As a Staff Machine Learning Engineer on an unpublished R&D game project, you will own the strategy, design, and implementation of ML capabilities. You will work closely with developers, designers, and data scientists to understand their needs, and will be hands-on in conceptualizing, planning, implementing, and maintaining ML-driven solutions. We’re looking for someone who is passionate about enabling great player experiences, thrives in cross-disciplinary collaboration, stays current on the latest ML techniques, and can apply them pragmatically to challenging product problems. You will report to the Engineering Manager within the R&D game project.

Responsibilities:

• Work closely with developers, designers, and data scientists to identify and define improvement opportunities
• Refine modeling and feature strategy for using techniques such as reinforcement learning 
• Establish pipeline architecture patterns in partnership with central teams; build reusable training and evaluation pipelines that can be adapted to Riot-wide use cases 
• Drive the application of ML/RL systems to improve decision-making and adaptation
• Establish research-to-production practices; balance cutting-edge techniques with production reliability 
• Establish evaluation practices in partnership with data scientists and analytics partners; guide experiment design for measuring model impact and set technical evaluation standards
• Define reliability standards in partnership with design and engineering
• Advance and strengthen engineering best practices, including code quality, automated testing, and maintainable architecture 
• Mentor engineers and partner disciplines through documentation, reviews, and technical design guidance
• Identify technical risks and bottlenecks, proposing pragmatic solutions to keep projects moving forward

Required Qualifications: 

• 6+ years of experience delivering ML systems in production, including 3+ years in applied modeling or ML research roles, ideally within real-time or interactive environments
• Experience with reinforcement learning, including applying RL to practical production problems 
• Experience in production environments with interacting models, feedback loops, or systems where model behavior has downstream consequences beyond a single prediction
• Proficiency with modern ML/data science libraries and frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, pandas, etc.
• Experience collaborating regularly with teammates across multiple disciplines
• Strong communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences
• B.S. in Computer Science or equivalent experience
• Proficiency in Python or similar programming languages

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience with multi-agent reinforcement learning 
• Experience in developer tooling
• Experience implementing framework-level UI systems
• Experience in infrastructure and MLOps, such as ML cloud services, containers, and model telemetry
• Experience working in a AAA game engine (e.g. Unity, Unreal)
• Proficiency in C++

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!

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.