Principal Software Engineer - VALORANT Experience Team

5 Months ago • 10-10 Years • Research & Development

Job Summary

Job Description

As a Principal Software Engineer on the VALORANT Experience team, you will lead technical development of the VALORANT client, ensuring a high-quality experience for millions of players globally. Responsibilities include hands-on development, defining technical direction across multiple teams, championing the technical vision, advocating for players and internal development customers, serving as a technical leader on projects, planning and sequencing major system changes, and mentoring senior engineers. You will work with engineers across the entire VALORANT stack, from UI to low-level performance. This role demands strong technical expertise, leadership skills, and a deep understanding of game development.
Must have:
  • 10+ years software engineering experience
  • 8+ years C++ experience
  • 3+ years experience with a commercial game engine
  • Experience leading complex projects (12+ months)
  • Mentoring experience
Good to have:
  • Game engine development experience
  • Game client features experience
  • AI for games experience
  • Automated testing experience
  • Performance optimization experience
  • Unreal Engine experience
  • Experience developing for Xbox/PlayStation
  • Agile and continuous delivery experience
Perks:
  • Open paid time off policy
  • Flexible work schedules
  • Medical, dental, and life insurance
  • Parental leave
  • 401k with company match

Job Details

Want to lead technical development of the VALORANT client? As Principal Engineer on the Cross-VALORANT Experience team, you’ll be responsible for directing work done to ensure a high-quality experience on a game that is enjoyed by millions around the world, setting up VALORANT to continue its success for new and existing players alike. You’ll work with engineers responsible for the entire stack of VALORANT, from the front end UI down to low-level performance of the game and everything in between. You will bring broad technical experience and mentorship skill, leveling up the work of the engineers around you.

At Riot, principal software engineers gain organizational alignment by building a strong engineering vision and offering creative solutions to technical problems. They also serve as mentors for engineers, guiding their performance and finding growth opportunities delivering compelling player experiences.


Responsibilities:

  • Be hands-on in development, writing excellent code that sets a high standard for other engineers
  • Define and drive the technical direction in an area spanning multiple teams
  • Champion the technical vision for your team with production and game management
  • Advocate for players, your area, and internal development customers when deciding what to build and why. Build alignment and coordinate with other teams across VALORANT when working on cross-game features
  • Serve as a technical leader on projects, designing technical solutions and reviewing others’ to anticipate disruptions or complexities. Resolve ambiguity and ensure high quality engineering across your area. Write critical portions of code and shepherd solutions to successful deployment
  • Plan and sequence the parallel rollout of major system changes using technical designs and instruction
  • Be a standard-bearer and role model of Riot values for your team and others
  • Be a force multiplier for your team. Mentor senior engineers on your team and enable them to deliver complex projects
  • Other reasonable activities required by management

Required qualifications:

  • 10+ years of experience as a hands-on software engineer
  • 8+ years of experience with C++
  • 3+ years experience developing in a commercial game engine (e.g. Unreal, Unity)
  • Experience driving design and delivery of complex, 12+month project, including talking to customers, planning, design, delivery, testing, and operation
  • Experience mentoring other engineers

Desired Qualifications:

  • 2+ years experience in one or more of the following areas: game engine development, game client features, artificial intelligence for games, automated testing, performance
  • Experience with Unreal Engine
  • Experience developing games for Xbox and PlayStation console platforms
  • Experience in Agile processes and continuous delivery

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 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 for more information.


Riot Games fosters a player and workplace experience that values teamwork embodied by the and . 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 and our ongoing work to build the .

 

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. 

Similar Jobs

Inworld AI - Staff C++ Developer

Inworld AI

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (On-Site)
1 Month ago
Kojima Productions - Character Artist

Kojima Productions

Tokyo, Japan (On-Site)
5 Months ago
Immersion Labs - Senior 3D Environment Artist / Level Artist

Immersion Labs

Warsaw, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland (Hybrid)
2 Months ago
Meta - Software Engineer, Android

Meta

Los Angeles, California, United States (On-Site)
2 Weeks ago
MyGames - 3D HTML5 Playable Ads Developer

MyGames

(Remote)
2 Months ago
Ceragon Networks - Senior Verification Engineer

Ceragon Networks

Karnataka, India (On-Site)
5 Months ago
Google - Staff Software Engineer, AI/ML Computer Vision

Google

Mountain View, California, United States (On-Site)
2 Days ago
Social Discovery Group - Team Lead/Principal NLP Engineer

Social Discovery Group

(Remote)
2 Months ago
NVIDIA - Senior RTL Analysis Methodology Engineer

NVIDIA

Santa Clara, California, United States (On-Site)
1 Month ago
Google - Firmware Engineer, Wireless Connectivity, Google Pixel

