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Senior Data Engineer

Underdog Fantasy

Underdog Fantasy

Data Science
Remote · United States
Posted on Saturday, December 16, 2023

Hi, we’re Underdog!

We’re the fastest-growing sports gaming company ever.

Our mission is to build innovative games and products for American sports fans.

Founded in 2020, our team built three of today's most widely played fantasy games and successfully launched the largest contest in the history of fantasy sports: a $15M NFL Best Ball tournament -- and there’s a lot more to come! Underdog’s modern tech environment and in-house product development allow us to continuously deliver the best experiences for our users.

The opportunity in front of us to become the biggest company in our space is massive; after all, we’re currently sitting in the fastest-growing consumer industry in the U.S. In just over two years, we reached a nearly $500 million valuation through some of the best investors in the game, including Mark Cuban, Kevin Durant, BlackRock, and SV Angel. We are many times larger now and our growth is not slowing down.

At Underdog, we believe that sports are for everyone and are building a tomorrow for every fan. Want to help create that future? Join us.

Please note, Underdog is a US based company and no sponsorship is available for this position at this time.

About the role and why it’s unique:

  • As a Senior Data Engineer on the Transformation team, you’ll be instrumental in the development of Underdog’s reporting layer by designing models in DBT
  • In this role, you will work cross-functionally with Data Scientists, Product Managers, and other stakeholders across the business to understand data needs to design performant, flexible, and low-technical-debt solutions
  • Using BigQuery and DBT, design and execute scalable reporting models that minimize technical debt, make efficient use of BQ resources, keep data fresh, adhere to Underdog best practices, and allow stakeholders to access the data they need
  • Create and maintain tests and documentation about the reporting layer inside the DBT models, to enable Data Scientists to quickly find what they need
  • Perform validation and data integrity checks on new datasets and load procedures before delivery to stakeholders, investigating and resolving data discrepancies and escalating to the engineering team or other teams as needed
  • Stay abreast of all of Underdog's Fantasy data models, processes, business rules, contest rules, and product functionality, including compliance and regulatory considerations; plan/execute needed changes in the reporting layer
  • Assist Data Scientists in developing analytics datasets to meet the needs of the business
  • Meet with stakeholders as needed to discuss existing and upcoming data projects and deliverables; stakeholders include, but are not limited to: Product Managers, Engineers, other members of the Data team, third-party vendors, and other team members throughout the organization who are involved in data projects
  • Communicate continuously about progress, blockers, and anything else related to assigned tasks
  • Document and report issues with source data and follow up with owners on resolution/path forward
  • Use Jira proactively to manage tasks and deliverables; participate in regular sprint planning and retrospective meetings
  • Periodically present your work at team lunch-and-learn meetings
  • Proactively look for ways we can continuously improve our architecture in the reporting layer, as well as our team processes

Who you are:

  • Curious and inquisitive nature (you want to know how things work and you ask good questions)
  • Proactive problem-solver (you notice and act on problems we already have; you anticipate problems we might have in the future and try to solve for those now)
  • Strong attention to detail (you have the ability to get "in the weeds" to investigate, understand, and resolve data issues)
  • Actively accountable (you own and learn from your mistakes; you care about getting things right; you actively solicit feedback)
  • Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment
  • Productive and engaged with minimal oversight
  • You think like an architect (you build solutions that are supportable, minimize technical debt, comprehensive enough to meet most future needs yet flexible enough to adapt when necessary)
  • Comfortable collaborating and communicating with other architects, engineers, and other diverse groups of stakeholders, sometimes needing to explain technical concepts in a way that's accessible to non-technical users
  • At least 5 years of experience writing SQL and working with databases in a Data Architecture, Analytics Engineering, or Data Engineering capacity
  • At least 3 years of experience using BigQuery
  • At least 2 years of experience using DBT for data transformations and architecture development
  • Experience or strong familiarity with BI tools such as Sigma or Looker
  • Familiarity with ETL/ELT concepts and best practices
  • Advanced proficiency with SQL
  • Intermediate or better proficiency with Python

Even better if you have:

  • Interest in sports
  • Experience with fantasy sports or sportsbetting


Our targeted compensation rate for this position is between $150,000 and $190,000, depending on experience, plus equity. Think your skills are exceptional and warrant higher pay? Apply anyway! If we agree, we're willing to negotiate.

What we can offer you:

  • Unlimited PTO (we're extremely flexible with the exception of the first few weeks before & into the NFL season)
  • 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave
  • Monthly raffle to win a sports ticket reimbursement of up to $500 (including game day snacks)
  • A $500 home office allowance
  • Underdog credits to play on our platform
  • A connected virtual first culture with a highly engaged distributed workforce
  • 5% 401k match, FSA, company paid health, dental, vision plan options for employees and dependents

Still not sure? Don't take our word for it. See what other people have to say.

  • 5.0 rating on Glassdoor and a 100% CEO Approval rating
  • A+ culture score on Comparably
  • Recognized as Best Place to Work by Front Office Sports
  • Recognized by Comparably under the following awards: Best CEOs for Women, Best CEOs for Diversity, Best Company for Career Growth, Best Company in New York, Best Company Outlook

Underdog Sports is firmly committed to equity, inclusion, and diversity. We built our unique culture on the foundation of a safe and inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds. We highly value our employees' mental, physical, and emotional health and continuously ask ourselves: what can we do better? Underdog is an equal opportunity employer and doesn't discriminate on the basis of creed, race, sexual orientation, gender, age, disability status, or any other defining characteristic.


#LI-REMOTE