Senior Manager, Data Engineering - Valorant

Riot Games • Los Angeles, CA

1d

About The Position

At Riot, Data Engineers play a critical role in transforming data into actionable insights that drive decisions across the company. Our engineers are deeply player-focused and collaborate across diverse teams to enhance the experiences of millions of players worldwide.
As a Senior Data Engineering Manager within VALORANT, you will be shaping the direction of the game by working with designers, product managers, data scientists, analysts, and engineers using data to better serve and understand our game and our players. This role is designed for an engineering leader who thrives in ambiguous environments, takes initiative to solve real problems quickly, and enjoys wearing multiple hats. As one of the senior-most data leaders on the game team, you will influence how data is managed and used across the studio.
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!

Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field.
• 10+ years experience in data engineering or a related field. 5+ years managing a team.
• Hands-on expertise in big-data technologies, particularly the Apache stack (Airflow, Spark, etc).
• Proficiency in cloud infrastructure (AWS or GCP) and Databricks.
• Expertise in designing efficient and scalable data models with large data sets across multiple teams and in collaboration with insights or data stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally with engineering, analytics, and product teams.
• Experience mentoring and guiding other engineers.

Nice To Haves

• 2+ years of experience in data engineering for major video game titles.
• 1+ years experience working with DBT in a production environment
• Experience using analytics to drive gameplay and feature changes (ideally from game dev through launch)
• Experience working in close partnership with data analysts or product managers.
• Close personal relationship with games - enjoys gaming as a hobby, plays a variety of genres, and goes deep in several

Responsibilities

• Manage a team of 5 data engineers, provide them career coaching and growth opportunities, and ensure all work is aligned with business needs.
• Partner with leaders in analytics, data science, and product disciplines to align on the most important data engineering projects and collaborate with them through all phases of the development and operational lifecycle.
• Set the technical direction of the team, including processes and tooling.
• Be accountable for the technical health of products owned by the team.
• Working with other engineers, standardize best practices for instrumentation, telemetry, and metrics collection
• Ensure data quality, governance, and compliance with regulatory standards (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).
• Support cost optimization by ensuring scalable and efficient data solutions.
• Build healthy relationships with data engineering teams across Riot, and lead by shaping infrastructure, craft standards, tooling, and organizational best practices.

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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 1-10 employees