Staff Platform Engineer - Core

Description

Fanatics is building a leading global digital sports platform. We ignite the passions of global sports fans and maximize the presence and reach for our hundreds of sports partners globally by offering products and services across Fanatics Commerce, Fanatics Collectibles, and Fanatics Betting & Gaming, allowing sports fans to Buy, Collect, and Bet. Through the Fanatics platform, sports fans can buy licensed fan gear, jerseys, lifestyle and streetwear products, headwear, and hardgoods; collect physical and digital trading cards, sports memorabilia, and other digital assets; and bet as the company builds its Sportsbook and iGaming platform. Fanatics has an established database of over 100 million global sports fans; a global partner network with approximately 900 sports properties, including major national and international professional sports leagues, players associations, teams, colleges, college conferences and retail partners, 2,500 athletes and celebrities, and 200 exclusive athletes; and over 2,000 retail locations, including its Lids retail stores. Our more than 22,000 employees are committed to relentlessly enhancing the fan experience and delighting sports fans globally.

About The Role

We are looking for a Staff Platform Engineer to join our Platform team based in the United States. Our team is responsible for providing engineering teams with the platform and tooling responsible for deploying and running the core critical services that power the entire Fanatics business. You will own and lead complex initiatives across cloud infrastructure, Kubernetes platforms, CI/CD systems, observability, and internal developer tooling.

As a Staff Platform Engineer, you will be a technical leader on our platform team, helping influence the technical direction and raising the bar for code quality, reliability, and observability. You will lead projects from design through delivery, coordinating across engineers, and partner teams with minimal oversight. You will design complete systems and services that meet business goals and our engineering standards, partner with team leadership on planning and the roadmap, and mentor team members on engineering craft and ownership.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end execution of complex initiatives, from architecture and design through deployment and continuous refinement.
• Lead the design, maintenance, and implementation of scalable platform services, automation, CI/CD, and infrastructure supporting Fanatics’ technology ecosystem.
• Contribute to observability initiatives, including logging, metrics, and alerting, to improve system reliability and incident response.
• Partner with application and platform teams to improve performance, scalability, and reliability in cloud-native environments.
• Participate in incident response, post-incident reviews, and reliability improvements.
• Advocate for best practices in infrastructure, software delivery, and operational excellence.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to other engineers.
• Continuously learn and apply new technologies and approaches to platform engineering challenges.

Requirements

• Proven experience successfully leading complex initiatives while driving team strategy.
• Track record of breaking down complex work into clear, achievable milestones and delivering predictably using agile practices.
• Strong software engineering background, with experience in backend development and distributed systems.
• Deep understanding of the AWS cloud platform and cloud-native architectures.
• Proficiency in Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation) and automation.
• Hands-on experience with CI/CD pipelines, deployment automation, and developer productivity tooling.
• Deep expertise with Kubernetes and container orchestration in production environments.
• Strong knowledge of observability (logging, metrics, tracing) and experience improving system visibility and reliability.
• Experience with incident management and operational best practices for large-scale systems.
• Proficiency in Go or Python.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools.
• Familiarity with platform security concepts.
• Ability to collaborate effectively across teams, communicate complex topics clearly, and influence engineering best practices.
• Outcome-driven mindset with a focus on solving real-world engineering challenges.
• A positive, adaptable attitude suited for a fast-moving environment.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• Experience scaling services globally
• FinOps or cloud cost management experience
• Regulated or high-availability environment experience
• Experience with Java or Kotlin
• Familiarity with GitHub Actions
• Experience with Kafka and Cassandra

Conditions

$200,000 - $250,000 USD

Fanatics will never ask candidates for money, banking information, or other sensitive personal information as part of the interview process. If you receive a suspicious message claiming to be from Fanatics recruiting, please do not respond and report it here .

Benefits

• Work on high-impact platform engineering challenges at scale.
• Collaborate with experienced engineers who value technical excellence and innovation.
• Play a key role in shaping the developer experience and operational foundations of Fan Ecosystem.
• Join a culture that encourages learning, growth, and technical leadership.
• Depending on the role, your interview and onboarding experience may include in-person components, such as onsite interviews or Launching into Better: LIVE—a multi-day cultural immersion in New York City for full-time, non-seasonal hires. These sessions are designed to build connection and bring our culture to life, though specific travel and participation requirements will be confirmed based on your role and location. Your recruiter will provide clear guidance at each stage of the process.
• For information about our benefits, please visit https://benefitsatfanatics.com/
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• Ranges will change based on country and state of residence, which are reflected in Geographical Zones defined by Fanatics Betting and Gaming. The range incorporates all of our Geographical Compensation Zones and is subject to change as the Zone associated with the actual offer is confirmed. In addition to the base and bonus, full-time employment, and more. For information about our benefits, please visit https://benefitsatfanatics.com/