Principal Analytics Engineer - Product Insights

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 Principal Data Engineer within the Product Insights team, you will be a key technical leader responsible for designing and optimizing scalable data infrastructure that empowers Insights teams. You will develop and maintain high-performance ETL pipelines; architect efficient, reliable, and usable data models; and ensure data governance, security, and compliance.This role demands deep technical expertise, the ability to work on complex data engineering challenges, and cross-functional collaboration with engineering, analytics, and product teams. You will set best practices, drive automation, and enhance data reliability and performance while ensuring the organization has the right data infrastructure to support its business needs.

Responsibilities

• Design and optimize scalable ETL pipelines for structured and semi-structured data to support Insights use cases, including independently coding and providing optimizations where applicable.
• Architect and implement robust, maintainable, and high-performance data solutions.
• Ensure data quality, governance, and compliance with regulatory standards (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).
• Mentor data engineers across all levels, setting best practices and fostering technical growth.
• Automate workflows to reduce manual intervention and enhance data processing efficiency.
• Optimize query performance and resolve pipeline bottlenecks to improve data accessibility.
• Evaluate and adopt new tools, frameworks, and methodologies to advance data engineering capabilities.
• Support cost optimization by ensuring scalable and efficient data solutions.
• Be a leader within Riot’s Data Engineering discipline shaping infrastructure, craft standards, tooling, and organizational best practices

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field.
• 8+ years experience in data engineering or a related field.
• Hands-on expertise in big-data technologies, including Python, GoLang, Spark, Scala, SQL, and tools like Airflow and DBT.
• 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.

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes your fellow Rioters, who are the customers of your work. Being a dedicated fan of games is not necessary for this position!

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.

Riot Games fosters a player and workplace experience that values teamwork embodied by the Summoner's Code and Community Code. Our culture embraces differences as a strength, and our values are the guiding principles for how we approach work. We are committed to putting diversity and inclusion (D&I) at the center of everything we do, and promoting a fair and collaborative culture where Rioters treat one another with dignity and respect. We encourage you to read more about our value of thriving together and our ongoing work to build the most inclusive company in Gaming.

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.