Staff Software Engineer

About the role

You will act as a hands-on technical leader within the UnEco (Unreal Ecosystem) team, shaping how engineering decisions align with player-focused product goals. You will own the technical vision for key systems, translating ambiguous product needs into robust, scalable architectures that enhance both developer velocity and player experience. This role requires you to mentor senior and mid-level engineers, elevating the craft standards across the organization while guiding them through complex problem solving. You will drive the design and execution of multi-year initiatives that touch gameplay, runtime performance, and tooling, ensuring consistency across the broader ecosystem. You will serve as a standard-bearer for quality, reliability, and process excellence in every engagement. Your work will directly influence the tools and infrastructure that power how games are built, shipped, and operated at Riot. You will be accountable for balancing strategic trade-offs with delivery realities to keep teams moving confidently toward ambitious outcomes.

Key facts

What you'll do

Design and architect core components of the Unreal Ecosystem, evaluating buy versus build decisions for foundational systems that impact multiple product teams.

Lead the technical execution of large, cross-functional initiatives spanning several months to multiple years, defining milestones and maintaining alignment with engineering standards.

Partner with product managers, designers, and gameplay engineers to clarify requirements, break down complex problems, and expose risks before they impact delivery.

Champion continuous delivery practices by improving build, test automation, and release pipelines to accelerate safe changes for game development teams.

Advise leadership on prioritization of engineering work, balancing long-term platform investments with urgent product needs across the business unit.

Mentor senior engineers and guide career growth, creating opportunities for ownership, skill development, and impact across the UnEco organization.

Collaborate with stakeholders to resolve pain points in developer workflows, driving tools and infrastructure that exceed expectations for productivity and stability.

Write high-quality code that sets an example for the broader engineering community, emphasizing readability, maintainability, and performance.

Act as a process role model by demonstrating Riot values in decision-making, communication, and collaboration with multidisciplinary teams.

Enable teams through clear documentation, technical guidance, and hands-on support so that best practices in the Unreal Ecosystem are consistently applied.

Serve as a trusted advisor for game teams, helping them navigate ambiguity and make informed technical choices under constraints.

Drive improvements in debugging, profiling, and optimization workflows for complex projects to enhance runtime performance and reliability.

Facilitate cross-team alignment on standards, tooling, and integration points to reduce friction and increase cohesion across the engineering organization.

Leverage deep expertise in common software and game design patterns to solve recurring problems in scalable and maintainable ways.

Engage with the broader Riot engineering community to share knowledge, promote consistency, and elevate the craft of game development.

Requirements

You must bring a minimum of 5 years of professional software engineering experience in relevant domains.

You must demonstrate expert-level proficiency in C++ and a strong understanding of its nuances in large-scale systems.

You must have hands-on experience with mobile development platforms and constraints, including performance and lifecycle considerations.

You must have experience working with modern video game engines and understand the demands they place on hardware and software.

You must have experience collaborating with large game teams, navigating complex organizational structures, and influencing without direct authority.

You must have experience working with large, complex code bases, including navigating, refactoring, and maintaining legacy systems.

You must have a proven track record of debugging, profiling, and optimizing complex projects to resolve performance and stability issues.

You must possess strong knowledge of common game and software design patterns and know when to apply them appropriately.

You must have experience collaborating with teammates across multiple disciplines, including design, art, and gameplay engineering.

Nice to have

Prior experience with Unreal Engine is highly valued for this role.

Experience building and operating online games in live environments is strongly preferred.

Experience with console development and associated toolchains is a significant advantage.

Practical notes

This is a full-time position based in Los Angeles, USA.

Employment eligibility requirements must be met as defined by legal work authorization in the United States.

Candidates must be able to commit to the full duration of assigned projects and responsibilities.

Relocation or visa sponsorship information is not available for this role at this time.

Travel is not expected as part of the core responsibilities for this role.