Senior Principal Data Scientist (Data) - Riot Data Products

The Sr. Principal Data Scientist is someone who will lead and grow the technical direction for Data at Riot. We are seeking a leader and expert in defining domain architecture, technology strategy in alignment with enterprise architecture, business requirements and technology/product roadmaps. You will provide technical leadership, mentoring and governance to the engineering teams across the data org, and inspire scientists and engineers to create meaningful experiences that drive players' engagement and excitement within the Riot ecosystem. 

You will report directly to the Head of Data. 

• Responsible for providing architecture and engineering leadership, defining architecture solutions, form best practices, work with Engineering and Product counterparts across Riot.
• Lead and mentor data scientists, engineers, and analysts across the data org, establish best engineering practice, work with directors, managers, and operations to ensure that systems meet reliability, accuracy and performance goals
• Lead multiple complex business domains and lead technology strategy and innovation for these domains
• Drive both technology and product innovation through rapid prototyping and iterative development.
• Constantly innovate to improve player experience and unlock value of data at Riot.
• Collaborate with leadership across the board to effectively deliver solutions and projects.
• Responsible for developing multi-year data strategy and product roadmap with data leaders, including architecture blueprints.

• Expertise in building large-scale AI / ML based solutions for complex business challenges.
• Deep hands-on experience in large scale distributed data processing with big data technologies (Spark etc)
• Deep hands-on experience in complex system design, object-oriented system design, scale, performance tuning in Java, Go or Python and related technologies. Deep hands on experience in API design, REST, RPC and micro-service architecture. 
• You are skilled at operating in a complex, cross-functional organization or company where your teams need to collaborate and integrate with other teams across many disciplines.
• Deep hands on experience in a variety of software stacks/technologies including but not limited to Java, Python, Kafka, and various SQL and noSQL databases and cloud services.
• Strong innovation acumen with expertise in software development stack, industry tech best practices and data driven decisioning / machine learning.
• You have exceptional oral and written communication skills, and are articulate with both technical and business partners. You create effective frameworks to aid discussion of complicated topics. You are an active listener, and are conscious of voices that have not yet been heard.
• Ability to manage complex relationships in a matrix environment and strong stakeholder management skills.
• Strong organizational and project management skills
• Ph.D. in Machine Learning, AI, Statistics, Math, or related Computer Science/Quantitative field with 8+ years of industry experience (including Postdoc), or equivalent experience (i.e., M.S. with 8-13 years of relevant experience, or B.S. with 10-15 years of relevant experience), or any relevant combination of education and experience. 

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

We offer medical, dental, and vision plans that cover you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children. Life insurance, parental leave, plus short-term and long-term disability coverage are also available. Riot will support your retirement benefits with a company match, and double down on your donations of time and money to non-profit charitable organizations. Balance between work and personal life is encouraged with open paid time off, and a play fund so you can broaden and deepen your personal relationship with games.

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, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance relating to an applicant's criminal history (LAMC 189.00).