About the role
Role Summary
As a Manager, Software Engineering within Riot Discovery Studio, you will report to the Tech Director on an unpublished R&D product. You will lead a team of internal and external engineers to support product exploration, integrate and extend critical backend technologies, and scale technology to meet the needs of a live Riot title. You will be accountable for all technical decisions of your team’s focus areas, help shape the product, and own the technical health of the product's backend services from prototype through live operation, including architecture, scalability, reliability, observability, deployment, incident response, and infrastructure cost. You will be hands-on in implementation, at least initially.
Responsibilities
- Support defining the engineering strategy and technical roadmap to develop global backend infrastructure with an understanding of audience and product goals.
- Manage and scale an engineering team to support product needs through various development stages, including pre-production, production, and post-launch.
- Partner with product and delivery teams as they define product features and the product roadmap.
- Collaborate and coordinate with Riot Central technology teams to efficiently deliver world-class solutions.
- Direct development and manage performance of external engineers in other geographies.
- Collaborate in technical/architectural discussions, provide direction, and drive decision-making.
- Drive the planning and execution of engineering work including requirements gathering, technical discovery, technical design, and work breakdown and estimation.
- Own the technical success of the services team, including operational excellence and cost in live environments.
- Identify, interview, and hire software engineers to support team and Riot hiring goals.
- Support engineers with performance management and career development, including stretch opportunities for growth.
- Create a culture of leadership across engineering by seeking different perspectives at all levels to solve problems and contribute ideas.
Required Qualifications
- 6+ years of experience as a software engineer.
- 4+ years of game development experience working in various platforms such as mobile, console, and PC.
- 2+ years of experience in a leadership position, working directly on the production of a game as an Engineering Manager.
- Experience leading teams through feature development including planning, execution, delivery, and post-release support.
- Experience building reliable, scalable, and maintainable backend distributed systems.
- Experience with the full software development lifecycle, including shipping one or more products on large code bases that span a range of platforms and tools.
- Experience collaborating across non-engineering departments to create solutions.
- Experience with modern backend technologies such as Go, Java, C#, or similar.
Desired Qualifications
- Experience developing online games integrating Unreal Engine and backend services.
- Experience managing co-development or outsourcing relationships.
- Experience leading a backend transition from prototype to production.
- Experience improving live service uptime, reliability, and operational readiness.
- Familiarity with modern game platforms and practices.
Compensation and Benefits
- Locations: Los Angeles, USA; SF Bay Area, USA.
- Base Salary Range (Los Angeles): $192,500.00 - $269,400.00 USD.
- Base Salary Range (Redwood City): $206,700.00 - $289,600.00 USD.
- Additional Compensation: Incentive compensation, equity, and 401k with company match.
- Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, short and long-term disability, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children, and open PTO.
- Policy: Flexible work schedules and work/life balance focus.
Equal Opportunity and Background Disclosure
Riot Games provides equal employment opportunity for all applicants and members. It 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.
Per the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, core duties that may create a basis for disqualifying candidates with relevant criminal histories include:
- 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.