Narrative Director - Unpublished R&D Product

Riot Games • Los Angeles, CA

2h

About The Position

As a Narrative Director you are not simply a storyteller, you are the architect who shapes the conceptual backbone of a game. Your craft lies in building cohesive narrative systems: world logic, tone, themes, and player motivations that unify the entire game. You will ensure that the project’s narrative architecture is coherent, elegant, and inseparable from gameplay systems. You translate high-level creative direction into clear narrative frameworks that empower designers and narrative creatives to build consistent, meaningful, and player-driven content.

As a Narrative Director on an Unpublished R&D Product, you will work directly with the Creative Director and alongside cross-disciplinary leaders in design, art, and audio. You will guide the team in authentically expressing the IP through the world while innovating responsibly within that universe. This role is ideal for someone who thrives on conceptual worldbuilding, systems thinking, and cross-disciplinary leadership. You’ll be accountable for the quality and integrity of all narrative surfaces in the game, while managing and mentoring the narrative team that executes on your frameworks.

Requirements

• 13+ years in narrative design, worldbuilding, creative direction, systems design, or equivalent roles in the gaming industry
• 8+ years managing narrative creatives or cross-disciplinary teams
• Leadership experience shipping a AAA or major live game in a narrative, creative, or design capacity
• Ability to evaluate and ensure quality across writing, VO, worldbuilding, and systemic narrative surfaces, even without personally writing all of them
• Capable of operating with minimal support and driving clarity across complex creative spaces
• Portfolio or samples demonstrating worldbuilding, narrative system design, thematic architecture, or conceptual frameworks.

Nice To Haves

• Professional experience working within established IP and crafting new IP systems.
• Experience collaborating with cross-disciplinary leads in design, IP, and art to create unified world experiences.

Responsibilities

• Build the core narrative framework for the game
• Ensure all creative decisions uphold narrative integrity, internal logic, and authenticity
• Collaborate with Riot IP teams to ensure alignment
• Partner with the Creative Director to break high-level creative pillars into usable, systemic narrative components
• Define frameworks that narrative designers and writers use to create content
• Manage and mentor narrative designers and writers, fostering a shared language of systems-oriented narrative craft
• Provide constraints, pillars, and frameworks that elevate the team’s moment-to-moment content
• Maintain coherence and quality across narrative
• Contribute writing and documentation where needed, but your primary contribution is direction and architecture, not content volume

Benefits

• 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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees