Technical Game Designer III - AI Foundations (Contract)

Engineers at Riot master their craft by building, launching, and operating games that delight players all over the world. As a Technical Game Designer, you will dive into projects that focus on leveraging team cohesiveness and cross-team goals to deliver amazing player experiences. You'll lead development efforts, steer design processes, and exemplify the team’s culture.

As a Technical Game Designer on the AI Foundations team, you will contribute to both the engineering and design efforts to deliver robust and reliable ML/AI systems to help accelerate titles throughout the Game AI development lifecycle. You will use your design expertise in game mechanics, games systems architecture, and understanding of AI/ML data systems, to help us deliver unmatched player impact. You will be collaborating closely with other engineers, researchers and designers across multiple teams, upleveling/mentoring them. You will report to one of our Technical Product Managers on Riot’s AI Foundations team.

This is a 12-month contract position.

Responsibilities:

• Apply deep design, engineering and game design expertise to develop tools to support  the delivery of scalable production-grade ML systems.
• Support real-time in-game experiences  with continuous delivery/optimization of robust AI powered designer tools to ensure rigorous ML operations.
• Identify and implement technical improvements to account for future gameplay needs and allow designers to scale their impact.
• Work closely with Product Management, Game Designers, Researchers and Engineers to drive the implementation of solutions, to deliver AI features for enhanced player experiences. 
• Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure high-quality integration of complex Game Understanding Agents to enhance player experiences.
• Support researchers, designers, and QA with tools and automation to enhance the efficiency and repeatability of their workflows.
• Define standards within designer tools to craft maintainable implementations, and look for innovative ways to bridge the gap between AI research and game specific player facing features.

Required Qualifications:

• 4+ years of experience in professional game design, or equivalent experience
• 4+ years of experience in professional engineering or technical game design, or equivalent experience
• Familiarity with common tools for machine learning and modern MLOPs platforms. Including understanding of model training, evaluation, and deployment lifecycles.
• Professional experience using an object-oriented programming language.
• Experience planning technical and design efforts for projects.
• Experience owning features in a rapid development environment.
• Experience balancing product goals with design decisions.
• Track record of shipping experiences for titles using Unreal Engine, working with Blueprints, and/or other technical workflows.
• Experience coaching those around them across all roles, and mentoring mid and senior level team members.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Experience designing systems in large, ambiguous spaces.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience with Game AI.
• Experience leading game features.
• Experience with both gameplay and systems design
• Experience working on PVP action games.
• Experience Developing in C++. 

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.

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.