Senior Software Engineer, Data

Senior Software Engineer, Data

PlayOn Sports operates one of the largest real-time data ecosystems in high school sports, spanning streaming video, ticketing, scoring, and fan engagement across NFHS Network, GoFan, and MaxPreps.

As a Senior Software Engineer, Data, you will design, build, and operate the data services and APIs that leverage PlayOn's foundational data platform and the application teams that depend on them every day. You will own service design, define event contracts, and raise the bar for quality and reliability across the Data Products portfolio.

The ideal candidate is a senior individual contributor who thrives in production data systems, values correctness and clarity, and takes ownership of critical pipelines that the business depends on every day.

The Outcomes You'll Deliver

• Reliable, well-designed data services and APIs powering application teams across PlayOn's brands.

• Clean event contracts and schema alignment across PlayOn's operational data landscape.

• Production-grade services with strong observability, clear ownership, and documented SLAs.

In this role, you can expect to

• Design, build, and operate data services and APIs used by application teams.
• Partner with Data Platform engineers to translate event streams and pipelines into application-ready interfaces.
• Own technical design for major features, including API shape, data contracts, versioning, and backward compatibility.
• Build in Python and SQL across event-driven architectures.
• Collaborate with application teams to define integration patterns and service expectations.
• Improve observability, correctness, and operational maturity of data products.
• Optimize platform performance and cloud cost efficiency.
• Collaborate with the Data Platform team on pipeline contracts and data availability.

To thrive in this role, you have

• 5+ years of experience building production software systems, ideally including data services or platform APIs.
• Strong Python skills — production-grade, testable, maintainable code.
• Strong SQL skills and comfort working with large analytical datasets.
• Experience with event-driven architectures and streaming systems (Kafka, Flink, or equivalent).
• Experience designing and operating REST APIs consumed by application teams.
• Comfort taking technical ownership — driving design decisions, not just implementing them.
• Familiarity with AI-augmented development tools (Claude, Codex) as part of a modern engineering workflow.

Preferred Experience

• Experience with Snowflake or similar cloud data warehouses.
• Background in data modeling for analytical or operational use cases.
• ML engineering basics — feature pipelines, model-adjacent data services.

How You Play

• Ownership over Participation – You take responsibility for achieving holistic outcomes, prioritize key objectives, and adapt quickly when situations require a different approach. You follow through even against the toughest challenges.
• Team over Stars – You are a bridge builder, establishing processes and relationships with teams outside your own. You work to rally around common goals, find win-win solutions, compromise when necessary, and help others succeed.
• Growth over Comfort – You are driven by a desire to grow and actively seek opportunities to expand your comfort zone, skills, and confidence. You embrace new challenges with curiosity, accepting discomfort and failure as opportunities to learn.
• Fairness over Popularity – You approach decisions with a scientist's mindset, challenging your assumptions and remaining objective. You consider long-term impact rather than relying on short-term gains, proactively seek others' perspectives, and manage emotions in decision-making.

PlayOn is where high school sports come to life. Through GoFan, NFHS Network, and MaxPreps, we give every fan a front-row seat to the moments that matter most: the buzzer-beaters, the comeback wins, the senior nights, the rivalries that define a town.

We built our technology for the people who live and breathe high school athletics — the parents who never miss a game, the alumni still cheering from across the country, the communities that show up week after week. From buying tickets to watching a live stream to reliving the highlights, we make it simple to stay close to the sports and the athletes you love most.

Backed by KKR, we build the technology that powers high school athletics from the inside out: Schools trust us to handle ticketing, streaming, fundraising, concessions, merchandise, and more so the people running programs can stay focused on the athletes and fans we all serve together.

We're a growth-stage company on a mission to make high school sports more accessible, more memorable, and more connected than ever before.

Why You'll Love Working at PlayOn

Product, potential, and people. We're a leader in the high school event space, constantly evolving our product to meet the needs of administrators. We focus on solving real challenges, learning quickly, and creating impactful solutions.

This is a growth-stage company, meaning your contributions have real impact. You'll have opportunities to grow your skills, tackle meaningful problems, and make a difference in the lives of schools and the students and fans they serve.

Our culture is built on accountability, collaboration, growth, and fairness. We don't just show up—we show up for each other. Everyone wears the same jersey, and we play hard, make the extra pass, and cheer one another on. Losses teach us, challenges motivate us, and persistence drives us forward. We value integrity over shortcuts, choosing to do what's right even when it's hard. Together, we strive to be better every day—because we know that's how we win as a team.

The Benefits We Offer

Multiple medical insurance plans to choose from

Dental, vision life and disability insurance

Employee Emergency Fund

Company equity (stock options)

Open PTO policy

401K plan with company match

Hybrid/flexible work environment

Note: Must be a full-time employee to participate in the company's employee health benefit plan. Part-time employees and interns are not eligible to participate.