Working Student (Research & Development)
Atari is a legendary video game company that designs and sells retro-inspired gaming hardware, classic and new video games, and branded apparel and collectibles. It serves consumers and gaming enthusiasts through its own e-commerce store, offering consoles, arcade machines, handhelds, game cartridges, and merchandise.
About Atari
Atari is a well-known video game and entertainment brand offering a wide range of hardware products including the Atari 2600+, Atari 7800+, Atari 400 Mini, Atari VCS, arcade machines, and handhelds like the Super Pocket and Atari Gamestation Go. The company also publishes and sells games across major platforms such as Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Steam/PC, Xbox, and mobile, spanning genres like arcade, simulation, shooter, and platformer titles, often through publishing labels including Atari, Digital Eclipse, Nightdive Studios, RollerCoaster Tycoon, and Infogrames. In addition to hardware and games, Atari sells apparel, accessories, home and office goods, artwork, and collectibles, serving retro gaming fans and general consumers through its online storefront.
Skills
About the Role
You will join the Strategic Projects team to investigate emerging technologies, build rapid prototypes, and help leadership decide where to place strategic bets. This is a hands-on role where you'll build things — prototypes, teardowns, working demos, and decision-ready writeups — rather than just presenting slides about trends. You should be comfortable working with ambiguity, limited structure, and fast-changing priorities.
Requirements
- Currently enrolled student in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a closely related technical field
- Demonstrated ability to learn unfamiliar tools fast and ship working code, shown via portfolio, GitHub, side projects, or shipped work
- Hands-on coding experience with Python, TypeScript, Node.js, and/or Java or similar programming languages
- Confident working with GitHub and other development workflows
- Experience with AI coding tools and workflow automations
- Able to quickly learn unfamiliar frameworks, APIs, SDKs, or technical environments
- Fluent in English, both written and spoken
- Strong communication skills, including in-person communication and the ability to explain technical ideas to non-technical stakeholders
- Self-directed and comfortable being given problems, not solutions
- Comfortable working with ambiguity, limited structure, and changing priorities
- Comfortable pushing back, challenging assumptions, and rethinking ideas when evidence points elsewhere
- Ability to be onsite in Münster on a hybrid schedule
- Must be eligible to work in Germany
- Based in Münster or the surrounding area
Responsibilities
- Evaluate emerging tech relevant to Atari's portfolio, including AI/ML in games, new engines, distribution platforms, emulation tech, modding ecosystems, and retro-tech revivals, and write teardowns with a recommendation
- Build quick proofs-of-concept with working code to stress-test whether strategic ideas are feasible
- Track the indie, experimental, and retro gaming landscape for tools, trends, and IP opportunities
- Synthesize findings into briefings that an executive can act on in 10 minutes
- Run small experiments end-to-end: define the hypothesis, build the test, report the result, and recommend the next step
- Translate prototype results into clear recommendations: pursue, park, test further, or stop
- Use AI coding tools and workflow automation tools to move faster
- Work with non-technical stakeholders and explain technical findings clearly
- Push back on bad ideas when the data says so