Staff Software Engineer, Build Platforms - VALORANT

Location: Los Angeles, USA; Mercer Island, USA Riot engineers bring deep knowledge of specific technical areas but also value the opportunity to work in many broader domains. As a Software Engineer, you’ll also dive into projects that focus on team cohesiveness and cross-team goals. You’ll lead without authority and provide other engineers with a clear illustration of extraordinary engineering. VALORANT is Riot's take on a character-based tactical shooter (learn more about VALORANT here ). As a Staff Software Engineer on the VALORANT Build Platforms team , you will develop and improve the technologies that enable us to deliver VALORANT into our players’ hands. You will improve the iteration flow for hundreds of developers, including designers, artists, and engineers. You will act as a pipeline-aware problem solver in the Unreal development ecosystem, reducing friction across local development, validation, cook, release, and CI. Your work will lay a critical foundation for teams across the globe as they delight players with new features, skins, maps, and agents. Responsibilities: Drive the technical direction and decision-making at the team level, advising on aspects of delivery such as architecture, maintenance, cost, and scale. Identify and resolve cross-system bottlenecks across local workflows, Unreal build/cook systems, CI, release infrastructure, and developer-facing tools. Work with VALORANT developers and stakeholders to align on priorities and deliverables. Lead efforts to break down and execute on multi-month engineering efforts, partnering with central technology teams to leverage their expertise. Participate in the team's support rotation. Required Qualifications: 6+ years of experience as a software engineer. BS degree or equivalent experience. Experience architecting and maintaining developer-facing products and platforms, supporting complex workflows and emerging requirements. Experience building automated build, test, and release pipelines. Strong empathy for improving the developer experience and reducing friction within the iteration loop. Expertise with C++, C#, Java, or Go. Ability to communicate complex technical subjects to all levels. Willingness to jump into unfamiliar technologies and take on new challenges. Experience mentoring other engineers. Desired Qualifications: Professional experience working with cloud technologies. Experience working directly with Unreal Engine game build systems. Experience with Perforce workflows, large Unreal workspaces, content cooking, packaging, or build artifact debugging. Game DevOps experience is a plus. BuildGraph and Horde experience is a plus. Professional experience serving as a technical lead for a team of engineers. Professional experience building large-scale backend systems or game services. 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 the experiences of players, this could be 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.