Researcher III - Central Product Insights

The Insights discipline helps empower Rioters' decision-making to be more data-informed. We're an interdisciplinary group of scientists, consultants, and strategists from all sorts of backgrounds who join together to represent and advocate for gamers around the world. We believe that illuminating the globally diverse experiences, behaviors, and needs of gamers is critical to Riot living up to our player-focused mission. We're a group united by our love of games, science, and helping others succeed.

As a Senior Researcher on the Central Product Insights Team, you’ll be responsible for helping Riot deepen our understanding of our live games’ performance, our foundational portfolio and product strategy, growth opportunities for our games, and the state of the global games landscape. You'll conduct a wide range of studies and analyses often in partnership with researchers on game teams - including qualitative interviews and global market surveys - to inform our holistic understanding of the global gamer audience, the state of our current live games, and the strategy for games across our portfolio. You’ll be part of an interdisciplinary team working closely with a diverse group of specialists to turn the findings of your research into recommendations and action. Your research background coupled with your deep understanding of the games industry and Riot’s games will ensure that you’re an effective advocate for players and can provide strategic guidance about their wants, needs, and behaviors.

Responsibilities:

• Work as part of a central team to improve Riot’s understanding of our games, our portfolio and product strategies, and key competitors 
• Construct, organize, and execute studies and surveys across a variety of methods designed to answer business and product strategy questions, in complex ambiguous problem spaces
• Manage and improve the state of central research tools, resources, and data sources aimed to provide scaled services to the games insights organization
• Partner with analysts, researchers, and designers to generate insights and frameworks that’ll inform the strategic direction of various games
• Be an effective advocate for players and provide strategic guidance about their wants, needs, and behaviors
• Share your results with other Rioters in clear presentations, documented processes and guides, as well as Tableau dashboards
• Mentor other researchers, helping them learn from your own experiences

Required Qualifications: 

• Bachelor's degree in Psychology, Anthropology, Human-Computer Interaction, or a related discipline plus 4 years of relevant research experience (an advanced degree can account for 1 to 2 years of experience depending on Master’s or PhD)
• Broad experience in quantitative and qualitative research methods including conducting interviews, focus groups, and online community studies, as well as performing survey research with deep expertise in at least one of these areas
• Experience conducting research to answer product or portfolio strategy questions
• Experience synthesizing & socializing research results and distilling results into impactful recommendations for product leadership
• Trusted to operate independently regardless of structure, owns complex problems/projects/workstreams

Desired Qualifications:

• 2+ years doing research specifically in the games industry
• Familiarity with basic statistical methods for data analysis (regressions, correlations, factor analyses)
• Experience working directly with senior executives and/or senior stakeholders
• Experience working with game teams, including PMs, designers, engineers, artists
• Experience managing vendors
• Experience coordinating and collaborating with analysts on joint projects to better understand products or users
• Experience utilizing and synthesizing syndicated / external datasets on competitors
• Experience with desktop research on competitors and industry trends
• Personal experience (as a developer or player) across a variety of game genres, including the ones that Riot has games in

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.

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.