Riot engineers bring deep knowledge of specific technical areas but also value the opportunity to work in a variety of broader domains. As a 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, a curiosity and 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 prototype. 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. You will report to the Engineering Director of the R&D team.

Responsibilities:

Brainstorm, design and implement prototypes to find answers to product, development and technical questions.
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 and standards for the team during prototype, focused on rapid learnings, leading and contributing to technical design and implementation during prototype.
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:

8+ years of full stack game development experience with depth in client, server and gameplay
2+ years experience as team Technical Lead, or as subject matter expert in a specific engineering domain across multiple teams
Experience developing, shipping and operating games
Experience developing gameplay mechanics and systems in close collaboration with design and art disciplines
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 using modern game engines (ex. Unity, Unreal Engine)
Experience leading full stack engineering with broad expertise
Experience building pipelines with close collaboration with art, design and production
Experience working on games in the concept and prototyping phase or other environments focused on discovery and knowledge work in a lead capacity

Our Perks:

We offer medical, dental, and vision plans that cover you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children. Life insurance, parental leave, plus short-term and long-term disability coverage are also available. Riot will support your retirement benefits with a company match, and double down on your donations of time and money to non-profit charitable organizations. Balance between work and personal life is encouraged with open paid time off, and a play fund so you can broaden and deepen your personal relationship with games.

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).