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Senior Comms Strategist (North America Esports)

Esports is the business arm within Riot Games that oversees and creates the most successful, magical esports events and leagues in the world. Our Esports mission is to bring joy to billions of fans around the world. LoL Esports has been a premier global sport since 2010 that boasts more than 800 players on 100+ professional teams. The League of Legends World Championship, dubbed "Worlds" by our fans, attracts the largest viewership annually of any esports event. The VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) was launched in 2021 and represents the next pillar of success for Riot in the esports space. New: League of Legends: Wild Rift Esports! The fast-growing mobile game will represent the next big play in Riot's commitment to providing the best players in the world a sport in which they can shine and prosper.

Esports Communications therefore endeavors to shape the narrative around esports by creating communication plans, programs, and moments that celebrate Riot's playful, informal, and passionate culture. We aim to communicate with a balance of transparency and clarity that's smart, well-crafted, and authentic. We love games and how they intersect with entertainment media such as films, TV, music, consumer products, and, of course, sport! We enjoy telling the emotionally resonant stories of our professional leagues and competitors that connect us to players and our mission of being the most player-focused company in the world.

As a Senior Comms Strategist (North America Esports), reporting to the Global Head of Communications, Esports, you will work with the NA executive leadership team and the global esports communications team to develop comms plans for our esports products. You will develop PR strategies for important beats throughout the LCS, VCT, and Wild Rift seasons, manage relationships with endemic North American press and our PR agencies, and support North American media at global esports events around the world. You will partner with the NA Esports Front Office to produce official league communications, partnership announcements, and speaking opportunities. You will shape the identity and reputation of the LCS with fans, teams, media, sponsors, and internal Riot Games personnel. You will provide important communications leadership and support to the production of the League of Legends World Championship, the world's largest esports event, which will be held in the Fall and feature stops in Mexico City, New York City, Toronto, and San Francisco. You will also promote our communications approach to the VCT events, teams, players, and media activities in this region.

You will set the bar for how we communicate, and partner and work with multiple teams and projects simultaneously to promote agreement, collaboration, and results. You'll know and understand what's happening across the esports company, and surface NA stories that resonate locally, regionally, and globally, and work as a trusted partner to other comms teams across Riot and with our Esports team members globally as well.

Responsibilities:

• Lead PR for the LCS, NA VCT, and NA WRE including setting strategy and working on communications campaigns
• Collaborate on campaigns alongside the NA Publishing team to help build experts and promote important beats of our leagues and events
• Work with LCS and other NA Esports brand partners on partnership announcements, updates, and activations, framing them to land with excitement for our fans
• Manage close working relationships with important endemic media and build relationships with new media targets on behalf of the esports' leagues and events
• Consult with Riot Games personnel on internal communications
• Oversee the press experience for NA media at the LCS Studio, LCS Finals, and LOL Esports international competitions (MSI & Worlds), and share global esports news to NA media. Also will serve in a similar role for VCT and WRE events in NA
• Anticipate potential negative coverage and serve as an adept crisis communications strategist
• Author bylines, op-eds, and other direct-to-player communications on behalf of NA Esports
• Be a trusted partner, developing time-sensitive and essential messaging and plans for the teams that you support, while also evaluating and reporting on NA Esports community sentiment
• Develop relationships with NA Esports partners
• Identify and work on areas of opportunity where communication tools, messaging, frameworks, or channels can be improved, or new mechanisms implemented
• Keep a finger on the pulse of Riot Games Esports in NA, surfacing stories and campaigns that reflect who we are, what we care about, and what we need to know
• Build authentic relationships with Riot personnel on NA and Global Esports teams through transparent, thoughtful, resonant messaging that's certified 100% free of BS

Required Qualifications:

• 6+ years of experience working within the communications and PR space serving all audiences
• Well versed in writing, with deep experience communicating the unique voices of individual leagues, teams, executives, and players
• Experience with crisis communications, responding to sensitive and escalating situations in an assuring manner
• Experience exercising great discretion and working directly with executives/senior leaders as it relates to confidential information
• Experience managing communications strategy and tactics for major, public-facing products
• Experience directing or working with a production team to produce compelling content for your target audiences
• Broad comms toolkit that you use to master any communication task at hand
• Understanding of current trends in the esports, sports, and entertainment comms space, with the experience to back it up
• Experience being at the table with the senior-most leaders of a company and not backing down
• Experience managing people in the past, even if at your core you love nothing more than tactical execution
• Aware of trends in sports, entertainment, gaming, tech, and other spaces where Riot should be part of the conversation
• Master deck builder, knowing how images, GIFs, videos, and other visually compelling content can enhance a message to another level

Desired Qualifications:

• Detailed knowledge of the esports and also the sports space
• Experience with a variety of esports and gaming communities
• Experience working with executives at esports, tech, or sports companies
• Experience writing outside your voice—you can capture a leader's essence and style with relatively little hand holding
• Passion for esports and gaming and empathy for the player and fan experience is a huge plus

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 the experiences of players, this could be the role for you!

Our Perks:

Riot has a focus on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy, in addition to 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.

Riot Games fosters a player and workplace experience that values teamwork embodied by the Summoner's Code and Community Code . Our culture embraces differences as a strength, and our values are the guiding principles for how we approach work. We are committed to putting diversity and inclusion (D&I) at the center of everything we do, and promoting a fair and collaborative culture where Rioters treat one another with dignity and respect. We encourage you to read more about our value of thriving together and our ongoing work to build the most inclusive company in Gaming .

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, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance relating to an applicant's criminal history.