PlayOn Sports operates one of the largest real-time data ecosystems in high school sports, spanning streaming video, ticketing, scoring, and fan engagement across multiple brands. As a Senior Data Engineer on the Data Platform team, you will help power analytics, AI, and operational insight across NFHS Network, GoFan, and MaxPreps.
In this role, you will design, build, and operate the shared data platform that ingests real-time and batch data from operational systems, transforms it into trusted and analytics-ready datasets, and delivers it reliably to downstream consumers.
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 ingestion and transformation of real-time event streams into analytics-ready datasets.
• High-quality, well-modeled data powering BI, AI, and operational reporting.
• Production-grade pipelines with strong observability, SLAs, and cost controls
In this role, you can expect to
- Build and operate streaming and batch pipelines consuming Kafka-based event streams.
- Implement data models, transformations, and dynamic tables in Snowflake.
- Ensure data freshness, completeness, and correctness for critical business domains.
- Partner with Unified Data Service engineers on event contracts and schema alignment.
- Deliver curated datasets and APIs to BI, Data Science, and AI teams.
- Implement data quality checks, monitoring, and alerting.
- Optimize platform performance and cloud cost efficiency.
- Participate in on-call rotations and incident response.
To thrive in this role, you have
- 5+ years of experience in data engineering or analytics platform roles.
- Strong SQL skills and production experience with Snowflake or similar data warehouses.
- Experience consuming streaming data via Kafka, Flink, or Spark Streaming.
- Proficiency in Python for data pipelines and automation.
- Experience designing analytics-ready data models.
- Comfort operating production systems with SLAs and on-call responsibilities.
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.
Company Overview
PlayOn is a dynamic growth-stage company dedicated to championing the spirit of play in the high school space. Backed by KKR, our family of brands—including GoFan, NFHS Network, and MaxPreps—empowers schools with innovative solutions and exceptional service. Our fan engagement platform is the only one that offers event ticketing, streaming, fundraising, concessions, merchandise sales, and website management in one place. We save administrators time so they can focus on what truly matters: supporting the students, staff, and fans who bring their programs to life.
Trusted by thousands of schools across the country, we're here to help create more instant replays, hold-your-breath moments, last-minute comebacks, and games you want to watch over and over again.
When being there means everything, we make sure you never miss a moment.
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.
