Playtest Operations Producer - Global Research Operations

As a Playtest Operations Producer on the Global Research Operations team, you'll embody a producer mindset – owning the outcome of each playtest, resolving unowned issues, and coordinating across lanes to remove blockers before they impact research. If ownership is unclear, you’ll take initiative to drive resolution until proper delegation is established. This role values proactive decision-making, structured coordination, and a bias toward accountability. You will also work across our portfolio of live and new products, supporting researchers by driving coordination and facilitation of playtesting labs and research studies, and ensuring that players have a voice in our products. You will interact directly with players by recruiting, screening, scheduling, and paying honorariums. In the playtest lab, you will help by checking players in, setting up, configuring playtest devices, and operating the recording equipment. Additionally, you’ll proactively identify and pursue new opportunities that increase the efficiency and effectiveness of user research operations. Through direct collaboration with playtesters and researchers, you will contribute significantly to enhancing Riot’s ability to listen to and serve players around the world. This role would be an excellent fit for someone interested in deepening their understanding of user research and research operations, while actively engaging in meaningful and practical contributions. You will report into the Manager of Game Production on the team.

Note: This is a hybrid role requiring on-site presence at the Los Angeles campus several days a week, with the potential for on-site evening and/or weekend work.

Responsibilities:

• Serve as the primary producer for assigned playtests, ensuring operational execution, coordination, and accountability
• Demonstrate a strong ownership mentality – coordinate across partners, anticipate risks, and resolve unowned blockers before they escalate
• Recruit, screen, and engage players via email, phone, or vendor relationships for a variety of local and international research studies and playtests
• Facilitate playtest labs effectively, operating and troubleshooting playtest lab equipment (PCs, mobile devices, recording equipment, networking, streaming) to ensure data is collected efficiently and effectively
• Manage deployment of shared team resources across multiple research and playtest studies and improvement initiatives within the Global Research Operations team, while prioritizing lab schedules to maximize lab utilization across product and game teams
• Identify and resolve potential issues or obstacles, and advocate for continuous process improvement of various inter-team and cross-functional workflows
• Understand the bigger goals of the organization and translate how you and your team can contribute to achieving them through effective prioritization and alignment
• Support the team by facilitating and participating in decision-making, removing roadblocks, managing distractions, and maintaining documentation for scope and processes
• Autonomously work toward goals and lead yourself or a small team to complete straightforward projects and objectives, ensuring clear focus and execution
• Drive forward progress on research, playtest, and project sprint commitments via work and capacity planning, estimations, velocity tracking, and proactive backlog refinement
• Organize and run productive meetings; facilitate quality note-taking and ensure action items are driven to resolution
• Work alongside researchers to ensure best practices are protected and integrated continuously into research, playtests, and improvement projects
• Keep stakeholders consulted and informed on progress and bought into discussions as needed to ensure research and playtest success
• Proactively identify and resolve simple conflicts between individuals to ensure smooth collaboration and alignment among stakeholders
• Encourage collaboration between the team, researchers, developers, and other internal stakeholders and partners
• Provide important research and playtest feedback and insight to the team, leadership, stakeholders, and partners
• Champion best practices around sustainable research and playtest operations practices to cultivate and nurture team health

Required Qualifications: 

• 2+ years of professional experience in a research operations or project management role
• Working knowledge of computer lab or complex audio/video setups
• Excellent written and verbal communication skill for technical and non-technical audiences
• Ability to juggle multiple information streams in a fast-paced environment and communicate effectively across all mediums
• Experience building roadmaps and schedules to track progress and delivery
• Experience with various project management frameworks like Scrum and Agile
• Experience with project management and productivity tools like Jira, Miro, and Notion

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience in research operations
• Experience with audience definitions, incidence rates, and recruitment principles
• Experience with survey sampling and other quantitative market research or social science techniques
• Experience with the Salesforce CRM platform and working with HTML email templates
• Experience with IT support or help desk troubleshooting
• Experience with audio and video editing
• Bachelor’s degree in a related field

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.