Sr. Manager, Technical Game Design - Unpublished R&D Product

As a Senior Manager, Technical Game Design at Riot Games, you will grow and lead a skilled team of Technical Designers on an exciting R&D project focused on immersive combat, deep progression systems, and innovative co-op gameplay. Your extensive knowledge of Unreal Engine and passion for delivering robust, high-quality player experiences will empower the design team to push the boundaries of genre-defining interactive entertainment.

You will partner closely with design leads and engineering leads to translate ambitious creative visions into actionable, scalable technical designs. Through a mix of mentorship and content reviews, you also ensure that local designers are building the game with strong technical rigor. Reporting directly to the Design Director, your leadership will foster collaboration and innovation, directly influencing the gameplay foundations of an ambitious project.

Responsibilities:

• Hire, lead and manage a team of Technical Designers, fostering their growth and technical skill development.
• Collaborate with engineering to define the technical strategy and execution of gameplay systems, mechanics, combat encounters, and player progression.
• Implement content as a vanguard in the most technical areas of design. Building out solutions to design problems that require a deep level of technical expertise and leaving those problems with the ability to teach others how to work in those spaces in the future.
• Develop, advocate, and enforce a system of organizational excellence in content creation that allows for the long-term sustainability of software without being cumbersome to rapid prototyping culture.
• Implement gameplay workflows and tools within Unreal Engine to enable designers and artists to rapidly prototype and iterate.
• Proactively identify technical risks, develop mitigation strategies, and communicate clearly with team leadership and stakeholders.
• Ensure high-quality implementation of complex gameplay systems, promoting performance, scalability, and maintainability.

Required Qualifications:

• 8+ years of professional experience in Technical Game Design or related technical design roles.
• Proven experience shipping high-quality titles using Unreal Engine, demonstrating expertise in Blueprints, scripting, and technical workflows.
• 3+ years of experience managing and mentoring teams, with demonstrated success developing and growing direct reports.
• Experience with C++ and C#
• Deep understanding of gameplay system architecture, online networking, combat mechanics, and progression systems.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills with experience working cross-functionally between engineering, test, production, art, and design.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience developing multiplayer, online, persistent gameplay systems.
• Familiarity with networked action-based combat systems, player ability systems, and enemy AI design.
• Passion for discovering, understanding, and adapting new technologies that can improve our workflows and sustainability of design teams.
• Experience with technical optimization and performance profiling within Unreal Engine.

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise and a collaborative spirit that prioritizes the delight of players. We will look at your past studies and experience, but for this role, we also look for dedicated people with a personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about players' experiences, this is 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 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.