Riot engineers bring deep knowledge of specific technical areas, but also value the opportunity to work in a variety of broader domains. As a Principal Software Engineer, you’ll dive into projects that focus on team cohesiveness and provide other engineers with a clear illustration of extraordinary engineering.

As a Principal Software Engineer (Product Technical Lead) in R&D, you are responsible for helping Riot build and deliver a brand new game! You will keep the player’s experience in mind as you develop and prioritize the long term technical plan for one of our new games. You will implement features and work collaboratively with other engineers and cross discipline leaders to deliver genre-defining experiences to our players. This position will report to the Product Engineering Lead of the product team.

Responsibilities:

• Provide guidance to engineering team members while establishing and championing alignment around technical initiative areas
• Implement and guide implementation of technical solutions to key product problems
• Maintain a deep technical understanding of strategically important systems
• Own the technical build, release, and deployment processes of the product
• Ensure the team maintains a high bar for tech excellence, code maintainability, quality, and documentation standards
• Partner closely with the Product Engineering Lead to cultivate and model an environment of learning, curiosity and ownership
• Coordinate with technical leaders across Riot Games to utilize and contribute to existing platform infrastructure and other shared technologies
• Work collaboratively with team leadership to help realize the overall vision of the game

Required Qualifications:

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience
• 4+ years of C++, Java, and/or Golang experience
• Experience as a technical leader for a game team during development and post-launch
• Familiarity working in an agile environment and balancing short-term needs with long-term game health and sustainability
• Experience mentoring other engineers and communicating technical concepts across disciplines
• Experience shepherding technical implementation through all phases of development (pre-production, production, beta, post-launch)
• Passion for creating games that focus on the player experience first

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience working on a global scale SaaS game
• Experience supporting a live SaaS application
• Experience working with Unreal Engine
• Experience working on mobile and/or multi-platform games
• Experience partnering with external teams to develop technical features and capabilities

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise and a collaborative spirit that prioritizes the delight of players. We will look at your past studies and experience, but for this role, we also look for dedicated people with a personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about players' experiences, this is the role for you!

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.