Fanatics Collectibles is a new company working at the intersection of collectibles and technology. Backed by some of the best investors, sports properties and operators in the world, we are integrating with Fanatics’ global digital sports platform – which includes 900 sports relationships and more than 81 million reachable fans - to reimagine the collectibles business for the 21st century.

We are a startup building products to transform the trading card industry. We aren’t a startup in the traditional sense, though. While we are a small team building new products from the ground up, we also have the backing of Fanatics – the world’s largest sports merchandiser with over 900 sports relationships and more than 81 million reachable fans. We have exclusive licensing deals with the MLB, NFL and NBA and the products we build will be used by millions of trading cards fans from day 1. We are out to reinvent the trading card industry, which is a bold and ambitious mission.

We have big plans in this space and there’s a ton to do - trading card data is multifaceted and pricing is largely driven by secondary market activities that are challenging to coalesce and get insights from. We want to transform the way decisions are made in our organization and across the industry, and data is one of the pillars that will enable us to do that.

As a lead Data Engineer, you will be the founding member of our data team. You’ll establish, advocate and execute integration strategies that support the business organization and digital product efforts. This is a cross-functional role, so in addition to understanding business needs and working with stakeholders, you’ll own high impact technical decisions and implementation. You’ll also build out the data team, so an interest in hiring and mentoring is required!

What does this mean as a member of the engineering team?

• We move fast. We have a lot to do and are looking for folks who will drive projects to completion with a sense of urgency, but not at the expense of quality, scalability and performance.
• We think about scale. The trading card market is large and we will be the de facto entry point into the hobby.
• We’re pragmatic. We embrace new technologies, but not just for the sake of it. We like server-rendered HTML, using a PaaS for deployments, and writing enough tests to give us confidence but not striving for code coverage numbers just for the sake of it.
• We are product-focused. We’re building products that will reach millions and always tie our work back to how it will add value for our users.

Some indicators that this role may be a good fit for you:

• You feel comfortable speaking up and asking driving questions to get clarity on discussions with both technical and non-technical team members.
• You are looking for high impact opportunities with lots of ownership - very little is defined here - you’ll need to work with stakeholders and a Product Manager counterpart to define objectives, breakdown work, and go after high value initiatives that will move the needle for the business.
• You get excited about greenfield architecture and are able to make big decisions without getting bogged down in “analysis paralysis”.
• You have experience mentoring developers and an interest in people management.

Some things you may want to know about us:

• We’re a small team (growing fast!) and everyone wears lots of hats.
• We’re remote (Michigan, Colorado, New York, and more).
• We work hard, but not all the time. We have families that we like to spend time with.

Additional indications that this is the right role for you:

• 8+ years of software engineering experience.
• Experience with any of the following technologies Python, SQL, AWS, Scala, Kafka, Apache Hadoop, Spark. Tools: Tableau, Looker
• Ability to design application components and evolve architecture including UI, API/Services, Data Access, Integration, Application components etc.
• Build tools to automate the monitoring or workload and take proactive measure to scale the platform or to fix the problem.
• Research and develop proof of concept on integrations to new platforms.
• Develop technical tools and programming that leverage big-data techniques to cleanse, organize and transform data and to maintain and update data structures and integrity on an automated basis.
• You have experience leading a high performing team that solved challenging technical problems.

The Fanatics family of companies currently includes Fanatics Commerce, a vertically-integrated licensed merchandise business that has changed the way fans purchase their favorite team apparel, jerseys, headwear and hardgoods through a tech-infused approach to making and quickly distributing fan gear in today’s 24/7 mobile-first economy; Candy Digital, a digital collectibles company that is partnering with prominent sports properties, including MLB and MLBPA, to build an official NFT ecosystem; Fanatics Collectibles, a transformative company that is building a new model for the hobby and giving collectors an end-to-end collectibles experience; and Fanatics Betting & Gaming, a mobile betting, gaming and retail sportsbook platform. Additional ventures that will build out Fanatics’ footprint across the broader digital sports landscape will be rolled out soon.  Fanatics’ partners include all major professional sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR, MLS, PGA) and hundreds of collegiate and professional teams, which include several of the biggest global soccer clubs. 

Ensure your Fanatics job offer is legitimate and don’t fall victim to fraud.  Fanatics never seeks payment from job applicants.  Fanatics recruiters will only reach out to applicants from an @fanatics.com or @fanatics.co.uk email address.  For added security, where possible, apply through our company website at www.fanaticsinc.com/careers

Fanatics is committed to responsible planning and purchasing (RPP) practices, working with its business partners across its global and multi-layered supply chain, to ensure that planning, sourcing, and purchasing decisions, along with other supporting processes, do not impede or conflict with the fulfillment of Fanatics’ fair labor practices.

NOTICE TO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS/APPLICANTS: In connection with your application, we collect information that identifies, reasonably relates to or describes you (“Personal Information”). The categories of Personal Information that we collect include your name, government issued identification number(s), email address, mailing address, other contact information, emergency contact information, employment history, educational history, criminal record, and demographic information.  We collect and use those categories of Personal Information about you for human resources and other business management purposes, including identifying and evaluating you as a candidate for potential or future employment or other types of positions, recordkeeping in relation to recruiting and hiring, conducting criminal background checks as permitted by law, conducting analytics, and ensuring compliance with applicable legal requirements and Company policies.