Jobs / United States / Riot Games INC
Principal Data Engineer, Personalization - Central Product Insights
Riot Games INC · 🇺🇸 Los Angeles, USA
Sponsorship verdict
Sponsorship possible
One solid signal, not two — worth applying, and worth asking about sponsorship early.
- Employer is on a government sponsor recordThe US Department of Labor certified 64 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest Jun 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 33 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
- The posting doesn’t mention sponsorshipSilence isn’t a refusal — ask the recruiter before investing much time.
- No salary bar for this routeH-1B has no fixed salary bar: the employer must pay at least the prevailing wage for the role and area. Cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level. Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/29/2025-23853/weighted-selection-process-for-registrants-and-petitioners-seeking-to-file-cap-subject-h-1b, rules effective 2026-02-27.
- What Riot Games INC paid sponsored hires in similar roles4 certified filings for “Insights Analyst” (Data Scientists) in CA: $124k–$159k, median $134k. Most were filed at wage level I (50%) — 1 lottery entry, ≈15% projected selection odds for cap-subject employers. Source: US Department of Labor LCA disclosure data (Oct 2025 – Jun 2026).
- Confirmed live todayWhen a source last listed this job as open.
US H-1B: cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level — Level I gets 1 entry, Level IV gets 4 (DHS projected selection odds ≈15% at Level I to ≈61% at Level IV). Universities and non-profit research employers are cap-exempt. The $100,000 fee for new petitions from abroad is currently blocked by a court order (appeal pending).
A verdict summarises public evidence; it is not legal advice and never a guarantee — the employer and the immigration authority decide. Sign in to factor in where you can already work.
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Sponsor Radar — Riot Games INC
The US Department of Labor certified 64 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest Jun 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 33 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
Past sponsorship or register membership never guarantees sponsorship for this vacancy or for you. Full Sponsor Radar for Riot Games INC →
About the role
Riot’s Data Engineers harness petabytes of data and state-of-the-art processing technologies to build products that elevate the player experience at massive scale. Turning this data into meaningful insights is a complex challenge, and our engineers meet it by staying deeply player-focused and collaborating across diverse teams to improve the lives of millions of players worldwide. As a Principal Data Engineer supporting Riot’s Central Product Insights, you will design, build, and maintain scalable data pipelines and models that power critical data products, including centralized player data models, and publishing activity data systems. These systems support understanding of player onboarding funnels, engagement patterns, support efficiency, and content effectiveness. You will collaborate with product managers, analysts, and engineers to ensure our data infrastructure is reliable, performant, and directly tied to delivering better player experiences. Responsibilities: • Design, build, and optimize scalable ETL pipelines for structured and semi-structured data supporting Insights use cases, growth metrics, and other publishing/marketing focused data sets. • Design and implement data models using industry best practices that capture a complete ecosystem view of in- and out-of-game experiences, while ensuring accuracy, scalability, and long-term usability. • Architect and implement robust, maintainable, and high-performance data solutions. • Automate workflows to reduce manual intervention and enhance data processing efficiency, including automation for content, growth, and pubsports areas of coverage. • Mentor data engineers across all levels, setting best practices and fostering technical growth. • 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. • Ensure data quality, governance, and compliance with regulatory standards (e.g., GDPR, CCPA). • Contribute to 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 tech-focused Publishing or Marketing fields. • 8+ years experience in data engineering or a related field. • Strong 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. • Proven experience mentoring and guiding other engineers. Desired Qualifications: • Experience in gaming, large consumer platforms, or systems leading data modernization or transformation initiatives in a complex environment • Track record improving data maturity ( e.g. SLI’s/SLO governance, reliability standards) Experience designing semantic layers or standardized business metric frameworks • Background supporting advanced analytics use cases in high velocity product environments • Demonstrated ability to influence standards across teams in a matrixed organization 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: