Manager, Software Engineering (UI) - League of Legends

Riot engineers bring deep knowledge of specific technical areas but also value the chance to work in many broader domains. As the Engineering Manager, you'll be tasked with building the long-term success for your organization by helping define the product vision, mentoring and growing talent, and being accountable for delivering results.

As an Engineering Manager on the League of Legends UI team, you will oversee a team dedicated to creating meta experiences that help new and returning players feel welcome and engaged. This pod focuses on tutorials, onboarding, events, and UI/UX systems.

In this role, you’ll split your time between hands-on coding (about 50%) and managing the pod’s engineers and contractors (about 50%). You’ll manage a small team of engineers while coordinating with contractors and cross-disciplinary partners to ensure timely, high-quality delivery. You’ll be responsible for staffing, mentorship, and removing technical blockers, while maintaining a high bar for execution.

We value managers who can balance hands-on contributions with guiding and growing a small team, while ensuring contractors and partners deliver at a high bar. If you’re excited to shape meaningful experiences for millions of players worldwide, we’d love to hear from you.

You will report to the Director of Engineering for this initiative  and work in a hybrid environment from our Los Angeles office.  

Responsibilities

• Manage a small team of engineers,  providing mentorship, guidance, and career support
• Oversee relationships with contractors and outsourcing partners, ensuring alignment, quality, and on-time delivery
• Contribute directly to implementation, with a focus on UI/UX and player-facing systems
• Provide technical guidance and remove blockers to maintain strong delivery velocity
• Uphold engineering best practices in maintainability, scalability, testing, and documentation
• Collaborate with product managers, designers, and artists to deliver onboarding tutorials, events, and meta systems that improve new player and returning player retention
• Partner with other engineering teams to ensure technical consistency and integration across League of Legends

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience
• 2+ years in an engineering management or a tech lead role in game development
• Experience managing or collaborating with contractors/outsourcing companies
• Strong proficiency in C++ and experience with large, complex codebases
• Proven track record of building and shipping UI/UX features in games
• Comfortable balancing leadership responsibilities while remaining actively hands-on with coding
• Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate across disciplines
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience

Desired Qualifications

• Experience with onboarding systems, tutorials, or player journey–focused features
• Exposure to full-stack development, including backend service integration
• Familiarity with A/B testing frameworks
• Experience with commercial game engines (Unreal, Unity, or proprietary)
• Deep familiarity with League of Legends or strong motivation to learn and play

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!

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.

At Riot Games, we put players first. That mission drives every decision in our quest to create games and experiences that make it better to be a player. Whether you’re working directly on a new player-facing experience or you’re supporting the company as a whole, everyone at Riot is part of our mission. And just like in our games, we’re better when we work together. Our goal is to create collaborative teams where you are empowered to bring your unique perspective everyday. If that sounds like the kind of place you want to work, we’re looking forward to your application.

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.