Sr. Esports Production Manager (12 Month Contract)

As a Senior Production Manager on Riot’s Esports Events team, you’ll be a senior operational leader driving the planning and execution of high-complexity, high-visibility esports productions across EMEA. You will work on flagship events such as LEC Finals, VCT EMEA Finals, or cross-regional tournaments, ensuring operational excellence across multiple vendors, geographies, and formats.

You’ll report to Sr. Manager, Esports Event Production EMEA and act as the regional authority on large-scale production delivery, setting standards, innovating workflows, and ensuring alignment with global broadcast teams. You’ll lead through influence, mentoring peers, guiding vendors, and acting as a key escalation and decision-making point for production operations.

You’ll blend strategic foresight with hands-on operational execution, ensuring every aspect of Riot’s physical, broadcast, and hospitality experience meets the highest standards of safety, quality, and fan engagement.

Please note this is a 12 month contract and will be based on site in Berlin. 

Responsibilities

Production Ownership

• Lead planning and operational delivery for Riot’s largest regional or international esports events hosted in EMEA.
• Define operational roadmaps and resourcing plans across multiple productions.
• Partner with senior Producers and regional leadership to align on event vision, scope, and budget.
• Represent EMEA in global Content Services alignment — sharing learnings, best practices, and process innovations.

Physical Production Leadership

• Own physical production design and execution for large-scale or multi-venue events.
• Oversee integration of scenic, lighting, AV, staging, led/projection, power, and rigging with broadcast and creative workflows.
• Manage health, safety, permitting, and risk mitigation across venues.
• Partner with Facilities and Event Production on load-in/out logistics, transport, and crew deployment.

Hospitality Strategy & Oversight

• Coordinate hospitality frameworks for players, talent, and VIPs across Tier-1 events.
• Align hospitality and travel schedules with show operations.
• Ensure welfare, accessibility, and inclusivity standards are met for all participants.
• Partner with Player Management and Events teams to maintain Riot’s hospitality excellence.

Budget & Financial Leadership

• Own production budgets for Tier-1 events and major seasonal shows.
• Partner with Finance and Global Esports to forecast costs and manage capital investment decisions.
• Ensure cost efficiency through vendor negotiations, scaling models, and reusability of assets.

Vendor & Partner Oversight

• Act as the primary point of contact for senior vendor relationships (major broadcast houses, technical partners, venue operators).
• Guide vendor teams to align with Riot’s standards, documentation, and quality expectations.
• Lead contractual and logistical coordination for multi-party productions (vendors, agencies).

Process, Standards & Continuous Improvement

• Contribute to evolving Riot’s global production management framework, templates, and tools.
• Identify and implement workflow optimizations for repeatable, scalable broadcast operations.
• Mentor and support other Production Managers, sharing insights and technical/operational expertise.

Cross-Functional Influence

• Represent Production Management in cross-discipline planning (Tech Ops, Creative, Event Production, Product).
• Partner with Creative and Product teams to balance ambition with operational feasibility.
• Act as escalation point for critical on-site and live-event decisions.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in live broadcast or large-scale event production, ideally in sports or esports.
• Demonstrated success leading complex multi-stakeholder productions.
• Deep understanding of live broadcast infrastructure, signal paths, and production technologies.
• Strong vendor management, contracting, and financial acumen.
• Proven ability to manage high budgets and negotiate effectively.
• Excellent communication and diplomacy skills, especially under pressure.
• Fluent in English (additional EMEA language a plus).
• Comfortable with significant travel and live-event environments.