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Software Engineering Group

Staff Software Engineer - Unpublished R&D Product

Los Angeles, USA

Additional Locations:

Bellevue, USA

Job Id: REQ-0007264

Riot engineers bring deep knowledge of specific technical areas but also value the opportunity to work in a variety of broader domains. As a Staff Software Engineer, you’ll also dive into projects that focus on team cohesiveness and cross-team objectives. You’ll lead without authority and provide other engineers with a clear illustration of extraordinary engineering.

As a Staff Software Engineer on Research & Development working on an early stage product, you are armed with a wealth of knowledge in full stack game technologies, curiosity and an open mind for learning and knowledge work, and the flexibility to support rapid explorations during prototype. You will use a strong sense of pragmatism and your previous game development knowledge to focus limited mindshare on the most valuable learning and discovery opportunities in order to chart the path out of the prototype for our new game. You will work in a small team alongside a product lead, designers and artists to answer fundamental questions and eventually build experiences that will fulfill our players’ impossible dreams. 

Responsibilities:

  • Brainstorm, design, and implement game features to find answers to product, development, and technical questions. Work with cross-disciplinary teams.
  • Write prototype code across a variety of technologies with a focus on accumulating insights that can be applied in future development stages.
  • Support product and discipline leads to identify focus areas, handoff points, and provide the best solution to empower them to iterate and learn quickly in the development phase.
  • Partner closely with the Engineering Lead to cultivate and model an environment of learning, exploration and psychological safety for all disciplines, empowered by technology. 
  • Set the technical direction, architecture requirements and standards for the team during prototype, focused on rapid learnings, leading and contributing to technical design and implementation.
  • Build relationships with and leverage the experience of technical leaders inside of Riot to design and lead technical direction and implementation of scalable and performant solutions as development advances into pre-production.
  • Mentor other engineers on the team in all aspects of game development.

Required Qualifications:

  • 6+ years of game development experience with depth in networked game architectures
  • 2+ years experience as team Technical Lead, or as subject matter expert in a specific engineering domain across multiple teams
  • 1+ years of experience using Unreal Engine or other modern game engines
  • Experience developing systems that support games in close collaboration with other disciplines in game development
  • Product sense and player empathy in making tech decisions
  • Experience partnering with teammates across multiple disciplines in a daily work capacity
  • BS in Computer Science, or proven understanding of Computer Science fundamentals

Desired Qualifications:

  • Experience building gameplay systems supporting gameplay designers
  • Experience building tools and pipelines with close collaboration with art, design and production
  • Experience developing game backend systems 
  • Experience working on games in the concept and prototyping phase or other environments focused on discovery and knowledge work
  • Knowledge of content-heavy games or RPGs

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, and your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about players' experiences, this could be your role!

Our Perks:

Riot has a focus on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy, in addition to other perks such as flexible work schedules. We offer medical, dental, and life insurance, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner and children, and a 401k with company match. Check out our benefits pages for more information.

Riot Games fosters a player and workplace experience that values teamwork embodied by the Summoner's Code and Community Code. Our culture embraces differences as a strength, and our values are the guiding principles for how we approach work. We are committed to putting diversity and inclusion (D&I) at the center of everything we do, and promoting a fair and collaborative culture where Rioters treat one another with dignity and respect. We encourage you to read more about our value of thriving together and our ongoing work to build the most inclusive company in Gaming.

  • (Los Angeles Only) Base salary range between $178,500.00 - $249,900.00 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.
  • (Bellevue only) Base salary range between $178,500.00 - $249,900.00 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.
It’s our policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and members of Riot Games, Inc. Riot Games makes reasonable accommodations for handicapped and disabled Rioters and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, handicap, veteran status, marital status, criminal history, or any other category protected by applicable federal and state law, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance relating to an applicant's criminal history (LAMC 189.00).