Manager, Software Engineering - League Studios (Services)

Riot engineers bring deep knowledge of specific technical areas but also value the opportunity to work in many broader domains. As an Engineering Manager, you will gain organizational alignment by building a strong engineering vision and offering creative solutions to organizational design. You’ll also serve as a mentor for a team of engineers, overseeing performance management, growth opportunities, and accountability.

As a Manager, Software Engineering - Chemtech Services, you will lead the engineering team that builds and operates backend services that power the core game loop of League of Legends and TFT. You will lead development of new features, drive evergreen improvements to existing services, improve standards and frameworks to enhance services development across League and TFT. You will gain organizational alignment by building a strong engineering vision and offering creative solutions to organizational design. You’ll also serve as a mentor for a team of engineers, overseeing performance management, growth opportunities, and accountability. You will report to the Sr. Manager, Software Engineering. This role is based out of our Los Angeles area Headquarters.

Responsibilities:

Manage a team of 5-10 highly skilled Software Engineers, overseeing performance management, identifying growth opportunities, and ensuring positive results.
Develop and manage a technical vision for your team, working with other leaders to create a long-term organization and staffing plan that supports technical product goals. Clearly communicate this vision to your team.
Ensure the performance and reliability of services powering League and TFT, balancing emergent / KTLO and project work.
Advocate for Players, your team, and internal development customers when deciding what to build and why. Work with your Product partners to prioritize and balance between new feature development and sustainability work.
Ensure high technical quality of what your team produces. Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product management and technical production, to deliver high-quality, scalable, and reliable solutions.
Foster effective communication and collaboration within engineering teams and across other departments.
Stay abreast of industry trends and emerging technologies, guiding the team in adopting best practices and ensuring the technical excellence of our products.
Champion and model Riot’s values, setting the tone for your team and peers.
Participate in your team’s on-call rotation.

Required Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent experience.
5+ years of professional experience as a software engineer working in services development roles.
2+ years of experience leading engineering teams as a manager.
Previous experience managing backend engineers and building high availability, distributed systems at scale.
Expertise with Java, C#, Golang, or similar language(s). Deep understanding of CS fundamentals including system design, data structures, and algorithms.
Professional experience working with cloud computing and cloud technologies (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud)
Professional experience building large-scale backend systems or game services.
Experience developing fault-tolerant distributed systems from the ground up, including requirements-gathering, architecture design, project breakdown, and execution.
Experience collaborating across multiple teams, departments, and disciplines to create solutions.
Experience in project management, prioritization frameworks, and guiding investment strategies in people and systems.

Desired Qualifications:

Master’s degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Professional experience leading cross-functional or full-stack teams.

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 focuses on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy and 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.

At Riot Games, we put players first. That mission drives every decision in our quest to create games and experiences that make it better to be a player. Whether you’re working directly on a new player-facing experience or you’re supporting the company as a whole, everyone at Riot is part of our mission. And just like in our games, we’re better when we work together. Our goal is to create collaborative teams where you are empowered to bring your unique perspective everyday. If that sounds like the kind of place you want to work, we’re looking forward to your application.

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. We consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state and local law, including the California Fair Chance Act, the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the Washington Fair Chance Act.

Per the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the following core duties may create a basis for disqualifying candidates with relevant criminal histories:

Safeguarding confidential and sensitive Company data
Communication with others, including Rioters and third parties such as vendors, and/or players, including minors
Accessing Company assets, secure digital systems, and networks
Ensuring a safe interactive environment for players and other Rioters

These duties are directly related to essential operations, safety, trust, and compliance obligations within our organization. Please note that job duties may evolve based on business needs and additional responsibilities may be assigned as necessary to maintain operational efficiency and security.

(Los Angeles Only) Base salary range between $192,500.00 - $269,400.00 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.