Staff Software Engineer, Audio

Job Description

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 drive important features and provide other engineers with a clear illustration of extraordinary engineering.
As a Staff Software Engineer for Audio on Research & Development working on an early stage product, you will be the technical owner of the audio domain, designing, implementing, and scaling the systems that shape how players hear and feel the game world. Partnering closely with a multidisciplinary team, you'll strengthen the integration between audio systems and the game engine while helping design and implement new features.
Your passion, creativity, and critical thinking will be essential in both guiding team decisions and providing valuable peer feedback. While you'll spend the majority of your time focused on audio systems, you'll be expected to leverage your networked multiplayer experience in supporting general gameplay systems. Collaboration is core to our culture-you'll work alongside the Sound Designers, Engineers, Designers, Producers, Artists and other cross-discipline partners to bring a brand new game to life.

Responsibilities:
• Own the architecture and implementation of audio systems from concept to production.
• Partner with the Audio Lead and Sound Designers to integrate gameplay and narrative audio.
• Optimize memory usage, streaming performance, and platform-specific audio behaviors.
• Act as the primary technical liaison for audio, advocating for best practices and scalable solutions.
• Collaborate with designers, artists, and producers to ensure audio tech empowers content creation.
• Rapidly prototype and iterate on audio-driven features in Unreal Engine.
• Contribute to generalist engineering efforts, especially in areas tied to networked gameplay.
• Define best practices for tools, workflows, and testing in the audio tech space.
• Mentor engineers in audio systems and contribute to the long-term technical direction of the game.
Required Qualifications:
• 8+ years of game development experience in a C-style game engine (Unreal Engine, Unity, etc)
• Deep expertise with audio middleware (Wwise, FMOD) and game engine integration
• 2+ years of Unreal Engine experience
• Strong knowledge of multiplayer architectures and gameplay systems
• Experience developing systems that support games in close collaboration with other disciplines in game development
• 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:
• Product sense and player empathy in making tech decisions
• Proficient with modern day audio software tools (Pro-Tools, Reaper, Plugins)
• Development experience with first person shooters and content-heavy games like RPGs
• Experience building gameplay systems supporting gameplay designers
• Experience building tools and pipelines with close collaboration with art, design, and production
• Experience in prototyping phases or early product development
• Experience developing and shipping a AAA title
• Experience with Agile development
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!

• (Mercer Island only) Base salary range between $192,500.00 - $269,400.00 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.
• (Los Angeles Only) Base salary range between $192,500.00 - $269,400.00 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-vew2xn-18-217-210-224-42 in your application.