Principal Software Engineer, Product Tech-Lead

Job Description

Principal Software Engineer, Product Tech-Lead - Unpublished R&D Product

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 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 Principal Software Engineer on the R&D team, you are armed with a wealth of knowledge on the intricacies of gameplay technology to inject life into one of Riot's exciting new games. You will work in a small team alongside a product lead and designers to answer fundamental product questions to build experiences that will fulfill our players' impossible dreams. You will report to the Engineering lead of the project.

Responsibilities:
• Ideate, design and implement prototypes to find answers to product questions
• Write prototype code to accumulate insights that can be applied in future development stages
• Collaborate with product and discipline leads to identify focus areas, handoff points, and provide the best solution for the development phase
• Lead and contribute to technical design and implementation
• Set the technical direction and standards for the team
• As development advances into production, design and lead implementation on robust, scalable, performant solutions
• Mentor other engineers on the team in all aspects of game development

Required Qualifications:
• 8+ years of game development experience
• 3+ years experience as team Technical Lead, or as subject matter expert in a specific engineering domain across multiple teams
• 2+ years experience developing and shipping games using C++
• BS in Computer Science, or proven understanding of Computer Science fundamentals
• Strong OO programming experience
• Excellent debugging skills
• Experience collaborating with teammates across multiple disciplines
• Product sense, pragmatism, and player empathy in making tech decisions
• Have an agile mindset

Desired Qualifications:
• Experience using Unreal Engine
• Experience working on both sides of client/service architecture
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines
• Experience building live service multiplayer games
• Experience with art pipelines
• Experience with the prototyping phase of game development

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 has a focus on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy, in addition to 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.

(Los Angeles Only) Base salary range between $213,200 USD - $297,200 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.

(Redwood City Only) Base salary range between $233,500 USD - $325,500 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.

(Bellevue Only) Base salary range between $213,200 USD - $297,200 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.

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.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-g4e8wz-3-145-108-9-42 in your application.