ZEN8 Sports

ZEN8 (Stealth Rebrand) / Connected Swim Training
📍 Lisbon | Full-time - Permanent 

Competitive salary based on experience, with stock options for high-impact results.

About ZEN8 Sports

In a world where cycling, running, and rowing have gone virtual, swimmers have been left behind. We’re changing that.

With over 20,000 athletes already training with our first product, we’ve proven the demand. Now we’re building the world’s first Connected Swim Training platform,  merging smart equipment, real-time performance data, and the thrill of gaming to make swim training accessible, engaging, and exciting for everyone.

We’re currently in stealth, finalizing our next-generation product and closing our Seed round to launch in the coming months. What we’re building will change how millions train, compete, and connect.

Role Overview

As a Unreal Engine Programmer, you’ll play a key role in building the future of Connected Swim Training, a mobile (Android & iOS) experience, turning ideas into real impact for our athletes and community. You’ll work closely with gameplay engineers, designers, and product leads to design, build, and optimize interactive systems, UI experiences, and multiplayer features that push our mission forward.

This isn’t about checking boxes. It’s about owning your lane, seeing the bigger picture, and improving how we work every week.
You’ll bring a mix of focus, creativity, and curiosity, balancing speed with quality to move fast and stay sharp.

We’re looking for someone who loves refining systems, improving processes, and finding better ways to deliver results.

If you thrive in fast-moving environments, learn fast, and enjoy building alongside a passionate, purpose-driven team, you’ll fit right in.

Key Responsibilities

• Implement and maintain UI systems (UMG, widgets, menus) integrated with gameplay and data assets.
• Design data-driven systems using DataTables, DataAssets, and editor scripting for scalable content.
• Support multiplayer replication logic in collaboration with gameplay systems (ability data, inventories, etc.).
• Work closely with engineers to optimize systems for clarity, modularity, and performance.
• Implement, test, and optimize systems for mobile platforms (Android & iOS), ensuring smooth performance and efficient builds.
  
   

Required Skills

• 4–6+ years of Unreal Engine experience, OR shipped, production-level projects that demonstrate equivalent expertise.
• You thrive in fast-moving, cross-functional environments working across gameplay, UI, and systems programming.
• Proven ability to deliver high-quality, performant systems that balance speed, precision, and impact.
• Hands-on experience with Unreal Engine 5 (C++, Blueprints, UMG, Data Assets, Replication Framework).
• Strong understanding of modular system design, data-driven architecture, and multiplayer replication concepts.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across engineering, design, and product teams.
• Track record of improving technical workflows, simplifying architecture, and optimizing systems for performance and scalability.
• Analytical mindset with a focus on data validation, profiling, and measurable results.
• Curiosity and drive to learn quickly, adapt, and iterate on complex systems in real time.

• Ability to thrive in a startup or small-team environment, proactive and energized by building robust, scalable features from the ground up.

   

Additional Skills

• Experience working in a startup or small, fast-moving team environment.
  You thrive with autonomy, adapt quickly, and enjoy building things that don’t exist yet.
• Comfortable working cross-functionally and wearing multiple hats when needed.
• Experience with Unreal Engine Editor scripting (Python or Editor Utility Blueprints) for workflow automation.
• Familiarity with backend or platform integrations (Steam, EOS, PlayFab, or AWS Gamelift).
• Knowledge of game telemetry, analytics, or live balancing pipelines to support iterative tuning.

• Experience optimizing mobile performance, packaging, and build pipelines for Android and iOS.

   

Nice to Have

• Passion for triathlon, swimming, endurance sports, or human performance, or you deeply understand what drives athletes to train, improve, and stay consistent.
• Understanding of habit formation, motivation, or behavioral design to make training engaging and repeatable.
• Experience building for virality, community, or network effects, where users motivate each other and growth happens organically.
• A love for making training or shall we say gaming fun and rewarding, you think about why people keep coming back, not just how it works.

