or database expertise preferred

Level Designers
3 + years industry experience
Working knowledge of a professional level design tool
Programming, art or architecture experience a plus

VALVE IS ACTIVELY SEEKING CANDIDATES TO FILL THE FOLLOWING ROLES:

Senior Technical Artist
Valve is looking for a Senior Technical Artist to help drive our technology forward for both current and upcoming projects. A technical artist's responsibilities at Valve include but are not limited to:
Define and maintain the content pipeline
Educate artists on proper content creation techniques
Work closely with both artists, and programmers solving problems and researching new techniques
Create tools to assist artist workflow
Combine technology and game play in new and innovative ways
Requirements:
3+ years of experience in either the video game or film industry
Expert knowledge of scripting languages, Python and Mel preferred
Basic knowledge of C++
A strong understanding of next-generation content creation techniques
Strong technical knowledge of current 2d and 3d applications, including but not limited to Maya, Modo, and Photoshop

Steam Release Engineer
The Steam platform is one of the fastest growing multimedia digital distribution platforms in the industry today. The Steam Release Engineer is one step away from millions of customers, delivering top-tier entertainment on a daily basis. The successful candidate will have a thorough understanding of software product build/release concepts and practices, excellent technical knowledge and exceptional customer service skills.
More Info...

Senior Programmer
Senior Programmer for game run-time and tool-time software. Researches, designs and develops specialized software systems and applications for advanced three-dimensional interactive graphic elements for use in cutting edge technological media formats including advanced video game consoles, PC, and on-line gaming. Utilizes in-depth knowledge of computer science, engineering, applied mathematics skills and business background to drive next generation features for software and 3-D graphics systems, known as 3-D engines, developed by Valve.
More Info...

Senior Programmer: Web Applications
Work as part of Valve's development team, adding web applications and components to our best-of-breed computer games and pioneering e-commerce platform.
Regularly ship a variety of products from small internal tools to large-scale web applications used by millions of people per month.
Directly and meaningfully impact the experience of those players & customers.
More Info...

Senior User Experience Designer
As a designer at Valve, you’ll be part of an extremely motivated, dedicated, and experienced group of people. You’ll be joining a team that is responsible for some of the most compelling computer entertainment experiences of the last decade. You will also contribute significantly to Steam, Valve’s pioneering gaming community and e-commerce platform.
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Graphic Designer / Web Designer
As a designer at Valve, you’ll be part of an extremely motivated, dedicated, and experienced group of people. You will:
Work as part of Valve’s core applications and marketing teams, adding web sites and web components to our best-of-breed computer games and pioneering e-commerce platform.
Regularly ship a variety of web-based experiences, from internal communications to large-scale web sites used by millions of people per month.
Communicate through the web to Valve’s customers about the variety of offerings available to them in Valve’s online stores.
Work with existing product identities and brands to create compelling web-based marketing solutions.
More Info...

Senior Software Engineer, Steam
Help build future versions of Steam, the digital entertainment platform that is changing the industry. As a Senior Software Engineer, you'll be a key team member, help drive Steam architecture, and be a top coding contributor. You'll design and deliver new features to enable new game experiences, better deliver all kinds of digital content to millions of customers, enhance community features, and drive revenue. Must be experienced in all phases of a project lifecycle and have great customer focus. May mentor other developers.
Requirements: 5+ years experience building commercial software in C++. Strong C++ and fundamental computer science skills. Experience building high-scale, high-reliability network e-commerce products a plus. A bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent.

Software Engineer, Steam
Help build future versions of Steam, the digital entertainment platform that is changing the industry. As a Software Engineer, you'll design and deliver new features to enable new game experiences, better deliver all kinds of digital content to millions of customers, enhance community features, and drive revenue.
Requirements: 3+ years experience building commercial software in C++. Strong C++ and fundamental computer science skills. Network programming experience helpful. A bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent.


Multi-Media Technical Communications
Identify cultural trends based on quantitative analysis across multiple languages to build communities through social networking sites and provide localization work in highly technical environment.

Translate technical instructions, information, video games and related texts from English to Italian and Spanish; proof read and test game content with vernacular cultural awareness, providing assessment on products (games and DRM system) to appeal to target markets; communicate technical information to Italian and Spanish language gaming communities in Europe, Central and South America and U.S. developing cultural and business relationships, building communities, promoting products; as liaison between fan sites centered around games, provide technical support and written communications for native Spanish and Italian speakers and provide feedback regarding sales issues and attitude trends; provide Localization (support and product information) within a highly technical environment utilizing English, Spanish, and Italian languages; coordinate and interface with partners and providers located in specific geographical areas EA - Spain, Italy, Central and South America, and with Valve Official Cyber Cafe program managers, online press and communities. Uses Microsoft Office Suite, DeskPro, including CRM application, ticketing system and knowledgebase articles and Translation Server.

Minimum Requirements: Master’s Degree in Linguistics or Translation Studies or related field (or foreign equivalent) Proficiency in English, Spanish, and Italian. Proven ability identifying cultural trends based on quantitative analysis across multiple languages to build communities. Will accept proof of ability accomplished in an academic or commercial setting.