We are seeking an individual with excellent attention to detail to join our team as a Data Engineer. In this role, the successful candidate will lead the design, development and maintenance of a best-in-class data infrastructure, delivering scalable data pipelines and ensuring high-quality data is available for analysis and decision-making across the Club.
The successful candidate will provide key stakeholders with clean, reliable, accessible and actionable data, contributing to the development of SKC's data ecosystem.
People - Work closely with coaches, analysts, scouts, performance coaches and other key stakeholders to understand data needs and translate them into scalable solutions.
- Develop strong relationships with the wider Data and Analytics team, promoting best practices in data management, governance and accessibility.
- Ensure collaboration and communication with wider Club as needed, working with internal and external partners to ensure efficient data integration, adoption and deployment.
Process- Lead the design, development and maintenance of scalable ETL/ELT pipelines to support the creation of tools, platforms and reports aimed at facilitating decision-making.
- Ensure reliable and consistent data collection, validation, monitoring, testing, transformation and delivery processes.
- Lead the implementation of high-quality standards for comprehensive data storage, version control, schema documentation and governance.
- Collaborate with our IT team to ensure data protection and compliance policies are upheld and central to our practices.
- Continuously evaluate and develop existing workflows, infrastructure and practices to maximize reliability.
- Evaluate other emerging technologies and solutions to ensure SKC stays current with engineering best practice and trends.
Product- Lead the development and maintenance of SKC's centralized data platform.
- Develop and manage soccer-specific databases and APIs, enabling efficient data access.
- Integrate data from multiple soccer data providers and Club systems to create a single source of truth.
- In collaboration with the rest of the Data and Analytics team, support the development and deployment of reporting tools, internal applications, web tools and dashboards.
- Continuously challenge existing data, systems and practices to ensure development and drive innovation.
- Ensure data architecture optimization to support future scalability and reliability as our team and provision grows.
- Work very closely with the First Team Data Scientist to productionize models and implement ML projects seamlessly.
Education & Experience- Bachelor's degree in computer science, data science or related STEM subject.
- Significant experience working in a Data Engineering or similar role.
- Proven experience designing, developing and maintaining data pipelines, data models and database schemas.
- Robust experience using both SQL and Python for data cleaning, engineering, transformation and automation workflows.
- Experience working with modern cloud-based data infrastructure (i.e., Azure, AWS or GCP).
- Experience implementing best-in-practice data orchestration, version control, governance and other data best practices
- Creative and curious problem solver with a positive attitude to new challenges.
- Proactive and eager to learn, able to pick up new skills and work as part of a team.
- Excellent attention to detail and evidence of working on developing strong analytical skills.
- Evidence of excellent communication skills, able to translate technical concepts into practical solutions.
Preferred Experience- Previous experience working within an elite soccer club or high-performance sporting environment.
- Experience working with soccer event, tracking and physical performance datasets.
- Strong understanding of technical and tactical aspects of soccer.
- Evidence of experience working in the MLS.
- Experience using data visualization tools such as Tableau or other equivalent software.
- Experience supporting ML deployment and MLOps workflows.
Physical Requirements- Ability to work in office, stadium, and outdoor environments with the ability to travel as required.
- Ability to occasionally lift up to 25 pounds.
- Ability to work non-traditional hours including evenings, weekends, and holidays.
Additional Responsibilities- Represent Sporting Kansas City professionally at all times.
- Maintain confidentiality of sensitive information.
- Comply with Club policies and procedures.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
