PlayOn is the largest platform for high school sports in the US, reaching millions of fans, parents, coaches, and student athletes across NFHS Network, MaxPreps, and GoFan. This role sits on the Video product team, reporting to the Senior Director of Product, and is the data engine behind it: the person who turns raw event, viewership, and subscription data into the models, metrics, and data products the rest of the team builds on.
We move fast and decide with data, but too much of that data still lives in one-off queries and tribal knowledge. We need someone who sits within the product team and partners closely with the central Data Platform team - adopting and upholding their standards and practices while building transformation layers and models the platform can adopt for broader use. It's a two-way street: you build to shared standards, and the logic you codify gets reused beyond your team.
The ideal candidate is a builder. You're energized by creating scalable data products, partnering closely with product and engineering teams, and transforming complex datasets into systems that drive better decisions. You enjoy working through ambiguity, balancing technical rigor with speed, and building solutions that become foundational assets across the organization.
The outcomes you'll deliver- Trusted product data foundation: Build reusable data models, transformation layers, and pipelines that become the reliable source of truth for the Video product team while adhering to shared Data Platform standards.
- Scalable experimentation framework: Establish the data and analysis infrastructure that enables teams to run, measure, and iterate on A/B tests consistently and efficiently.
- Production-ready data products: Deliver APIs, dashboards, and data products that power customer-facing experiences and provide stakeholders with trusted metrics for decision making.
- Reliable product instrumentation: Ensure event tracking, data contracts, testing, and monitoring are in place so product behavior is captured accurately and remains trustworthy over time.
- Predictive insights that drive growth: Develop predictive and causal models that improve forecasting, retention, pricing, and product strategy.
In this role, you can expect to
- Build experiences our customers love. Embed in the Video product org alongside PMs, designers, and engineers, using data to help shape and ship features athletes and their families actually use. You are a builder on the product team, not a reporting function next to it.
- Strengthen and grow the data foundation. Make the models and pipelines we already have cleaner, more reliable, and more reusable, bring in new product, customer, and third-party signal we don't have today, and apply software discipline (version control, review, testing) throughout, so the team can trust the data and answer questions it currently can't.
- Build experimentation into a system that scales. Stand up the data and analysis layer behind A/B tests so the team can design, run, and read experiments quickly and consistently, rather than rebuilding the plumbing each time.
- Get instrumentation right at the source. Partner with product and engineering on event tracking and data contracts so the behavior we care about is captured accurately and completely from the start, then build the tests and monitoring that keep it that way.
- Power product with live data APIs. Build and own data endpoints that feed real product experiences, from spec through production.
- Surface insights and drive decisions. Turn the metrics that matter into clear, reliable insights and recommendations that move the business - building the dashboards and surfaces people trust to make decisions along the way.
- Develop predictive and causal models. Develop predictive and causal models that move the business, from a pLTV model for revenue forecasting to a propensity model that targets discounts without cannibalizing revenue to causal-inference work that pinpoints which behaviors actually drive retention.
To thrive in this role, you have
- Strong SQL skills and comfort working with large analytical datasets: complex joins, window functions, and performance tuning on a cloud warehouse (we use Snowflake).
- Strong data modeling instincts and a track record of clean, documented, reusable transformation layers (SQLMesh, dbt, or equivalent).
- Production-grade Python for modeling, orchestration, and the analyses SQL alone won't cover, including the statistics to build an LTV or propensity model and reason honestly about causation versus correlation.
- Experience building data products others depend on: APIs, pipelines, and dashboards, not just ad-hoc queries.
- Stakeholder fluency: you translate business questions into metrics people agree on and influence decisions with what you build.
- Familiarity with experimentation and A/B testing, enough to build the measurement and analysis that tests depend on.
- Familiarity with AI-augmented development tools (Claude, Codex) as part of a modern workflow, and a bias for shipping where speed matters and perfect is the enemy of shipped.
- Bonus: Background in data modeling for analytical or operational use cases; experience with real-time or streaming data systems; ML engineering basics like feature pipelines; sports, streaming, or B2C subscription experience.
How You Play
Ownership over Participation: You take responsibility for holistic outcomes, prioritize key objectives, adapt quickly, and follow through against the toughest challenges.
Team over Stars: You are a bridge builder, rallying teams around common goals, finding win-win solutions, and helping others succeed.
Growth over Comfort: You actively seek to expand your comfort zone and skills, embracing new challenges and treating failure as a chance to learn.
Fairness over Popularity: You approach decisions with a scientist’s mindset, stay objective, weigh long-term impact, and seek out other perspectives.
PlayOn is where high school sports come to life. Through GoFan, NFHS Network, and MaxPreps, we give every fan a front-row seat to the moments that matter most: the buzzer-beaters, the comeback wins, the senior nights, the rivalries that define a town.
We built our technology for the people who live and breathe high school athletics — the parents who never miss a game, the alumni still cheering from across the country, the communities that show up week after week. From buying tickets to watching a live stream to reliving the highlights, we make it simple to stay close to the sports and the athletes you love most.
Backed by KKR, we build the technology that powers high school athletics from the inside out: Schools trust us to handle ticketing, streaming, fundraising, concessions, merchandise, and more so the people running programs can stay focused on the athletes and fans we all serve together.
We're a growth-stage company on a mission to make high school sports more accessible, more memorable, and more connected than ever before.
When being there means everything, we make sure you never miss a moment.
Why You'll Love Working at PlayOn
Skills Required
- Strong SQL skills working with large analytical datasets, complex joins, window functions, and performance tuning on a cloud warehouse (Snowflake)
- Proven data modeling and reusable transformation layer experience (SQLMesh, dbt, or equivalent)
- Production-grade Python for modeling, orchestration, and statistical analyses (LTV, propensity, causal inference)
- Experience building production data products: APIs, pipelines, and dashboards (not just ad-hoc queries)
- Experience with instrumentation, event tracking, data contracts, testing, and monitoring to ensure reliable product data
- Familiarity with experimentation and A/B testing measurement and analysis
- Stakeholder fluency: translate business questions into agreed metrics and influence product decisions
- Familiarity with AI-augmented development tools (e.g., Claude, Codex) and bias for shipping
- Background in data modeling for analytical or operational use cases
- Experience with real-time or streaming data systems
- ML engineering basics such as feature pipelines
- Experience in sports, streaming, or B2C subscription businesses
PlayOn Sports Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about PlayOn Sports and has not been reviewed or approved by PlayOn Sports.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Open/unlimited PTO, paid holidays, and sick time are prominently offered. Feedback suggests the PTO experience and time-away flexibility are strong.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with company match is a standard part of the package. Feedback suggests the retirement program is viewed positively.
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Healthcare Strength — Multiple medical plan options plus dental, vision, life, disability, and mental health support are included. Feedback suggests core health coverage is solid for full‑time employees.
PlayOn Sports Insights
What We Do
PlayOn is the all-in-one fan engagement platform for schools. Backed by KKR, our family of brands—including GoFan, NFHS Network, and MaxPreps—empowers schools with innovative solutions and exceptional service. We save administrators time so they can focus on what truly matters: supporting the students, staff, and fans who bring their programs to life. Trusted by thousands of schools across the country, we're here to help create more instant replays, hold-your-breath moments, last-minute comebacks, and games you want to watch over and over again.
Why Work With Us
Product, potential, and people. We’re a leader in the high school event space, constantly evolving our product to meet the needs of administrators. We focus on solving real challenges, learning quickly, and creating impactful solutions. This is a growth-stage company, meaning your contributions have real impact.
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