We work in a hybrid setup, typically three days in the Lisbon (Portugal) office and two from home, with flexibility depending on role and sprint cycles.

ZEN8 (Stealth Rebrand) / Connected Swim Training
📍 Lisbon | Full-time - Permanent 

Competitive salary based on experience, with stock options for high-impact results.

About ZEN8 Sports

In a world where cycling, running, and rowing have gone virtual, swimmers have been left behind. We’re changing that.

With over 20,000 athletes already training with our first product, we’ve proven the demand. Now we’re building the world’s first Connected Swim Training platform,  merging smart equipment, real-time performance data, and the thrill of gaming to make swim training accessible, engaging, and exciting for everyone.

We’re currently in stealth, finalizing our next-generation product and closing our Seed round to launch in the coming months. What we’re building will change how millions train, compete, and connect.

Role Overview

We’re looking for a QA Automation Engineer who will take full ownership of our testing strategy and systems. You’ll design and maintain an end-to-end automated testing ecosystem for our Unreal Engine mobile experiences, backend services, and connected training platform.

This isn’t a manual testing role — we want someone who loves building automation, scaling coverage, and embedding quality directly into the development process.

You’ll collaborate closely with engineers, designers, and product leads to:
 

• Design, execute, and maintain automated test plans for Unreal Engine 5.6 mobile builds (iOS & Android).
• Implement and extend the Unreal Automation Framework (UAT / Gauntlet) to validate gameplay, UI, and performance features.
• Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines (Perforce, source control, AWS).
• Perform device-based testing to ensure stability, frame-rate consistency, and input responsiveness across multiple hardware types.
• Identify, reproduce, and document gameplay, UI, and performance issues, ensuring clear bug reporting and regression verification.
• Create and maintain automated UI/UX validation tests on Unreal UMG and Figma to confirm menu navigation, HUD behavior, and user-flow consistency.
• Manage and validate build integrity via Perforce, including changelist validation and version control before deployment.
• Develop custom test scripts and tools (Python, Blueprint, or C++) to extend automation coverage and eliminate repetitive QA work.
• Evaluate game feel, flow, and player experience, ensuring controls, animations, camera, and feedback systems (sound, haptics, visuals) align with design intent.
• Work collaboratively in the Lisbon office at least three days per week, contributing to a fast-moving, creative, and quality-driven culture.

Key Responsibilities
 

• Own the entire QA automation strategy, building scalable frameworks and pipelines that replace manual processes.
• Ensure continuous validation of gameplay, UI, and backend systems through automated testing integrated in CI/CD.
• Design solutions for scalability, reliability, and maintainability, reducing latency and downtime in automated test execution.
• Collaborate with engineers to enforce SSDL (Secure Software Development Lifecycle) practices, embedding quality and security from design to release.
• Implement performance and stability tests that run across CloudFront, Cloudflare, and S3 Origin content paths to validate latency and delivery performance.
• Monitor test environments, detect anomalies, and automate reporting through dashboards and analytics tools.
• Use AI-assisted tools (Claude, Copilot) and automation platforms (n8n, Zapier, Make) to extend QA coverage and reduce manual effort.
• Support build verification and deployment readiness within AWS environments.
• Partner with developers, gameplay, and mobile engineers to maintain a fast feedback loop from commit to release.

Required Skills

• 5+ years in QA automation or software test engineering roles.
• Proven experience testing Unreal Engine (4/5) projects, especially mobile builds.
• Deep understanding of the Unreal Automation Framework (UAT/Gauntlet).
• Strong scripting ability in Python, Blueprint, or C++.
• Experience integrating automated testing within CI/CD using Perforce, GitHub Actions, or similar pipelines.
• Hands-on experience with AWS for build validation and test execution environments.
• Knowledge of mobile QA frameworks (Appium or Playwright Mobile).
• Experience building load / performance tests and analyzing results.
• Understanding of Cloudflare, CloudFront, and S3 Origin and how they affect latency, caching, and content delivery.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills in fast-paced, cross-functional teams.
• Apply SSDL principles across all QA automation and validation processes.

