Staff Software Engineer - Video & Encoding, Esports

Riot Games was founded in 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill with the intent to change the way video games are made and supported for players. In 2009, Riot released its debut title League of Legends to worldwide acclaim. The game has since gone on to become the most played PC game in the world and a key driver of the explosive growth of esports. Players are the foundation of our community and it's for them we continue to evolve and improve the League of Legends experience. Riot Games is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA and has 23 offices worldwide.

The last 12 months have been amazing for esports at Riot. We held our most-watched League of Legends Worlds Championship, and we ran our first global tournaments for VALORANT, Wild Rift, and Legends of Runeterra. On the back of that success, and in our ever-growing dedication to our mission to be the most player focused company in the world, Riot is doubling down on our investment in the esports and fan experience with industry-leading innovations like Project Stryker that will make our ambitions come to life.

The Esports Watch team is Riot's big bet in the area of "Reinventing the Watch Experience." that will focus on making it easier for fans to find the content that matters most. You can read more about that in our CEO's blog, "Calling the shot: the Next Five Years at Riot Games." We are looking for passionate, innovative individuals with a keen eye and ear for fan behaviors. In addition to a large internal team working on this, we are working with external development partners that have specialized expertise who are helping us scale our delivery.

The Role:

As a Staff Software Engineer, you'll be trusted to push large scoped backend projects, design flexible and functional backend service architecture, and develop strategies for operating video orchestration and distribution at high scale. Collaborate closely with design and product peers, and level up other software engineers in the team. The team's primary focus is developing a greenfield product and as such there are opportunities to flex both leadership and engineering skills.

You will report to the Director, Software Engineering for Esports Technology R&D

Responsibilities:

• You will lead and contribute to technical direction, design, and implementation of the Esports watch platform and the services that expand and enhance our player-facing experiences
• You will be responsible for end-to-end architecture of a high-scale video-over-IP distribution platform. This includes mapping multiple services together to achieve a cohesive video distribution capability.
• Collaborate with central technology and infrastructure teams
• You will lead by technical example, lifting the expertise and skills of people around you through spec reviews, code reviews, documentation, and testing
• You will collaborate closely with our esports R&D leadership and Riot platform and technology teams to ensure the right tech capabilities are prioritized and built.

Required Qualifications:

• 8+ years of experience or equivalent as either an infrastructure or software engineer
• Experience with multiple aspects of video distribution technology such as encoding and packaging, content management, video workflow orchestration, and stream management systems
• Deep hands-on programming experiences with Java or Golang

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience with SaaS providers in video distribution space.
• CDN distribution strategy
• Familiarity with Quality of Service systems and video analytics
• Familiarity with CI/CD using Docker and Jenkins

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 the experiences of players, this could be the role for you!

Our Perks:

Riot has a focus on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy, in addition to 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.

(Los Angeles Only) Base salary range between $178,500 USD - $249,900 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.

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, including the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance relating to an applicant's criminal history.