Senior Software Engineer, Data Platform
About the position By bringing together next-gen technology and the finest live data available, Genius Sports is enabling a new era of sports for fans worldwide, delivering experiences that are more immersive, interactive and personalized than ever before. Learn more at geniussports.com. The Role - Senior Software Engineer, Data Platform We’re looking for a Senior Data Platform Engineer to help design and scale the foundational systems that power our data ecosystem. In this role, you’ll lead the architecture and modernization of our data infrastructure, enabling teams across the organization to discover, access, and act on data quickly, reliably, and securely. You’ll drive large-scale platform initiatives from concept to production, make thoughtful architectural tradeoffs, and partner closely with product and cross-functional stakeholders to shape engineering direction. This is a highly technical leadership role ideal for someone with deep experience in distributed systems, modern data lakehouse and streaming architectures, and large-scale data operations—who is also passionate about mentorship, technical excellence, and building systems that have meaningful business impact. Responsibilities • Design, build, and maintain the Data Platform's foundational systems and features that enable internal teams to discover, access, and act on data quickly, reliably, and securely • Drive the modernization of our data infrastructure, navigating technical complexity and making sound architectural tradeoffs to strengthen our foundation and increase organizational productivity • Serve as a technical leader for large-scale Data Platform initiatives, driving architectural decisions and shaping engineering direction in close partnership with product and cross-functional stakeholders • Provide technical mentorship to junior and mid-level engineers, upskilling the team and preparing them to take on greater responsibilities • Stay up-to-date with emerging technologies and industry trends in data systems and platform development Requirements • A proven track record, with 5+ years of hands-on experience in architecting distributed system architecture, guiding projects from initial ideation to successful production deployment • A product-minded approach—you understand how our software impacts user experience and business outcomes • Demonstrated mentorship and leadership experience, growing engineers and fostering a culture of technical excellence • Excellent collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to influence across teams • Broad expertise across the data systems engineering landscape, with deep experience in one or more of the following areas: Hands-on experience designing and operating modern data lakehouse and warehouse systems (Iceberg, Trino, BigQuery, StarRocks, Citus) Expertise in distributed data processing and streaming architectures, including Spark, Pulsar, Kafka, and Flink, with a strong understanding of batch vs. real-time trade-offs • Experience working with large-scale datasets, including performance tuning, cost optimization, and observability in production environments • Solid understanding of data modeling, schema evolution, and data quality practices in distributed data platforms Nice-to-haves • Experience with Rust • Prior experience as a tech lead driving the adoption of foundational organizational systems and achieving buy-in from stakeholders • History of open source contribution, particularly in the data systems ecosystem Benefits • As well as a competitive salary and range of benefits, we’re committed to supporting employee wellbeing and helping you grow your skills, experience and career. • Learn more about how rewarding life at Genius can be at Reward | Genius Sports.