Data Engineer, Hockey Analytics

Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment - Newark, NJ

Full-time

Newark, NJ

About the position

Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) is seeking a Data Engineer to join the New Jersey Devils front office, where the focus will be on supporting hockey decision-making across various levels, including front office, coaching, and scouting. This role is designed for an individual who possesses a strong technical foundation and a passion for enhancing the understanding of hockey through data analytics. As a member of the analytics team, the Data Engineer will be responsible for developing and maintaining processes that ingest, clean, and organize hockey data, ensuring that the organization can leverage this information effectively. The Data Engineer will manage and optimize the development and production infrastructure, which includes servers, systems, software, and workflows. This involves designing and implementing the data infrastructure that underpins the organization's data systems, including the processes for data acquisition, validation, and integration. The role also requires research, evaluation, and integration of new data sources and technologies that can expand the organization's capabilities. Effective communication with analysts and Hockey Operations staff is essential to understand their data management and information needs, and the Data Engineer will also be responsible for creating documentation suitable for both internal and external communication. In addition to these responsibilities, the Data Engineer will contribute to the development of hockey thought and workflow optimization within the department and the broader organization. This position is ideal for someone who thrives in a collaborative, performance-driven culture and is eager to make a significant impact on the team's success through data-driven insights.

Responsibilities

• Management and optimization of the development and production infrastructure (servers, systems, software, workflow).
• Design and implementation of the data infrastructure underlying the organization's data systems, including the processes for acquisition, validation, and integration of data.
• Research, evaluation, and integration of new data sources and technologies that expand the capabilities of the organization.
• Communication with analysts and Hockey Operations staff to understand the group's data management and information needs.
• Documentation suitable for both internal and external communication.
• Contribute to the development of hockey thought and workflow optimization of the department and the holistic organization.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or higher in a technical discipline (computer science, engineering, etc.)
• Training in and/or experience with cloud-computing platforms (e.g. AWS, Snowflake, etc.)
• Training in and/or experience with data engineering, ETL processes, and database management (Python, SQL, dbt, etc.)
• Experience building data pipelines that support statistical analysis and machine learning
• Experience developing data quality monitoring/alert systems for data pipelines
• Familiarity with task orchestration and workflow automation tools such as Dagster
• Demonstrated passion for hockey and familiarity with hockey rules and terminology
• High attention to detail and willingness to dive deep into large datasets to identify problems
• Independent self-starter capable of operating with minimal guidance and a commitment to continuous improvement
• Have a growth mentality, eager to learn and develop within our team
• Focused on team results not individual accomplishment
• Embrace a dynamic, changing, diversified workload

Nice-to-haves

• 3+ years professional software development experience
• Passion for Sports and Entertainment experience in the athletic space
• Diverse projects and experience in multiple business functions