The San Antonio Spurs are seeking an experienced Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) Engineer to join our Basketball Analytics team. This position is pivotal in taking our cutting-edge statistical models and scaling and deploying them for production. You'll work on a variety of backend operations to make sure our models are running well, efficiently, and providing actionable insights to the team.
This position will work as a part of the Basketball Operations Analytics department for the 2025-26 season and will collaborate with the entire group, including the Director of Research & Development and Director of Data Science.
This is a programming job and all qualified applicants must have demonstrated experience in computer science and/or data science. Applicants who do not have meaningful educational or professional experience in said areas will not be considered.
What You’ll Do:
- A problem solver with a passion for basketball and strong technical skills.
- Leverage analytical skills and knowledge of advanced basketball statistics to interpret basketball needs and translate them into data processes.
- Strong knowledge of Python, R, and SQL (required).
- Perform ad hoc data mining on large volumes of basketball-related data as requests arise, via SQL, Excel, or other statistical tools, independently and under the direction of senior analytics staff.
- Contribute to the management and administration of a Microsoft SQL database server including periodic maintenance tasks, and ad hoc batch data entry/extracts on large volumes of basketball-related data as requests arise.
- Proficient in containerization technologies, especially Docker.
- Familiarity with cloud platforms, particularly Microsoft Azure
- Support, develop, and maintain Data Science pipelines (in either R or Python) as requests arise.
- Solid understanding of statistics and machine learning
- Other related duties as assigned.
Who You Are:
- Working knowledge of SQL, Python, and R are REQUIRED
- Strong analytical skills, including an understanding of how to interpret basketball needs and translate them into statistical analyses.
- Strong project management skills, including the ability to work independently and coordinate multiple tasks.
- Strong organizational skills, with a robust attention to detail, both to checking and working with data, as well as visual presentation of deliverables and reports.
- Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to work with and communicate with people from all departments and at all levels of the organization.
- Ability to handle high pressure situations while still being attentive to the detail and excellent work product required.
- Knowledge of some advanced basketball statistics, and knowledge of common basketball analytical resources, both public and proprietary.
- Familiarity with basic statistical analysis techniques (eg, regression/modeling, hypothesis testing, categorical data analysis, LLMs)
- Experience with javacript libraries like D3 and react is a plus.
- Experience with JAVA and Apache Spark are a plus.
- Must have high level of interpersonal skills to handle sensitive/confidential situations and information.
- An advanced degree in computer science, statistics, data science, economics, or mathematics is a plus.
- A working knowledge of the NBA, and the NBA rules & regulations, is required.
- Stand/Sit/Walk for long periods of time.
- Ability to lift/push/pull 50 lbs.
In every position, each employee is expected to: demonstrate alignment with SS&E’s core values and mission, collaborate with internal/external community members and demonstrate ongoing development.
If you don’t have experience in every single bullet above, no sweat – we still want to hear from you and encourage you to apply!
*SS&E is an Equal Opportunity Employer*
Nothing contained in this job description is intended to be a contract of employment, nor does any information contained herein represent a guarantee of employment for a specific duration. Your employment with SS&E is “at will”, which means that either you or SS&E may terminate the relationship at any time. Essential functions listed above must be performed with or without accommodations.