Riot Games

Technical Sound Designer II

Job description

The Audio discipline at Riot strives to deliver lasting sonic experiences for players. We help breathe life into our games, cinematics, esports, albums, and more through the use of sound. We always work to level up our team & techniques by experimenting and playing the games we love. As a Technical Sound Designer, your technical and creative audio skills will combine to deliver a broad range of experiences to players. Joining efforts with a multidisciplinary team, you’ll build a strong connection between the game engine and audio and contribute to designing new features. Using your passion, creativity, and critical thinking you will help guide team decisions and provide valuable feedback to your peers. As a member of the audio discipline, you’ll strive to teach and level up those around you while continuing to challenge and grow yourself.

The Technical Sound Designer II on Creative eXpressions is a practical problem solver looking to achieve creative and technical goals related to Audio. You will be primarily focused on supporting audio designers with process and tool improvements while also being involved with content creation.

Responsibilities:

  • Work along-side programmers and sound designers to develop the framework of audio playback systems based on creative vision and game-play needs
  • Define and apply best practices of technical audio workflows and systems to support project and team needs
  • Act as a liaison to advocate for audio to the engineering staff, and partner with team members across disciplines to find solutions that best support quality audio
  • Create and Implement in-game audio assets including sound effects, and music
  • Optimize and refine current audio pipelines
  • Identify, create, grow and troubleshoot audio tools, features, and functionality
  • Provide technical support for audio discipline members
  • Optimize memory budgets, streaming look-ahead times, and other technical aspects
  • Setup new pipelines including Perforce Repos and Wwise projects
  • Manage Wwise project organization, structures, gameplay parameter setups and optimizations
  • Scripting creative solutions to audio problems using C# in Unity, Blueprints in Unreal, etc.
  • Support the team’s approach toward mixing through use of middleware and engine feature sets
  • Managing your own time between projects both craft related and technical.

Required Qualifications:

  • 4+ years of experience in Audio in the games industry with at least 3 years in a technical sound designer or equivalent role
  • 2+ years experience scripting in C# and C++
  • 3+ years experience using Unreal Engine, Unity, or relevant game engine
  • Exceptional LUA and Python Programming
  • Exceptional Wwise or Fmod implementation skills
  • Proficient with Perforce
  • Proficient with modern day audio software editing tools (Pro-Tools, Reaper, Plugins)

Desired Qualifications:

  • Ability to handle multiple tasks/projects simultaneously. 
  • Understanding the technical audio constraints regarding audio implementation of current console platforms & PC to accurately predict task duration and understand dependencies

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 has a focus on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy, in addition to 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.

  • (Los Angeles Only) Base salary range between $104,000.00 - $146,000.00 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.