Jobs / United States / Riot Games INC
Staff Software Engineer, Tools (Full-Stack) - Central Creative
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 roles21 certified filings for “Software Engineer II” (Software Developers) in CA: $158k–$185k, median $185k. Most were filed at wage level IV (58%) — 4 lottery entries, ≈61% 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 engineers bring deep knowledge of specific technical areas but also value the opportunity to work in a variety of broader domains. As a Staff Software Engineer, you’ll drive important technical initiatives and provide other engineers with a clear illustration of extraordinary engineering. We work with both new and current technology, creating innovative solutions to overcome high-volume obstacles and to deliver player value. As a Staff Software Engineer (Full-Stack) on the Central Creative Tools team, you will work closely with artists, discipline leads, and other engineers to gather requirements and implement the long-term vision for the team’s tooling. In this role you will be hands-on in conceptualizing, planning, implementing, and maintaining the tools that power content creation workflows utilizing Digital Asset Management (DAM) to make creatives more efficient. You will report to the Director of Technical Art on the team. Responsibilities: • Implement the foundational elements of the studio’s Digital Asset Management (DAM) system to support each game team’s creative tools ecosystem • Be hands-on in development, writing excellent code that sets a high standard for other engineers. • Evaluate, integrate, and operate AI-assisted engineering tools that improve code quality, reliability, security, performance, and developer productivity across the software delivery lifecycle • Lead the technical execution of multi-month to year-plus work efforts across the business unit, holding teams to established standards. • Help teams navigate ambiguity and complexity by breaking down problems, identifying risks, and clearly communicating trade-offs. • Implement the technical vision, architecture, and execution for the tools engineering team in accordance with overall goals of team leadership. • Collaborate effectively with production, design, art, and other engineering teams to deliver tools that are purpose-driven, robust, and scalable • Champion tooling best practices across multiple teams including design, tech art, UX, and gameplay engineering • Review and identify new and shared developer tooling technologies, both internal and external, as possible opportunities for the team • Provide documentation and trainings on new tools and workflows to internal customers • Partner with game developers, infrastructure engineers, and QA teams to align release processes with development needs. Required Qualifications: • 6+ years of professional experience in software engineering, including experience delivering live or shipped products at scale • Experience supporting AI/ML platforms, inference services, model-serving systems, data pipelines, or GPU-backed workloads • 3+ years working on game development tools • Experience in Unreal Engine and awareness of upcoming tools from Epic • B.S. in computer science or equivalent experience • Proven ability to navigate ambiguity and influence cross-functional stakeholders • Strong communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences • Knowledge within a diverse set of public cloud technologies: AWS RDS, S3, EC2, etc. • Proficiency in GoLang, C++ and C#, and familiarity with Java / Typescript. • Experience working with large game teams and large code bases • Experience collaborating with teammates across multiple disciplines Desired Qualifications: • Experience working in Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems • Experience of working with desktop applications • Professional experience creating tools in Unreal 5 • Experience collaborating with teammates across multiple disciplines • Product sense, pragmatism, and player empathy in making tech decisions For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that