Google

New Taipei City, Taiwan (On-Site)
2 Days ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Similar Skill Jobs

Behaviour Interactive - Development Tester - Quality Assurance

Behaviour Interactive

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (Hybrid)
3 Weeks ago
CD PROJEKT RED - Senior Gameplay Designer

CD PROJEKT RED

Warsaw, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland (On-Site)
1 Day ago
VECTOR NORTH - [Vector North] Senior Gameplay Programmer

VECTOR NORTH

Prague, Prague, Czechia (Hybrid)
6 Months ago
Nintendo - Designer I (NST)

Nintendo

Redmond, Washington, United States (Hybrid)
8 Months ago
Axi - Data Governance Analyst

Axi

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India (On-Site)
17 Hours ago
Ubisoft Blue Byte - Lead Development Tester

Ubisoft Blue Byte

Berlin, Berlin, Germany (Hybrid)
2 Weeks ago
Ubisoft - Technical Artist

Ubisoft

Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines (On-Site)
11 Months ago
Google - Quality and Reliability Engineer

Google

Tel Aviv-Yafo, Tel Aviv District, Israel (On-Site)
2 Days ago
Playrix - Senior C++/Python Software Engineer (Engine)

Playrix

Portugal (Remote)
6 Months ago
white board games - Technical Artist (SR)

white board games

(Remote)
1 Day ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Jobs in Los Angeles, California, United States

Mashgin - Deployment Engineer - Texas

Mashgin

Austin, Texas, United States (Remote)
6 Months ago
Samsung Semiconductor - Staff Engineer, SOC Design

Samsung Semiconductor

Folsom, California, United States (Hybrid)
2 Months ago
PwC - Contracts Lifecycle Management (CLM) Solutions Management- Senior Manager

PwC

Dallas, Texas, United States (On-Site)
7 Months ago
Epic Games - Third Party Risk Management Analyst

Epic Games

Cary, North Carolina, United States (On-Site)
1 Month ago
ByteDance - Research Scientist (Machine Learning for Science (AI-for-Science))

ByteDance

Seattle, Washington, United States (On-Site)
1 Month ago
PlayStation Global - Senior Software Engineer (Back End / Machine Learning)

PlayStation Global

San Mateo, California, United States (On-Site)
1 Week ago
Pika - Staff Software Engineer

Pika

Palo Alto, California, United States (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Nexon - Security Compliance Analyst

Nexon

El Segundo, California, United States (Hybrid)
1 Month ago
Patreon - Technical Recruiter

Patreon

San Francisco, California, United States (Hybrid)
1 Month ago
DraftKings - Senior Analyst, Strategic Finance

DraftKings

Boston, Massachusetts, United States (On-Site)
1 Month ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Research & Development Jobs

Google - Software Engineering Manager, Systems Acceleration, Silicon

Google

New Taipei, New Taipei City, Taiwan (On-Site)
2 Weeks ago
NVIDIA - Senior Applied Power Architect - GPU

NVIDIA

Austin, Texas, United States (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Google - ASIC Design For Testability CAD Engineer, Silicon

Google

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India (On-Site)
2 Weeks ago
Google - CPU Design for Test Engineer

Google

Tel Aviv-Yafo, Tel Aviv District, Israel (On-Site)
1 Week ago
Google - Verification Lead, Google Cloud

Google

Tel Aviv-Yafo, Tel Aviv District, Israel (On-Site)
2 Days ago
Google - Senior Embedded Software Architect, Silicon

Google

Mountain View, California, United States (On-Site)
1 Week ago
Google - Software Engineering Manager, Pixel Core System Software

Google

New Taipei, New Taipei City, Taiwan (On-Site)
2 Days ago
Meta - Software Engineer (Leadership) - Machine Learning

Meta

Paris, Île-de-France, France (On-Site)
5 Months ago
NVIDIA - Senior Software Architect, Accelerated Computing SDN

NVIDIA

Tel Aviv-Yafo, Tel Aviv District, Israel (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Microsoft - Senior Researcher

Microsoft

Beijing, Beijing, China (On-Site)
2 Weeks ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

About The Company

Riot Games is a video game developer, publisher, and esports tournament organizer best known for League of Legends.

Los Angeles, California, United States (On-Site)

Los Angeles, California, United States (On-Site)

Los Angeles, California, United States (On-Site)

Los Angeles, California, United States (On-Site)

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (On-Site)

Los Angeles, California, United States (On-Site)

Los Angeles, California, United States (On-Site)

Los Angeles, California, United States (On-Site)

Los Angeles, California, United States (On-Site)

View All Jobs

Get notified when new jobs are added by Riot Games

Level Up Your Career in Game Development!

Transform Your Passion into Profession with Our Comprehensive Courses for Aspiring Game Developers.

Job Common Plug