Staff Software Engineer, Riot Games
Full-Stack - 2XKO
$183.3-275.8k
Salary dependant on location + Incentive Compensation + Equity
Player-focused game development platform
Open for applications
Player-focused game development platform
1001+ employees
Open for applications
$183.3-275.8k
Salary dependant on location + Incentive Compensation + Equity
1001+ employees
Company mission
To be the most player-focused game company in the world.
Role
Who you are
- The ideal candidate will be experienced with both UI and backend services
- 6+ years of experience building interactive UIs and the client and backend systems that support them
- Experience developing large systems from scratch, including gathering requirements and designing scalable, production-ready architecture
- BS in Computer Science, or proven understanding of Computer Science fundamentals
- Strong ability to collaborate with teammates across multiple disciplines
- Product sense, pragmatism, and player empathy in making tech decisions
Desirable
- Experience working on a global scale online game
- Experience using Unreal Engine 4 or 5
- Experience shipping Golang, C#, C++ code in production environments
What the job involves
- As a Staff Software Engineer, you will focus on both implementation excellence and technical leadership, working across teams to ensure that we have a solid technical foundation for a smooth launch at scale.
- This role reports to the Manager of Software Engineering for the team
- Identify, prioritize, and implement player facing experiences on a new title
- Build features in Unreal Engine from UI to the client systems
- Build and support live services for the game
- Utilize internal and external cloud technologies and services
- Drive and contribute to architecture requirements, technical design, and implementation for relevant systems
- Help shape the technical direction and standards for the team
- Mentor more junior engineers on the team
- Collaborate effectively with art, design, and other disciplines within game 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!
Our take
Riot Games has grown into one of the world’s most prominent online and mobile game developers, due in large part to the success of its 2009 flagship title League of Legends which hosts just under seventy million users every month.
Riot is riding the wave of online gaming growth, having made a well timed switch from PC-only into mobile-based gaming, as capitalising on the rising popularity of esports, with the League of Legends World Championships one of the most watched events in the space.
However, adding further titles to its resume will be key to building on its success, as League of Legends was its only offering for the best part of a decade. Since being acquired by Chinese tech giant Tencent in 2011, the company has grown significantly in Asian markets, opening its Shanghai Game Studio in 2021 and expanding its China Game Studio Group in 2022. These two hubs will help Riot Games make further inroads in a country where PC gaming is already huge and continues to grow.
Regardless of League of Legends' success both online and in live arenas, the company nevertheless experienced a round of layoffs internationally that amounted to 11% of its workforce. Pair that with legal troubles in 2024 concerning the company’s partnership with now bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, and Riot Games appears to be in a period of transition. Thanks to the strength of its gaming products, however, Riot will no doubt maintain a comfortable position within the gaming world.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Some candidates hear
back within 2 weeks
24% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (2 rounds)
Sep 2009
$8m
SERIES C
Jul 2008
$7m
EARLY VC
Total funding: $15m
Company benefits
- We offer medical, dental, and vision plans that cover you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children
- Life insurance, parental leave, plus short-term and long-term disability coverage are also available
- Riot will support your retirement benefits with a company match, and double down on your donations of time and money to non-profit charitable organizations
- Balance between work and personal life is encouraged with open paid time off, and a play fund so you can broaden and deepen your personal relationship with games
Company values
- Player experience first
- Dare to dream
- Thrive together
- Execute with excellence
- Stay hungry, stay humble
Company HQ
Sawtelle, Los Angeles, CA
Articles
Leadership
Brandon Beck
(Co-Chairman)Having studied at the University of Southern California, they worked as a Management Consultant at Bain & Company. they left this role in September 2006 to co-found Riot Games, where they served initially as co-CEO.
Marc Merrill
(Co-Chairman)After a degree at the University of Southern California, they worked as a U.S. Bank Analyst and a Manager of Advanstar Communications. They co-founded Riot Games with Brandon in September 2006, alongside being a Principal of NaHCo3 since 2016.
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