Sports Data Engineer

Job ID 10108365 Location Bristol, Connecticut, United States Business ESPN Date posted Jan. 22, 2025

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Job Summary:

The Sports Data Engineer will assume a role within the team as a developer by setting forth a vision for the modernization of its tech stack, helping guide and mentor more junior members of the team, and serving as a key developer across many of the team’s new and existing metrics. This will include gathering, wrangling, and verifying data, creating advanced statistical models, and writing code to execute those models. Candidates need to have a deep understanding of internal analytics metrics and be able to communicate results both internally and externally. The Data Engineer will help the team tell stories in the most engaging and accurate way, matching the storytelling to the medium. Translating the complex into an understandable language is a key requirement of the job.

The Sports Data Engineer will work collaboratively with other members of the Analytics team as well as engage consistently with outside partners, both inside and outside of Disney, in order to advance the team’s goals. This will include exploring technical solutions with partners to better disseminate, organize, and display the team’s data and metrics and helping develop new products to serve this purpose.

ESPN Analytics is a multidisciplinary group where all members have deep knowledge of sports, statistics, databases, coding across multiple languages, and storytelling. Combining best-in-the-industry data with advanced mathematics and statistical modeling skills, ESPN Analytics has created storytelling tools and metrics that have improved the evaluation of team and player performance, such as Total QBR and power ratings for football, basketball, and more. These products make fans better informed and help keep ESPN at the cutting edge of sports statistical analysis.

Responsibilities:

Develop data requirements for new metrics and help establish a technical methodology for production execution
Write optimized, production-quality code to transform data into automated metrics across ESPN platforms and internal research tools
Help identify the key components in these complex formulas and turn them into language that allows them to be readily used in storytelling across ESPN platforms
Engage consistently and thoroughly with external partners around dissemination of the team’s metrics
Identify trends and help the team react to news stories using the tools developed by the team
Be engaged in the larger sports analytics community and be aware of the latest sports statistical analysis research

Qualifications:

A minimum of 3 years’ experience with sports analytics or a bachelors’ degree in a related field of study
Some experience with predictive modeling, machine learning, Bayesian statistics, trend analysis, and other data analysis techniques
Demonstrated experience coding with programming languages such as R, Python, and SQL
Experience in AWS Cloud management
Full availability for this position, which could include nights, weekends and holidays
Demonstrated ability to ensure accuracy of content
A knowledge of sports statistical analysis in the marketplace
Strong sports knowledge, both historical and current

Preferred Qualifications:

Statistics, engineering, advanced mathematics degree
Experience in the R Programming language
Experience in general data wrangling, database development, and SQL coding
Experience with sports betting
Experience writing production-quality code and collaborating via SCM
Experience developing cloud computing environments
Experience turning sports analytics into storylines
Experience in digital and/or television sports production
Strong understanding of sports betting and how betting markets work

Required Education:

Bachelor's Degree in a related field

Preferred Education:

Statistics, engineering, advanced mathematics or economics degree strongly preferred

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About ESPN:

Working at ESPN is unlike anything else. That’s because we’re always finding new ways to interact with fans – however and wherever they connect with sports. Every day we’re doing things that no one has done, all in a dynamic culture where we defy odds and continuously outdo ourselves. When you have the latest technology, game-changing ideas and world-class talent on your team, every day is extraordinary.

About The Walt Disney Company:

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise that includes three core business segments: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Disney Experiences. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to its preeminent name in the entertainment industry today, Disney proudly continues its legacy of creating world-class stories and experiences for every member of the family. Disney’s stories, characters and experiences reach consumers and guests from every corner of the globe. With operations in more than 40 countries, our employees and cast members work together to create entertainment experiences that are both universally and locally cherished.

This position is with ESPN Productions, Inc, which is part of a business we call ESPN.

ESPN Productions, Inc is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military or veteran status, medical condition, genetic information or disability, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state or local law. Disney champions a business environment where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a constantly evolving world.

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Explore this Location Bristol, CT

The Heart of Connecticut Bristol, Connecticut is just two hours from Boston and New York and just an hour from the shoreline. From the natural beauty of picturesque hills and fall foliage, to the high tech satellite dishes of ESPN, Bristol’s “City sized” with a small town vibe, offering wonderful memories no matter your pace.