Staff Software Engineer, Engine Performance - Central Technology, Unreal Ecosystem

Riot Games•Los Angeles, CA

1d•$192,500 - $269,400

About The Position

The Staff Software Engineer will join Riot Games’ Unreal Ecosystem (UnEco) team, which works across areas including audio, test automation, runtime performance, tooling, and CI/CD. The role focuses on performance and combines hands-on engineering with technical leadership: building an engineering vision, solving complex technical problems, mentoring engineers, and helping game teams deliver compelling player experiences. As a performance specialist, the engineer will use expertise in profiling, benchmarking, optimization, and performance analysis to work directly with game teams and deliver central solutions. The role spans a range of technology stacks, including infrastructure, build and test automation, release pipelines, and internal developer tooling. Success calls for craft expertise, collaboration, and decisions that prioritize player experience.

Requirements

At least 5 years of software engineering experience.
Expertise with C++.
Experience working with modern video game engines.
Experience working with large game teams.
Experience working with large code bases.
Experience debugging, profiling, and optimizing complex projects.
Strong knowledge of common game and software design patterns.
Experience collaborating with teammates across multiple disciplines.
Experience shipping games across multiple platforms.
Experience with profiling tools such as Unreal Insights or Pix.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Unreal Engine 5.
Experience building online games.
Experience with rendering in Unreal Engine titles.

Responsibilities

Develop software hands-on and write high-quality code that sets a strong example for other engineers.
Work with leadership to prioritize efforts and identify opportunities for impact.
Partner with game teams to diagnose issues and improve player-facing performance.
Partner with infrastructure teams to analyze and recommend improvements to bandwidth optimization, server density, and resource utilization.
Improve developer experience by addressing cook and build times, editor load times, and other developer pain points.
Lead technical execution of multi-month to year-plus work efforts across the business unit and hold teams to established standards.
Help teams navigate ambiguity and complexity by breaking down problems, identifying risks, and communicating trade-offs.
Work across infrastructure, build and test automation, release pipelines, and developer tooling for internal teams using the Riot Unreal Ecosystem.
Collaborate with organizational stakeholders to address pain points and realize optimization and performance improvements without sacrificing quality.
Model Riot values and act as a role model for the team and others.
Serve as a force multiplier for the team.
Mentor senior engineers and enable them to deliver complex projects.