Sr. Manager, Creative Management - Wild Rift

Riot Games was established in 2006 by entrepreneurial gamers who believe that player-focused game development can result in great games. In 2009, Riot released its debut title League of Legends to critical and player acclaim. As the most played video game in the world, over 100 million play every month. Players form the foundation of our community and it’s for them that we continue to evolve and improve the League of Legends experience.

We’re looking for humble but ambitious, razor-sharp professionals who can teach us a thing or two. We promise to return the favor. Like us, you take play seriously; you’re passionate about games. We embrace those who see things differently, aren’t afraid to experiment, and who have a healthy disregard for constraints.

That's where you come in.

As a Senior Manager of Creative Management for Wild Rift, you will primarily manage Artists & Creatives. If the Creative/Art Directors are the 'Why' & the 'What', this role owns the 'How' and the 'Who'. You will lean on your years of experience to help manage one of the most ambitious, high-stakes creative teams in the industry, building some of the most robust, scalable systems, collaborative partnerships, and player-focused content. 

This role’s focus and responsibilities lie in the operations and process of the art team where you will support the Creative/Art Director and creative team on Wild Rift in leadership, production understanding and team management in order to create new experiences that will surprise and delight players. You will work with Product Leads, Delivery Leads, Stakeholders, and the Game Director to stay aligned on vision and priorities while maintaining consistent art quality and style across the team and pipelines. The role does not create the creative direction or art vision, but oversees its execution and the evolution of art pipelines and the creative team. 

Responsibilities

• Build and sustain an environment where the creative team & our partners can thrive balancing craft excellence, team health, and player-focused outcomes.
• Lead, manage and coach a multi-disciplinary creative team in Shanghai ensuring career and personal growth through clear development strategies, direct mentorship and/or seeking craft mentorship from central teams, as well as performance feedback and empowerment within workstreams in order to grow the team’s craft and leadership capability over time.
• Translate vision into actionable goals ensuring consistent alignment across each creative discipline. 
• Oversee the creation of high-quality creative content that upholds our creative vision and elevates the player experience. Step in to provide creative direction when needed to guide decisions, resolve conflicts, and model excellence, while prioritizing team growth over hands-on execution.
• Documentation and organization of pipelines & systems lead efforts in style guides, content guidelines, data organization & content efficiency, resulting in well-organized and scalable processes and workflows that put people at the forefront while protecting business continuity.
• Build strong relationships across teams and with global partners - embrace & embody the “One Team” Mindset that brings Rioters around the world, as well as our Tencent partners to ensure goals, dependencies and requirements that are clearly understood and effectively executed against.
• Partner with recruiting to hire world-class talent and support your reports in building their teams.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years in the games industry, with at least 4+ years in creative management/creative team leadership roles.
• Experienced with the game creative or asset production pipeline and interdependencies between disciplines.
• Proven experience leading and developing multi-disciplinary creative teams.
• Strong background collaborating with external vendors and co-development partners.
• Skilled in performance management with the ability to coach, develop, and, when needed, address underperformance effectively and empathetically to sustain a high bar for excellence.
• Fluent in English & Mandarin (spoken and written), able to communicate abstract or complex ideas clearly.
• High self-awareness, empathy, and strong stakeholder management skills.
• Growth-minded and outcome-driven, able to navigate ambiguity with optimism and guide others to learn and improve through change.
• Comfortable leading through others - balancing people development, team performance, and creative alignment to achieve exceptional outcomes.

Desired Qualifications

• Experienced with the entire game art production pipeline, knowing the dependencies and how every discipline coordinates with each other.
• Experience working with external vendors and outsource partners, giving thorough direction and timely feedback
• Experience shipping stylized AAA game content and/or creating high quality stylized art.
• Passion for competitive PVP games, especially MOBAs
• Proven Creative/Art team-building experience 

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!