Principal Software Engineer, Riot Games
Computer Vision/Automation, League of Legends
$229.2-319.5k
+ Incentive compensation and equity
Player-focused game development platform
Open for applications
Player-focused game development platform
1001+ employees
Open for applications
$229.2-319.5k
+ Incentive compensation and equity
1001+ employees
Company mission
To be the most player-focused game company in the world.
Role
Who you are
- Riot engineers bring deep knowledge of specific technical areas but also value the opportunity to work in a variety of broader domains
- 8+ years of deep hands-on experiences with compiled programming languages (C/C++, Java, Go, or C#)
- 4+ years experience utilizing computer vision in support of automation tests
- 3+ years experience with C/C++ that spans various use-cases and platform
- Extensive experience leveraging machine learning, AI, and functional testing techniques to enhance automated testing workflows, enabling smarter test case prioritization, anomaly detection, and adaptive regression coverage across complex game systems
- Have been responsible for driving value through leading the development of organization-sized efforts (one year + scope), including requirements gathering, planning, testing, and release or deployment
- Championed software development best practices within your organization that includes design/code reviews, coding standards, source control management, testing, delivery performance, scalability, and maintainability
- You have a strong history of mentoring others in both soft and hard skills
- 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!
What the job involves
- As a Software Engineer, you’ll work with both new and current technology, creating innovative solutions to overcome high-volume obstacles and to deliver player value
- As a Principal Software Engineer on the League of Legends Quality Team, you will define and drive the technical vision for our core automation frameworks, ensuring the highest standards of quality across the League of Legends ecosystem
- Your work will empower engineers across multiple initiatives—ranging from gameplay mechanics to skin development—by providing reliable, scalable frameworks that support efficient and robust testing practices
- In this role, you'll report directly to the Engineering Manager and play a key leadership role in cross-team collaboration
- You’ll work closely with engineers and QA across Riot to align on quality frameworks and workflows, elevate the developer experience, and improve the overall quality of our products
- We primarily use C++ for game and tooling logic, and Python to drive our test automation and validation systems
- This role involves collaboration with diverse teams to ensure features accomplish expectations from multiple dimensions (code quality, extensibility, modularity, scalability, security, operational concerns, and industry standards/trends)
- You'll work and align with different partners that span across multiple teams to ensure we're delivering awesome features to excite them
- Setting the tone for, contributing to, and defining technical discussions/designs that your team is accountable for
- Mentorship. You'll help Rioters develop the tools and creative atmosphere to shine, but ultimately hold them accountable for making smart calls and delivering player value
- Participate in the team's support rotation
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
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 HQ
Sawtelle, Los Angeles, CA
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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