Engineering Manager - Sportsbook (Backend)
Hard Rock Digital
WorldwideremotePosted 16 days ago
Skill Required
Engineering-ManagerBackend-Engineering-ManagerSoftware-Engineering-ManagerJava-Engineering-ManagerTechnical-LeadSportsbook-Platform-EngineeringBackend-Development-ManagerBackend DeveloperEngineering ManagerEngineeringObservabilitysecuritybuildingChatGPTTestNGdesignGitJavaAPIsUnityandAIFulltime
Key highlights
- Requires several years of technology leadership experience combined with backend engineering expertise
- Must possess hands-on coding skills including reading/writing code and reviewing pull requests
- Needs production experience with Java (17+) and Spring/Spring Boot microservices
- Offers flexible vacation allowance and hybrid/remote work options
- Provides startup culture and equal opportunity employment
- Demands sportsbook domain experience or strong interest in low-latency regulated platforms
Role overview
Hard Rock Digital is seeking a Hands-on Engineering Manager to lead the Sportsbook Experience backend team, focusing on Java/Spring services that power event and market data, pricing and odds delivery, betslip and bet placement, cash out, and high-throughput APIs for web, native, and retail clients. The role centers on driving technical excellence, fostering a culture of AI-first development, and ensuring reliable, compliant operations in a real-money sportsbook environment.
Responsibilities
- Lead the Sportsbook Experience backend team and own people leadership, team health, and engineering excellence
- Partner with Product Owners, the Director of Sportsbook, Technical Delivery Leads, and other Engineering Managers to deliver high-quality software aligned with product priorities
- Champion AI-augmented development, responsible AI practices, and continuous learning within the team
- Act as a key voice in making the Sportsbook Experience pod an AI-first organization
- Collaborate across pods with Product, Design, QA, and Platform teams
- Maintain high standards for compliance, security, and documentation
- Ensure AI-generated code is understood, reviewed, and tested before merging
- Invest in AI across the stack including requirements gathering, PR/code review, alert investigation, API/E2E testing, agentic workflows, and MCPs
- Build and govern AI initiatives responsibly according to the AI Charter and policy
- Foster an inclusive, collaborative environment and champion the AI-first direction
- Conduct regular 1:1s, stand-ups, and provide ad-hoc support to the team
- Monitor sprint progress, adjust priorities, and keep work well-scoped and estimated
- Break down requirements into features and user stories using backlog grooming and sprint planning
- Align with stakeholders (Product Owners, Technical Leads, other EMs, leadership) on objectives, dependencies, and risks
- Stay close to code by reviewing pull requests, contributing to design and architecture for Java/Spring services, debugging production issues, and prototyping
- Ensure solutions follow standards and best practices while supporting Technical Leads on vendor and technical stakeholder management
- Own the reliability, latency, and correctness of team services during in-play peaks and major sporting events
- Assess workload and skills, identify hiring needs, and participate in recruiting and hiring
- Shape the team to meet delivery commitments and grow over time
- Promote diversity, inclusion, and employee empowerment
Requirements
- Several years of technology leadership experience driving technical excellence and mentoring engineers
- Essential backend engineering background in Java with Spring/Spring Boot production systems
- Microservices, REST APIs, event-driven architecture (e.g., Kafka), relational and NoSQL data stores, and operating services on AWS/Kubernetes
- Hands-on coding capability: reading and writing code, assessing pull requests on merit, reasoning about thread dumps, slow queries, or latency spikes, and pairing with engineers on hard problems
- Self-motivated and autonomous with the ability to set personal agendas, spot problems early, and drive resolution without being asked
- Sportsbook domain fit: experience or strong interest in sportsbook, trading, real-time/high-throughput systems, or other low-latency regulated platforms, plus comfort with compliance, security, and operational rigor
- AI mindset: curiosity and openness to AI-augmented development and AI initiatives, with eagerness to learn and adopt approved tools
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field (or equivalent experience)
- Proven ability to foster innovation, continuous improvement, and collaboration within a team or technology line
- Experience with agile development and managing or contributing to backlogs, planning, and delivery metrics
- Demonstrable production experience with Java (17+) and the Spring ecosystem at scale
Benefits
- Competitive pay and benefits package
- Flexible vacation allowance
- Hybrid/remote working environment
- Startup culture backed by a secure, global brand
- Equal opportunity employment with a commitment to a diverse and inclusive work environment