The Crown Is Yours
As a Senior Lead Software Engineer, you'll drive the architecture and development of high-scale systems that power real-time, always-on applications used by millions. You'll lead with technical authority, owning the entire engineering lifecycle, guiding implementation, and mentoring a team of talented developers. In addition to foundational engineering work, you'll play a critical role in integrating AI capabilities into our platform, from building data pipelines and RL infrastructure to setting up evaluation frameworks for safe and scalable model deployment. This is a hands-on leadership role where you'll influence the product roadmap, drive AI innovation, and shape the future of our engineering organization.
What you'll do as a Senior Lead Software Engineer
- Architect, develop, and maintain scalable, secure systems and APIs that integrate AI and ML models, including reinforcement learning cycles and evaluation systems into real-time customer experiences
- Own the full development lifecycle, from defining feature architecture to breaking down AI-related workstreams and guiding implementation across engineering and data teams
- Build and maintain data pipelines that support model training, inference, and monitoring, ensuring reliable flow of data across the machine learning lifecycle
- Establish model evaluation frameworks to validate AI systems in production, track performance, and support continuous improvement
- Partner with research and product teams to translate AI goals into system-level implementations, including designing and tuning reward functions in RL use cases
- Lead by example, writing high-performance, well-tested code that raises the bar for quality, scalability, and operational reliability
- Act as a first responder for the systems your team owns-triaging, debugging, and resolving complex production issues with urgency and accountability
- Drive cross-functional collaboration with Product, Design, and Data Science to align technical execution with business and AI priorities
- Mentor and develop engineers at all levels, fostering a team culture grounded in ownership, innovation, and continuous learning
- Stay informed on the latest AI and ML advancements-bringing new techniques and tooling into our platform where they can drive measurable impact
What you'll bring
- At least 7 years of experience in backend development using object-oriented programming languages such as C# or Java, with advanced proficiency in software architecture, OOP principles, and scalable system design, or equivalent experience deploying machine learning models into production pipelines.
- Strong experience designing and building distributed systems in cloud environments like AWS or GCP, with exposure to ML workflows and data pipeline architecture
- Hands-on experience operationalizing AI systems, including reinforcement learning agents, evaluation pipelines, and the design of reward functions
- Deep familiarity with Python for AI engineering work, alongside experience in backend software development
- Proven success in building resilient, high-performance systems backed by comprehensive automated testing, including unit, integration, and performance coverage
- Demonstrated leadership in setting technical direction, conducting code and design reviews, and influencing system-wide architecture decisions
- A track record of mentoring engineers and cultivating high-performing, growth-oriented engineering teams
- A strong commitment to engineering best practices, continuous improvement, and keeping pace with evolving AI and ML technologies
- Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or any suitable combination of education, experience, and training
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Join Our Team
We're a publicly traded (NASDAQ: DKNG) technology company headquartered in Boston. As a regulated gaming company, you may be required to obtain a gaming license issued by the appropriate state agency as a condition of employment. Don't worry, we'll guide you through the process if this is relevant to your role.
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What the Team is Saying
What We Do
It's simple, at DraftKings, we believe life is more fun when you're in on the action. For that reason, we’re committed to responsibly creating the world’s favorite games and betting experiences. We’re developing the most innovative and entertaining real money products and offers; to forever transform how people experience sports; to be a fully vertically integrated sports betting operator. It's our ultimate goal to build the best, most trusted, and most customer-centric destination for our players.
We’re defining what it means to build and deliver the most extraordinary sports and entertainment experiences. Our global team is trailblazing new markets, developing cutting-edge products, and shaping the future of responsible gaming.
Why Work With Us
Here, “impossible” isn’t part of our vocabulary. You’ll face some of the toughest but most rewarding challenges of your career. They’re worth it. Channeling your inner grit will accelerate your growth, help us win as a team, and create unforgettable moments for our customers. Ready to own what’s next?
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Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
Our flexible hybrid policy empowers team members to work where they’re most productive—whether at home or in our collaborative offices. We trust our teams to choose what works best for them to thrive and innovate.
