Staff Software Engineer, Data

Job Description

Job Description

As a Staff Software Engineer on our Data Platform, you’ll be the senior IC who sets the bar for real‑time, reliable, and cost‑efficient data systems that fuel short‑form video generation, recommendations, and executive‑grade analytics.

You’ll architect and build end‑to‑end data products—from streaming ingestion and Flink SQL transforms to Snowflake analytical models and SQLmesh validations—that serve both ML / AI and BI needs with clear SLAs. You’ll harden contracts, lineage, and data quality; optimize cost and latency; and lead design reviews, mentoring senior engineers while partnering with DS / AI Engineering, BI / Analytics, and brand teams across NFHS Network, GoFan, and MaxPreps.

You combine deep systems thinking with pragmatic delivery. You’re fluent in SQL and Python, confident with Kafka + Flink (or equivalent), and at home modeling messy real‑world domains like sports events, tickets, subscriptions, and ad yield. You write crisp design docs, ship iteratively, instrument everything, and translate ambiguous business goals into measurable outcomes.

The outcomes you’ll deliver

• Reduce end‑to‑end latency for priority streaming pipelines (e.g., scoreboard → short‑form video features) with clearly defined SLAs and runbooks.
• Establish data contracts, tests, and lineage for one high‑impact domain (e.g., ticketing funnels or subscription attribution) enabling new BI / ML use cases.
• Deliver measurable cost / performance wins across Snowflake / Kafka / S3 (e.g., storage compaction, task scheduling, partitioning) with transparent dashboards.

In This Role, You Can Expect To

To Thrive In This Role, You Have

How You Play

#LI-DNI

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.