Basketball Modeling Operations Engineer

Job Description

Basketball Modeling Operations Engineer (FT)

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. 

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-d8w9jm-18-223-172-122-42 in your application.