Additional Skills

• Familiarity with game telemetry, analytics, and error-tracking systems.
• Experience testing real-time multiplayer or networked systems.
• Knowledge of API automation (Postman, REST Assured, Playwright API).
• Experience with performance profiling tools (Unreal Insights, GPU Profiler, Instruments).
• Comfortable building dashboards to visualize test results and performance trends.

Nice to Have

• Passion for swimming, triathlon, or sports performance technology.
• Experience in e-commerce or subscription-based platforms.
• Exposure to IoT / connected hardware ecosystems.
• Contributions to open-source QA automation frameworks.
• Knowledge of ISO 27001, SOC 2, or game certification standards.
• Familiarity with AI / ML-based test generation or predictive QA systems.

ZEN8 (Stealth Rebrand) / Connected Swim Training
📍 Lisbon | Full-time - Permanent 

Competitive salary based on experience, with stock options for high-impact results.

About ZEN8 Sports

In a world where cycling, running, and rowing have gone virtual, swimmers have been left behind. We’re changing that.

With over 20,000 athletes already training with our first product, we’ve proven the demand. Now we’re building the world’s first Connected Swim Training platform,  merging smart equipment, real-time performance data, and the thrill of gaming to make swim training accessible, engaging, and exciting for everyone.

We’re currently in stealth, finalizing our next-generation product and closing our Seed round to launch in the coming months. What we’re building will change how millions train, compete, and connect.

Role Overview

We’re looking for a Senior Full-Stack Software Engineer who thrives in fast-paced, high-growth environments and loves working across web and mobile platforms. 

You’ll help shape the architecture and user experience of our connected ecosystem, integrating real-time data, gameplay, and community features across web, iOS, and Android.

You’ll work closely with gameplay engineers, designers, and product leads to:

• Build and optimize scalable web and mobile applications using React, React Native, Node.js, and TypeScript.
• Integrate hardware data and real-time performance metrics into mobile and web experiences.
• Contribute to architectural decisions and development standards as we scale our platform.
• Ensure smooth deployment and performance in our AWS environment.
• Collaborate in-person at least 3 days a week, contributing to a creative and fast-moving product culture.

This role suits someone who’s hands-on, collaborative, and comfortable owning features end-to-end, from backend APIs to frontend interfaces and mobile delivery.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, and optimize web and mobile applications using React, React Native, Next.js, Tailwind CSS, Node.js, and TypeScript, ensuring responsive performance across devices.
• Develop backend APIs, real-time integrations, and data pipelines that deliver low latency and handle variable concurrent users.
• Architect solutions for scalability, reliability, and high availability, implementing redundancy and failover strategies where needed.
• Design and manage databases (SQL and NoSQL) to maintain data integrity, consistency, and high throughput.
• Implement Cloudflare, CloudFront, and S3 Origin configurations to improve load times, reduce latency, and ensure global content delivery performance.
• Protect user data and ensure compliance with GDPR and CCPA, applying secure-by-design principles across all systems.
• Monitor performance, latency, and resource utilization using observability tools to detect anomalies and optimize cost efficiency.
  Collaborate with designers and gameplay engineers to deliver seamless, intuitive user experiences backed by real-time feedback and stable backend performance.
• Use AI-assisted coding tools (Claude, GitHub Copilot, Cody) and automation platforms (n8n, Zapier, Make) to improve development speed and consistency.
• Work in a collaborative, hybrid setup, contributing in person from our Lisbon office at least 3 days a week.
• Experience working in a startup or small, fast-moving team environment. You thrive with autonomy, adapt quickly, and enjoy building things that don’t exist yet.

