Senior Software Engineer

As a Senior Software Engineer, AI at DraftKings, you will design and scale backend systems for intelligent, data-driven user experiences. This role involves owning critical services end-to-end, integrating modern AI capabilities, and collaborating across disciplines to transform data and machine learning insights into scalable, real-time systems. You will enhance product experiences, focusing on impact, technical depth, and emerging AI-driven technologies.

Must Have

• Design and develop scalable backend systems and APIs.
• Build and maintain data pipelines and backend infrastructure for ML.
• Partner with data scientists and ML engineers to integrate models.
• Implement monitoring, experimentation, and evaluation frameworks.
• Work closely with product teams to translate AI capabilities into user-facing features.
• Deliver clean, testable, production-ready code.
• 3+ years of professional experience in backend software development using C#, Java, or Python.
• Proven experience designing, building, and operating distributed systems at scale in AWS, GCP, or other cloud environments.
• Exposure to data or ML workflows, from building data pipelines to deploying or integrating ML models.
• Solid understanding of APIs, microservices, and event-driven architecture.
• Strong focus on testing, observability, and performance tuning for large-scale backend systems.
• Comfort collaborating with data science or analytics teams to translate insights into engineering outcomes.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or equivalent combination of education and experience.

The Crown Is Yours

As a Senior Software Engineer, AI, you’ll design and scale backend systems that power intelligent, data-driven experiences for millions of users. You’ll own critical services end-to-end, from rapid iteration to long-term reliability, while helping bring modern AI capabilities into production. You’ll collaborate across disciplines to turn data and machine learning, and/or Gen AI insights into scalable, real-time systems that enhance product experiences. This is a role for engineers who thrive on impact, embrace technical depth, and are energized by what’s next in backend and AI-driven technology.

What You’ll Do as a Senior Software Engineer

• Design and develop scalable backend systems and APIs that deliver intelligent, real-time functionality across a high-volume, always-on platform
• Build and maintain data pipelines and backend infrastructure that enable ML model training, evaluation, and deployment
• Partner with data scientists and ML engineers to integrate models into production services, ensuring high availability and performance
• Implement monitoring, experimentation, and evaluation frameworks to measure model and system behavior and continuously improve performance
• Work closely with product teams to translate AI capabilities into user-facing features that are reliable, fast, and maintainable
• Stay current with AI infrastructure trends, from model serving to vector databases and observability tools, and bring practical innovation to production systems
• Deliver clean, testable, production-ready code from day one while continuously optimizing for scalability and resilience
• Lead by example: mentor teammates, elevate engineering standards, and drive best practices in design and delivery

What You’ll Bring

• 3+ years of professional experience in backend software development using languages like C#, Java, or Python
• Proven experience designing, building, and operating distributed systems at scale in AWS, GCP, or other cloud environments
• Exposure to data or ML workflows, from building data pipelines to deploying or integrating ML models in production environments
• Solid understanding of APIs, microservices, and event-driven architecture
• Strong focus on testing, observability, and performance tuning for large-scale backend systems
• Comfort collaborating with data science or analytics teams to translate insights into engineering outcomes
• Ability to thrive in high ownership, fast-paced environments, balancing rapid iteration with long-term maintainability
• Curiosity, adaptability, and a drive to stay ahead in emerging technologies in AI, data systems, and backend architecture
• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or equivalent combination of education and experience

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