Fanatics · 4 hours ago
Software Engineer II - Distributed Systems
United States
Full-time
Remote
Mid Level
$144K/yr - $216K/yr
3+ years expFanatics is a leading global digital sports platform, and they are seeking a Software Engineer II - Distributed Systems to join their team. In this role, you will design and scale backend services that transform raw sports data into real-time product experiences, collaborating with engineers, data scientists, and product managers to deliver reliable, low-latency systems for millions of fans.
eSportsManufacturingRetailSporting GoodsSports
No H1B
Responsibilities
Design, develop, test, and deploy scalable backend services and REST/gRPC APIs powering search, live odds, box scores, and event tracking
Use AI assistants throughout the SDLC (specs, scaffolding, tests, docs), while validating outputs via checklists, unit/integration tests, and code review
Implement production-grade patterns: idempotent handlers, retries with jitter, backpressure, schema evolution, and safe migrations
Collaborate with senior engineers to understand data pipelines, dependencies, SLAs/SLOs, and product requirements; break work into measurable increments
Participate in on-call rotation; triage, debug, and resolve production issues using tracing, logs, and metrics; write post-incident follow-ups
Contribute to architecture discussions, sprint planning, and design docs; propose pragmatic improvements that raise the team’s delivery speed and safety
Build observability into everything (RED/USE metrics, tracing, actionable alerts) and instrument latency/error/throughput KPIs
Follow our AI-assisted PR (AIPR) process: add an AIPR note, include validation steps, attach tests/benchmarks, and tag the PR for metrics
Help maintain prompt snippets and “gotchas” in the team’s AI playbook; surface pitfalls (e.g., over-abstraction, missing edge cases, secret handling)
Develop domain fluency (sports event hierarchies, feeds, data quality) and how correctness/latency impact user trust and conversion
Stay current with backend trends in distributed systems, cloud-native infra, data APIs, and AI-augmented engineering workflows
Occasional travel to FBG offices or industry events for collaboration and team-building
Design, develop, test, and deploy scalable backend services and RESTful APIs that drive real-time features like search, box scores, and live event tracking
Collaborate closely with senior engineers and product teams to understand data pipelines, system dependencies, and product requirements
Participate in the on-call rotation and help triage, debug, and resolve issues in production systems
Contribute to service architecture, sprint planning, and long-term technical decisions
Participate in code reviews to ensure quality, maintainability, and shared learning
Build observability into everything you create — we value proactive monitoring and actionable alerts
Develop a growing understanding of our domain — from sports event hierarchies to how data quality impacts user trust
Stay current with backend trends and tooling, especially in distributed systems, cloud-native infrastructure, and data APIs
Open to occasional travel to FBG offices or industry events for collaboration and team-building
Qualification
Required
2–5 years building backend systems or APIs in high-throughput or data-rich environments
2+ years with Kotlin/Spring Boot; familiarity with reactive/non-blocking patterns is a plus
Experience with event-driven systems (Kafka or similar) and at least one database (PostgreSQL or MongoDB) plus caching (Redis)
Solid grasp of microservices design and API fundamentals (REST/gRPC, pagination, auth, rate limiting, idempotency)
Comfort with observability practices (logs/metrics/traces), CI/CD, automated testing (unit/integration/contract), and Agile workflows
Hands-on use of AI coding tools (Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code, etc.) to accelerate delivery—able to explain when they helped, when they hurt, and how you verified outputs
Security hygiene: secrets handling, PII awareness, and adherence to data-usage rules when using AI tools
Clear written and verbal communication in a remote-first environment; collaborative, ownership-oriented mindset
3–7 years of professional experience building backend systems or APIs, ideally in fast-paced or data-rich environments
2+ years of experience with Java (Spring Boot preferred); experience with Kafka, Databricks, and Snowflake are a plus
Strong understanding of microservices architecture and REST API design principles
Experience working with databases (MongoDB, or similar) and comfortable with data modeling and caching strategies
Familiarity with system observability practices (logs, metrics, traces), CI/CD pipelines, and Agile workflows
You're a problem solver and collaborator — comfortable taking ownership, navigating ambiguity, and working across teams
Strong written and verbal communication skills, especially in remote-first settings
Preferred
Cloud experience (GCP/AWS) and/or Kubernetes; infrastructure as code familiarity
Tooling/data stack exposure: Snowflake, Databricks, protobuf/Avro + Schema Registry, OpenTelemetry, k6/Vegeta for load testing
Kotlin experience; protobuf/gRPC familiarity; knowledge of schema migration strategies and blue/green or canary deploys
Background in startup-like environments or 0→1 initiatives; comfort iterating quickly with guardrails
Interest in sports/gaming, fintech, Generative AI, recommendation systems, or personalization at scale
Exposure to cloud platforms (GCP, AWS) or Kubernetes-based infrastructure
Experience in data-focused services: indexing pipelines, search APIs, data quality frameworks, or real-time feeds
Interest in building systems that balance scale, speed, and accuracy — especially in live sports or gaming contexts
Previous work in startup-like environments or experience iterating quickly on 0→1 initiatives
Passion for clean code, system design, and mentoring others where possible
General interest in Sports, Casino, Generative AI, and Recommendation Systems
Benefits
Medical
Dental
Vision
401K
Paid time off
GymPass
Pet Insurance
Family Care Benefits
Home office setup stipend
Company
Fanatics
Fanatics is a sports merchandise retailer that manufactures fan gear and jerseys across retail channels. It is a sub-organization of Kynetic.
10001+ employees
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$4.9BKey Investors
Clearlake Capital GroupNational Football LeagueAlameda Research
2022-12-06Private Equity· $700M
2022-03-02Private Equity· $1.5B
2022-01-01Series Unknown· $10M
Leadership Team
J
Joseph Bozich
Advisor to Chief Executive Officer
Michael Mahan
CEO
Recent News
Rochester Business Journal
2025-12-24
2025-12-24
Company data provided by crunchbase