Manager, Software Engineering - League Studios (Services)

Manager, Software Engineering - League Studios (Services) Riot engineers bring deep knowledge of specific technical areas but also value the opportunity to work in many broader domains. As an Engineering Manager, you will gain organizational alignment by building a strong engineering vision and offering creative solutions to organizational design. You’ll also serve as a mentor for a team of engineers, overseeing performance management, growth opportunities, and accountability. As a Manager, Software Engineering - Chemtech Services, you will lead the engineering team that builds and operates backend services that power the core game loop of League of Legends and TFT. You will lead development of new features, drive evergreen improvements to existing services, improve standards and frameworks to enhance services development across League and TFT. You will gain organizational alignment by building a strong engineering vision and offering creative solutions to organizational design. You’ll also serve as a mentor for a team of engineers, overseeing performance management, growth opportunities, and accountability. You will report to the Sr. Manager, Software Engineering. This role is based out of our Los Angeles area Headquarters. Responsibilities Manage a team of 5-10 highly skilled Software Engineers, overseeing performance management, identifying growth opportunities, and ensuring positive results. Develop and manage a technical vision for your team, working with other leaders to create a long‑term organization and staffing plan that supports technical product goals. Clearly communicate this vision to your team. Ensure the performance and reliability of services powering League and TFT, balancing emergent / KTLO and project work. Advocate for Players, your team, and internal development customers when deciding what to build and why. Work with your Product partners to prioritize and balance between new feature development and sustainability work. Ensure high technical quality of what your team produces. Collaborate with cross‑functional teams, including product management and technical production, to deliver high‑quality, scalable, and reliable solutions. Foster effective communication and collaboration within engineering teams and across other departments. Stay abreast of industry trends and emerging technologies, guiding the team in adopting best practices and ensuring the technical excellence of our products. Champion and model Riot’s values, setting the tone for your team and peers. Participate in your team’s on‑call rotation. Required Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent experience. 5+ years of professional experience as a software engineer working in services development roles. 2+ years of experience leading engineering teams as a manager. Previous experience managing backend engineers and building high availability, distributed systems at scale. Expertise with Java, C#, Golang, or similar language(s). Deep understanding of CS fundamentals including system design, data structures, and algorithms. Professional experience working with cloud computing and cloud technologies (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud) Professional experience building large‑scale backend systems or game services. Experience developing fault‑tolerant distributed systems from the ground up, including requirements‑gathering, architecture design, project breakdown, and execution. Experience collaborating across multiple teams, departments, and disciplines to create solutions. Experience in project management, prioritization frameworks, and guiding investment strategies in people and systems. Desired Qualifications Master’s degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent experience. Professional experience leading cross‑functional or full‑stack teams. 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. #J-18808-Ljbffr