Data Engineer II

SmartRecruiters, Inc.; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

Competitive compensation

Benefits package

Job summary

VERSANT Media is seeking a Data Engineer II to design, build, and operate scalable data pipelines in an AWS-based lakehouse for GolfNow and the sports tech organization. You will own production data systems, implement reliable data products for reporting, APIs, and AI-powered applications, and migrate workloads from legacy environments.

This fully remote U.S. position offers collaboration opportunities about 10% of the time.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience building, deploying, and supporting cloud-based data pipelines using AWS services.
• Strong SQL and Python skills with ETL/ELT workflows on structured and semi-structured data.
• Understanding of data modeling, warehousing, orchestration, and modern data engineering practices (Airflow, Terraform).
• Experience improving production data systems with troubleshooting and root-cause analysis.
• Ability to solve ambiguous problems independently and understand upstream/downstream dependencies.
• Clear communication and collaboration across engineering, analytics, product, data science, and business teams.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain scalable data pipelines and models in an AWS-based lakehouse.
• Own production data services, improve reliability, monitoring, testing, and disaster recovery.
• Build reusable components to onboard datasets with governance and security considerations.
• Develop data products for reporting, analytics, APIs, and AI/LLM use cases.
• Support migration of pipelines and reporting workloads from legacy SQL Server environments.
• Lead technical discussions and mentor junior engineers through code reviews.

Skills

SQL

Python

AWS

ETL/ELT

Data modeling

Airflow

Terraform

Troubleshooting

Communication

Tools

dbt

Apache Iceberg

Airflow

Terraform

Jira

Confluence

Job description

• Business Segment: Digital Platforms & Ventures

Company Description

VERSANT (Nasdaq: VSNT) is an industry-changing media and entertainment business and home to trusted brands that shape culture, inform audiences, and build lasting connections. It operates across four core markets: political news and opinion, business news and personal finance, golf, and sports and genre entertainment. These markets are served through a powerful portfolio of iconic and innovative brands, including CNBC, MS NOW, USA Network, Golf Channel, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and Versant's sports division USA Sports, along with complementary digital assets including Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and GolfPass.

Job Description

The Opportunity: As a Data Engineer II on the Data Services team, you will build and operate the pipelines and data products that power GolfNow and Versant’s sports technology organization. Working within a modern AWS-based lakehouse, you will own production data systems and deliver trusted data used by analytics, product teams, and emerging AI applications. This is a hands‑on engineering role with meaningful ownership. You will design solutions, operate them in production, solve problems at their source, and contribute to technical decisions as the platform evolves. Why This Role Matters: Reliable, timely data helps GolfNow understand its customers, operate its business, and improve its products. You will help modernize workloads that still rely on legacy on‑premises SQL Server infrastructure, building dependable pipelines and data products on AWS that teams can trust. This is a full‑time, remote U.S. position with opportunities for in‑person collaboration approximately 10% of the time. What You’ll Do:

• Design, build, and maintain scalable data pipelines and models within an AWS-based medallion lakehouse using technologies such as Amazon S3, Apache Iceberg, dbt, Amazon Redshift, and Airflow or Amazon MWAA.
• Own production data services and improve reliability through monitoring, automated testing, resilient design, observability, deployment practices, and disaster recovery.
• Build reusable components and automation that simplify dataset onboarding while applying sound practices for governance, lineage, schema evolution, security, and least‑privilege access.
• Develop trusted data products for reporting, analytics, APIs, and AI‑powered applications, including data structures suitable for text‑to‑SQL and LLM‑based use cases.
• Support the migration of pipelines and reporting workloads from legacy SQL Server, SSIS, and SSRS environments, validating outputs and downstream dependencies before cutover.
• Partner with engineering, product, analytics, and data science teams to solve business and technical problems. Lead technical discussions and medium‑size cross‑functional initiatives within your area of ownership, and support junior engineers through code reviews and guidance.

Qualifications

What You Bring:

• Hands‑on experience building, deploying, and supporting cloud‑based data pipelines, ideally using AWS technologies such as Glue, Lambda, Step Functions, Redshift, or comparable services.
• Strong SQL and Python skills, including experience with ETL/ELT workflows using structured and semi‑structured data.
• Working knowledge of data modeling, warehousing, orchestration, and modern data engineering practices, with familiarity with technologies such as Airflow and Terraform.
• Experience improving the performance, reliability, and resource utilization of production data systems, with a practical approach to troubleshooting and root‑cause resolution.
• Sound judgment when solving ambiguous problems independently, including understanding upstream and downstream dependencies and knowing when to involve others.
• Clear communication skills and the ability to influence technical discussions and collaborate effectively across engineering, analytics, product, data science, and business teams.

How We Do It:

• Trust: Take responsibility for your work, follow through on commitments, and act with integrity.
• Teamwork: Collaborate across disciplines, contribute constructively to reviews, and share knowledge.
• Transparency: Communicate decisions, risks, progress, and trade‑offs clearly.
• Agility: Adapt as requirements evolve, deliver incrementally, and use feedback and data to improve.
• Entrepreneurial Spirit: Solve problems proactively and look for opportunities to simplify, automate, and improve how we work.

Bonus Points

• Experience with dbt, Apache Iceberg, change data capture, or data products supporting LLMs or AI agents.
• Exposure to SSIS, SSRS, PowerShell, or migrations from legacy SQL Server environments.
• Familiarity with Tableau, Power BI, or QuickSight.
• Experience working in an Agile engineering environment using tools such as Jira and Confluence.

Why You’ll Love It Here You will build data systems at the intersection of golf, media, technology, analytics, and AI. Because the platform is actively evolving, you will have meaningful ownership, deepen your skills across a modern AWS data stack, and help shape how the platform develops. This position is fully remote within the United States, with in‑person collaboration opportunities approximately 10% of the time. VERSANT offers competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits, and opportunities to grow across its portfolio of brands. Compensation details should reflect the approved range for the hiring location and applicable pay‑transparency requirements. As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in‑person interview with a VERSANT employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. VERSANT is an equal opportunity employer and provides equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to any status protected by applicable law. Qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans may request reasonable accommodation throughout the application and recruitment process.

Additional Information

As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in‑person interview with a VERSANT Media employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. VERSANT Media's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

For LA County and City Residents Only: VERSANT Media will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories, or arrest or conviction records, in a manner consistent with relevant legal requirements, including the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, where applicable.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to [e-mail] .

VERSANT Media is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. We include a good faith pay range for each position to comply with applicable state and local pay transparency laws and to promote equity across our organization. Actual compensation will be based on factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, experience, and location and may include additional forms of compensation and benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, etc.

VERSANT Media is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at VERSANT via-email, the Internet, or in any form and/or method without a valid written Statement of Work in place for this position from VERSANT's Talent Acquisition team will be deemed the sole property of VERSANT. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by VERSANT as a result of the referral or through other means.

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