Riot Games

Sr. Manager, Software Engineering - League of Legends, Developer Experience

Riot Games$229K — $319K *
Consumer Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years of software engineering experience, including senior or staff engineer level.
  • 4+ years of engineering management experience, including managing managers.
  • Demonstrated ability to define and execute a technical strategy aligned with product goals.
  • Experience managing complex technical challenges and cross-team dependencies.
  • Strong technical foundation for guiding architectural decisions and ensuring software quality.

Responsibilities

  • Lead and develop a high-performing engineering team focused on the internal developer platform.
  • Mentor engineers and managers, enhancing their technical and leadership capabilities.
  • Define and drive technical strategy to improve developer workflows for efficient feature delivery.
  • Guide architectural decisions and ensure high standards of system tooling.
  • Align engineering resources with product support and platform improvement efforts.
  • Ensure effective developer support and responsive incident management through SLA systems.
  • Support on-call rotation for reliable coverage and incident response practices.

Benefits

  • Open paid time off policy promoting work/life balance.
  • Flexible work schedules to accommodate personal needs.
  • Comprehensive medical, dental, and life insurance coverage.
  • Parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children.
  • 401k with company match to help secure future savings.
Full Job Description
As a Senior Manager, Software Engineering on the Developer Experience team on League of Legends, you will work with a multidisciplinary leadership team to build and evolve League's internal developer platform, focusing on the tools, workflows, and support systems that enable developers to to build, debug, and ship efficiently. The team owns core components such as the core editor, developer-facing APIs, and platform support, while also driving reliability, reducing workflow friction, and providing responsive, SLA-backed, frontline developer support. This role is based out of Los Angeles.

Responsibilities:
  • Lead and develop an engineering team of 10-15 engineers and contractors responsible for the internal developer platform for League, setting clear expectations and maintaining a high performance bar
  • Mentor engineers and managers, supporting their growth and development into stronger technical and leadership roles
  • Define and drive the team's technical strategy to improve developer workflows that enable feature teams to build and ship new player experiences more efficiently
  • Guide strong technical decision-making and ensure sound architectural approaches across the team's systems and tooling
  • Partner with product to ensure engineering resources are aligned to support, stability, and platform improvements that reduce developer friction and improve iteration speed
  • Ensure effective developer support through SLA-backed systems and responsive incident handling
  • Support the team's on-call rotation to ensure reliable coverage and sustainable incident response practices

Required Qualifications:
  • 10+ years of software engineering experience, including experience operating at a senior or staff engineer level
  • 4+ years of engineering management experience, including managing managers and developing engineering leaders
  • Proven ability to define and execute technical strategy across a team, aligning engineering efforts with product goals and organizational priorities
  • Experience leading teams through complex technical and organizational challenges, including cross-team collaboration and dependency management
  • Strong technical foundation with the ability to guide architectural decisions, evaluate system tradeoffs, and ensure high standards of software quality

Desired Qualifications:
  • Experience with other game engines and toolsets
  • Experience with automated testing
  • Familiarity with League of Legends or a strong interest in learning

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 benefits pages for more information.

  • (Los Angeles Only) Base salary range between $229,200.00 - $319,500.00 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.

About Riot Games

Riot Games is a video game developer and publisher based in Los Angeles, California. The company was founded in 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill, and is best known for its flagship game, League of Legends. The game has become one of the most popular esports titles in the world, with millions of players and fans around the globe. Riot Games is committed to creating high-quality, immersive gaming experiences that bring people together and foster a sense of community. The company is also dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion in the gaming industry, and has launched several initiatives to support underrepresented groups.
Learn more about Riot Games
Size
2,500 employees
Industry
Founded
2006

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