Required Skills

• 5+ years of experience in full-stack or backend-heavy roles.
• Strong proficiency in React, React Native, Node.js, and TypeScript.
• Proven experience delivering mobile apps for iOS and Android (including App Store / Play Store releases).
• Solid understanding of RESTful APIs, real-time communication, and websocket-based architectures.
• Solid experience with AWS (Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB, S3, CloudFront).
• Comfortable and proficient using AI-assisted coding tools (Claude, GitHub Copilot etc.).
• Experience with automation platforms such as n8n, Zapier, or Make to accelerate development and integrations.
• Strong focus on clean, maintainable, and scalable code.
• Apply Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDL) principles across all stages of development, ensuring security, privacy, and compliance are embedded from design to deployment.
• Maintain awareness of secure coding practices, threat modelling, and vulnerability mitigation throughout feature development.
• Proven ability to thrive in fast-paced, high-growth environments.

Additional Skills

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines for mobile and web (GitHub Actions).
• Familiarity with testing frameworks (Jest, Cypress, Playwright).
• Understanding of performance optimization and app analytics.
• Comfortable working with cross-functional teams including product, design, and hardware.

Nice to Have

• Experience with multiplayer, real-time gaming, or Unreal Engine integrations.
• Knowledge of BLE, IoT devices, or connected hardware ecosystems.
• Passion for triathlon, swimming, endurance sports, or human performance, or you deeply understand what drives athletes to train, improve, and stay consistent.
• Knowledge of game telemetry, analytics, or live balancing pipelines to support iterative tuning.

Experience optimizing mobile performance, packaging, and build pipelines for Android and iOS.

ZEN8 (Stealth Rebrand) / Connected Swim Training
📍 Lisbon | Full-time - Permanent 

Competitive salary based on experience, with stock options for high-impact results.

About ZEN8 Sports

In a world where cycling, running, and rowing have gone virtual, swimmers have been left behind. We’re changing that.

With over 20,000 athletes already training with our first product, we’ve proven the demand. Now we’re building the world’s first Connected Swim Training platform,  merging smart equipment, real-time performance data, and the thrill of gaming to make swim training accessible, engaging, and exciting for everyone.

We’re currently in stealth, finalizing our next-generation product and closing our Seed round to launch in the coming months. What we’re building will change how millions train, compete, and connect.

Role Overview

As our Senior DevOps & Infrastructure Engineer, you’ll play a critical role in scaling and securing the systems that power the world’s first Connected Swim Training Platform. You’ll design and operate the cloud infrastructure that keeps thousands of athletes connected in real time—delivering data, insights, and performance feedback with minimal latency and maximum reliability.

This is a hands-on role for a builder who thrives in high-growth, fast-moving environments. You’ll work across AWS, CI/CD, and automation to ensure our backend, mobile, and gameplay systems run smoothly, securely, and efficiently at scale.

We’re looking for someone who can blend strong DevOps engineering with backend awareness: someone who understands how infrastructure choices affect data consistency, user experience, and system performance. You’ll collaborate closely with full-stack and gameplay engineers in Lisbon, shaping our technical foundation as we grow globally.

If you love solving complex scaling challenges, automating everything possible, and building infrastructure that just works, you’ll fit right in.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect, implement, and maintain AWS infrastructure (ECS/Fargate, EC2, Lambda, CloudFront, Terraform, CloudFormation) to deliver scalable, high-performance systems.
• Build, optimize, and maintain CI/CD pipelines for web, backend, and mobile applications (React Native, Node.js), ensuring seamless releases and rapid iteration.
• Implement and manage Cloudflare, CloudFront, and S3 Origin configurations to enable global distribution, caching, and low-latency asset delivery.
• Design for scalability, reliability, and uptime, applying redundancy, auto-scaling, and failover strategies.
• Collaborate with backend engineers to optimize databases (PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, MySQL), ensuring data integrity, consistency, and high throughput.
• Enhance security and compliance through encryption, IAM policies, access control, and adherence to GDPR, CCPA, and SSDL (Secure Software Development Lifecycle) principles.
• Integrate monitoring, logging, and alerting systems (Datadog, CloudWatch, Grafana) to maintain full observability and proactive detection.
• Use AI-assisted tools (Claude, Copilot, Cody) and automation platforms (n8n, Zapier, Make) to streamline workflows and accelerate problem-solving.
• Continuously evaluate cost efficiency, optimizing AWS resource allocation for sustainable scaling.
• Ensure interoperability with external systems by adhering to open standards, managing API rate limits, and optimizing bandwidth usage.
• Support the development and release of mobile apps, ensuring build pipelines are stable, performant, and secure.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams in Lisbon (engineering, design, product) to deliver reliable, low-latency experiences to athletes worldwide.

