Director, Data Engineer - Product Insights

As a Director of Data Engineering in Product Insights you will be responsible for building an effective and efficient Data Engineering function within the central Product Insights teams. You will own and drive the overall data engineering strategy, ensuring the team builds scalable, efficient, and high-performing data solutions aligned with business needs for the organization. You will help to define and enforce expectations for Data Engineers in the Product Insights organization including best practices for data architecture & sustainability; governance, security, and compliance; and industry and organizational standards. You will be responsible for hiring, professional development, and maintaining a healthy team environment. As a Director, you will also be a leader in the Data Engineering discipline & ecosystem at Riot and helping to drive the vision for Data, the Data Engineering discipline, and data architecture at the company. This role will be part of the Product Insights organization and report to Riot’s head of Product Insights.

Responsibilities:

• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of data engineers and data scientists, fostering a collaborative environment and supporting professional growth.
• Support a team working collaboratively with product, delivery, technical, and quality leads.
• Design the team makeup so that it has the skills and staff needed for our goals.
• Manage project timelines, resources, and budgets, ensuring high-quality deliverables that meet stakeholder needs on time and within scope.
• Translate complex analytical findings into clear, actionable insights for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Guide the team in building and deploying predictive models and other advanced analytical solutions that drive insights into player behavior, engagement, retention, monetization etc
• Oversee the design and development of high quality data pipelines that are scalable and performant and deliver on product needs.
• Implement and enforce data governance policies, ensuring data accuracy, consistency, and security across all pipelines. 
• Establish monitoring and alerting systems for pipeline health and data quality.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field
• 12+ years of experience in data engineering, data architecture, or business intelligence, 
• 4+ years of experience managing data engineering teams. 
• Experience scaling and managing 10+ person teams and in managing managers.
• Proven ability to lead and scale data engineering teams, manage hiring, performance reviews, and career development for data engineers
• Ability to influence cross-functional teams around key decisions for data engineering function 
• Experience with data modeling and planning for large organizations
• Expertise in SQL, Python, R, and data warehousing solutions (Snowflake, AWS Redshift, BigQuery); strong understanding of cloud infrastructure 
• Deep experience in designing scalable data architectures, managing large-scale ETL workflows, and implementing data governance frameworks for large organizations 
• Strong ability to align data initiatives with business goals, ensuring that data infrastructure and processes drive meaningful impact
• Extensive experience with workflow orchestration, visualization platforms, and big data platforms

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.

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.

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.