Principal Software Engineer – Engine & Systems Tech Lead

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 also dive into projects that focus on team cohesiveness and cross-team objectives. You’ll partner closely with other game makers on features and provide other engineers with a clear illustration of extraordinary engineering.

As a Principal Software Engineer and Technical Lead for the Foundations team on an Unpublished R&D Product, you provide technical leadership, technical designs and hands-on implementations for a wide area of technical areas in an Unreal game development environment. You will work in a team alongside a product lead, designers, artists, and other engineers to answer fundamental product questions and build experiences that will fulfill our players’ imaginative dreams. 

Responsibilities:

• Lead and contribute to technical design and implementation of foundational systems including, UI foundations, cross-platform support, CI/CD pipelines, artificial intelligence bots, art and gameplay tools
• Collaborate with product and discipline leads to identify focus areas, handoff points, and provide the best solution for the development phase
• Work closely with gameplay and backend teams to deliver foundational technology for the game product 
• Partner with designers and artists to create satisfying user experiences

Required Qualifications:

• 8+ years of professional programming experience
• Experience shipping Unreal titles 
• Strong knowledge of data driven design principles
• BS in Computer Science, or proven understanding of Computer Science fundamentals
• Strong OO C/C++/C# programming experience
• Excellent debugging skills
• Experience collaborating with teammates across multiple disciplines
• Product sense, pragmatism, and player empathy in making tech decisions

Desired Qualifications:

• Online SaaS (software as a service) game development experience
• Thorough understanding of common UI software design patterns (MVC, MVVM, MVP)
• Experience shipping on console platforms
• Experience in performance analysis for CPU and GPU using industry standard tools

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.