Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Skill & Matchmaking - VALORANT Data Ops

Riot Data Scientists combine their broad technical expertise across data processing, automation, machine learning ("ML"), artificial intelligence ("AI"), and experimental design to inform decisions and develop data-powered products. As a Senior Data Scientist, you’ll dive into projects across all areas of game development and will directly impact Riot’s live games. You’ll work at a cross team scope, contribute to product vision, inform technical designs, and design datasets & models for our most important data applications.
As a Data Scientist on the Valorant Data Ops team, you will answer the question “How can data help us deliver the best possible player experience, at launch and beyond?” You will use pre-production datasets and simulations to help designers answer their most nuanced game questions. You will build production quality ML models for skill estimation, game understanding, matchmaking, personalization, and more. You will collaborate with producers, game designers, analysts, and engineers – on game teams directly and in partnership with shared platform teams. You will report directly to the Data Science Manager within Valorant Studio.
Responsibilities

Use machine learning to build products or inform decisions that directly improve the player or fan experience
Deeply understand the landscape of skill-related problems across our titles, flag new product opportunities, and establish best practices for experimentation and evaluating success within the context of Skill systems
Own the ML and AI iteration loop including dataset creation, feature engineering, technical discovery and prototyping, model tuning, and model management.
Build ML and AI tools and products for game development, working with stakeholders and engineers to design and deploy dashboards, web apps, forecasts, and simulations.
Continually improve our data science practice by identifying novel applications of existing capabilities as well as brand new technical approaches to address critical game and business problems
Develop relationships with game producers, designers, QA, product managers, and engineering to ensure ML-oriented game features can launch successfully
Represent data products to non-technical partners and collaborators
Required Qualifications

Experience delivering full-stack solutions from requirements gathering through live deployment, with hands-on ownership of design, coding, testing, and release
Previous experience working on skill-based matchmaking systems (or in optimizing player experiences) for large, multiplayer online games
Masters in Machine Learning, AI, Statistics, Math, or related Computer Science/Quantitative field, or equivalent professional experience (i.e. B.Sci with 3 years of professional experience, etc.)
2+ years of experience with applied data products in gaming or entertainment
Expertise in Python and SQL
Expertise in machine learning frameworks such as tensorflow, torch, scikit-learn, or Spark MLlib
Experience in the design, implementation, and analysis of online experiments
Experience developing and deploying machine learning models at scale
Effective at storytelling with data to a diverse and non-technical audience
Desired Qualifications

Previous experience working on skill-based matchmaking systems (or in optimizing player experiences) for large, multiplayer online games
Experience designing and implementing online services and features at scale
Experience with big-data platforms such as Spark and Airflow
Experience with modern deep learning frameworks in practical applications
Familiarity with game development engines, tools, and processes
Fighting game genre exp / passion
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.
Duties
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.