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2 Nov 2024

Basketball Modeling Operations Engineer (FT)

🇺🇸 San Antonio, TX, USA
Full Time
3+ years exp.

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. 

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