Researcher II - VALORANT, Core Game

The Insights discipline helps empower Rioters' decision-making to be more data-informed. We're an interdisciplinary group of scientists, consultants, and strategists from all sorts of backgrounds who join together to represent and advocate for players around the world. We believe that illuminating the globally diverse experiences, behaviors, and needs of players is critical to Riot living up to our player-focused mission. We're a group united by our love of games, science, and helping others succeed.

As a Researcher II, you’ll join the Insights discipline – the group of researchers, analysts, data scientists, and strategists responsible for solving problems and executing analyses that enable Rioters to make difficult decisions with confidence. You’ll be part of an interdisciplinary team and work closely with Rioters from other disciplines (designers, artists, producers, etc.) to conduct studies and analyses that will inform the features, systems, and experiences of our products. Your applied or experimental research background coupled with your deep understanding of data will ensure that you’re an effective advocate for players and can provide strategic guidance about their wants, needs, and behaviors.

As a Researcher II reporting to the Research Manager on VALORANT, you will be working with the Core Game team, supporting the development of VALORANT’s core gameplay including Agents, Maps, Modes, Narrative, and more. You will identify and execute on research opportunities to support the development of new gameplay features and tracking/improvement of existing systems -- from prototyping through launch and live service. Additionally, you will take a core role in building short-term and long-term strategy for VALORANT in collaboration with other disciplines, especially product and design. This role emphasizes a user researcher skillset -- including surveys, player labs, and market research -- to shape core game features for VALORANT. If you’re looking to leverage your research toolkit and collaborate with designers and product owners to craft resonant multiplatform experiences, this is an excellent opportunity for you.

Responsibilities:

• Utilize deep knowledge of VALORANT and/or First-Person Shooter (FPS) gameplay to identify and investigate problem spaces to maintain and improve the game’s core offering.
• Building strong, trusting relationships with cross-functional team members in order to foster data-informed decisionmaking and strategy.
• Representing the player voice in discussions with stakeholders.
• Partner with product teams to generate frameworks and insights that guide the development of core gameplay for VALORANT
• Design and execute on surveys and player labs to generate authentic, applicable feedback

• Provide strategic insights to test design assumptions and inform a product in development

• Leverage storytelling skills to effectively share your results with Rioters and partner studios
• Collaborate with analysts and data scientists to construct holistic, multi-modal analyses

Required Qualifications:

• BA or BS in the social sciences, marketing or a related discipline
• 3-5 years of experience in user experience research, behavioral or cognitive research, or market research
• Professional experience in survey craft and player lab design

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience conducting market research or collaborating with market research vendors
• Experience in product design or business strategy for consumer-facing products
• Advanced capability in analysis software (SPSS, R, Excel, etc.)
• Previous research experience on video games
• Extensive personal experience with VALORANT or other First-Person Shooter games.

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 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 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.