Senior Manager, Machine Learning Engineering - League of Legends

Riot Games•Los Angeles, CA

10d•$292,300 - $437,900•Onsite

About The Position

As a Senior Manager, ML Engineering, you will lead the Machine Learning Engineering team responsible for building and operating machine learning systems that power League of Legends. The team delivers player-facing ML experiences and developer-facing ML tools, enabling capabilities such as recommendations, player behavior modeling, matchmaking, and experimentation-driven personalization. You will be accountable for the technical vision, execution, and business impact of ML applications in League of Legends. You will shape the end-to-end ML engineering strategy—from data and feature pipelines to model development, deployment, evaluation, and operations—ensuring systems are scalable, reliable, and measurable in production. You will partner with development themes’ product and production leaders to support existing and future player experiences. The role reports to the Data Engineering Director of League Insights and is based at the Los Angeles Headquarters. Success in this role calls for craft expertise, collaboration, and decisions that prioritize player delight. Riot values player empathy and care for players’ experiences, as well as collaboration and bringing a unique perspective to the team.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent experience.
10 or more years of experience building and operating large-scale software systems, including significant experience with production ML systems.
Strong computer science fundamentals, including system design, data structures, and algorithms.
Experience using Java, C++, Python, or similar languages in large-scale production environments.
Deep knowledge of MLOps best practices, including model lifecycle management, experimentation, monitoring, and deployment at scale.
Experience collaborating across multiple teams, departments, and disciplines to create solutions.
Experience with project planning, prioritization frameworks, and guiding investment strategies across people, platforms, and systems.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Familiarity with Responsible AI frameworks, fairness considerations, and long-term player impact measurement.
Experience with large-scale experimentation platforms and online evaluation frameworks.
Experience leading full-stack teams.
Experience leading distributed or remote teams.

Responsibilities

Manage a team of highly skilled engineers, driving performance, developing future leaders, identifying growth opportunities, and ensuring strong delivery and outcomes.
Define, own, and communicate an engineering vision, working with cross-functional and engineering leaders on a long-term organizational and staffing plan aligned with technical and product goals.
Contribute to team leadership, including budgeting, recruiting, hiring, mentoring, performance management, and managing contingent staff.
Set direction for MLOps across the ML product lifecycle, continuously improving model quality, efficiency, reliability, and operational excellence.
Collaborate with product management, technical production, and other cross-functional partners across LoL PC to deliver scalable, reliable, high-impact ML-powered solutions.
Foster communication and collaboration within engineering teams, central MLE groups, and other LoL PC departments.
Build stronger cross-Riot MLE craft support and contribute to improvements in craft standards.
Stay current with applied ML and MLOps trends and emerging technologies, guiding pragmatic adoption of best practices that improve product quality and player impact.
Continue developing individual skills and deliver projects in a Player-Coach dynamic.