Staff Data Engineer

Riot's Data Engineers build products that improve the experience of our players worldwide using petabytes of data and state-of-the-art processing technology. Maximizing the potential of this data is a complex task.  The League Data Central team is made up of engineers, data scientists, producers, and product managers focused on evolving the data powered capabilities of the League Studio.

As a Staff Data Engineer on the League Data Central team, you will shape the data architecture and systems that provide amazing experiences to millions of League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics players around the world. This role is heavily centered on data modeling, architecture, and governance, with a strong emphasis on data warehousing and collaborative leadership.You’ll have the opportunity to lead projects covering a wide variety of problems spaces including player facing features powered by machine learning, improving game design with data focused tooling, and partnering with our Insights teams to help us make key strategic decisions and drive future planning. This role is based out of Los Angeles.

Responsibilities

• Design and lead the implementation of architectures that support advanced analytics, machine learning models, and real-time data processing, ensuring scalability and performance.
• Develop complex data models that cater to both current and future needs focused on  accessibility for large datasets.
• Design and implement advanced ETL processes and data integration strategies to handle diverse data sources and formats
• Act as a liaison between our team and game teams as well as central platform teams to understand their needs and provide solutions
• Analyze existing systems for bottlenecks and inefficiencies, and implement solutions to optimize data flow and processing for high-volume, complex datasets.
• Lead initiatives in data governance, data quality, and metadata management that ensure data accuracy, consistency, and security
• Explore and evaluate new technologies, tools, and data management practices to enhance the capabilities of the data platform
• Collaborate closely with data scientists and analysts, providing them with the data required for complex analytics, machine learning models, and data exploration
• Communicate complex data concepts and the value of data projects to stakeholders at all levels of the organization, influencing data-driven decision-making and strategy

Required Qualifications:

• 6+ years of relevant experience developing scalable data systems
• Extensive experience designing standard data models & event-driven architecture
• Extensive experience modeling data to deliver business insights
• Experience developing solutions in  Spark, SQL, and Airflow or equivalent data technologies
• Experience working with Python, Java or other equivalent programming languages
• Experience partnering with product and engineering teams to drive investment in and adoption of data focused solutions
• Experience with all aspects of the software development lifecycle from requirements gathering through deployment and continued operation
• Experience delivering on cloud computing technologies (AWS, Google, Azure)
• Experience working within the agile project management framework
• Experience setting the technical direction of projects
• Experience leading engineering teams

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience developing solutions with related data processing technologies such as Hive, Flink, Kafka, ElasticSearch, Dynamo, MySQL or Postgres
• Experience using containers (Docker, Kubernetes) and infrastructure as code (Terraform, Ansible)

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 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 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.

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.