Required Skills

• 5+ years in DevOps, infrastructure, or backend engineering roles.
• Strong experience with AWS (ECS/Fargate, Lambda, CloudFormation, Terraform).
• Proficient in Node.js, TypeScript, and scripting languages (Python, Bash).
• Proven experience managing and scaling databases (PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, MySQL).
• Deep understanding of CI/CD pipelines, container orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes), and serverless architectures.
• Hands-on experience configuring Cloudflare, CloudFront, and S3 Origin for global content delivery.
• Familiar with monitoring, alerting, and logging tools (Datadog, New Relic, CloudWatch, Grafana).
• Experience applying SSDL principles and integrating security checks into pipelines.
• Proficient in using AI-assisted coding and automation tools (Claude, Copilot, n8n, Zapier, Make).
• Strong collaboration, documentation, and problem-solving skills in fast-paced environments.

Additional Skills

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines for mobile and web (GitHub Actions).
• Familiarity with testing frameworks (Jest, Cypress, Playwright).
• Experience building and maintaining real-time data pipelines (Kafka, Pub/Sub, Kinesis).
• Familiarity with mobile build automation (Fastlane, EAS, TestFlight, Play Console).
• Knowledge of networking, VPC configuration, and load balancing.
• Understanding of cost monitoring, resource optimization, and cloud budgeting.
• Experience supporting multiplayer or Unreal Engine environments is a plus.
• Comfortable working with cross-functional teams including product, design, and hardware.

Nice to Have

• Experience supporting multiplayer, real-time, or Unreal Engine environments.
• Background in IoT or connected device ecosystems, especially involving Bluetooth, sensor data, or telemetry.
• Experience with AI-driven observability, predictive scaling, or automated incident response.
• Knowledge of edge computing and CDN-level optimization for global performance (Cloudflare Workers, Lambda Edge).
• Familiarity with ISO 27001 or SOC 2 compliance frameworks.
• Experience implementing or auditing SSDL practices at scale across multiple teams.
• Contributions to open-source DevOps or infrastructure projects.
• Passion for triathlon, swimming, endurance sports, or human performance, or you deeply understand what drives athletes to train, improve, and stay consistent.
• Knowledge of game telemetry, analytics, or live balancing pipelines to support iterative tuning.

Experience optimizing mobile performance, packaging, and build pipelines for Android and iOS.

Our Values

• We take ownership.  We dive in with purpose and care, owning our lane and our results.
• We move fast. We keep moving, test new strokes, and keep pushing the pace forward.
• We back each other. We swim as a team, share the water, and lift each other when the waves get tough.
• We keep leveling up. We stay curious, train our minds and skills, and chase better every week for the team and the community.
• We enjoy the ride. We love the journey, from warm-up to podium, and we celebrate every win together.

Benefits & Perks

• 27 paid vacation days because rest and recovery matter as much as performance.
• Performance-based rewards where real results bring real rewards.
• Equity Options for high-impact results giving ownership to those who help shape the future.
• Meal allowance to fuel focus and performance.
• Fitness partner discounts that support an active lifestyle.
• Direct collaboration with elite athletes bringing real performance insight into how we build and improve.
• Free access to everything we are building so you can train, test, and improve with the product.
• Flexible hours for training and recovery because we trust you to perform your best in and out of work.

• Team and community events where we train, have fun or celebrate wins together.

   

We work in a hybrid setup, typically three days in the office and two from home, with flexibility depending on role and sprint cycles.