This is a high-leverage backend seat where you’ll shape the systems powering fantasy sports and DFS for millions of users. If you like building fast, reliable, real-time infrastructure and you want real ownership, Sleeper is handing you the keys.
About Sleeper
Sleeper connects people over sports through games and community, spanning fantasy leagues, pick’em contests, and real-time interactions with friends. They run lean on purpose so each engineer has meaningful impact, and they’re backed by top-tier Silicon Valley investors. The focus is simple: delightful user experience built on performance, scalability, and reliability.
Schedule
- Full-time, remote-friendly (United States)
- Location preference: SF Bay Area, Los Angeles, NYC, or Pacific Northwest
- Flexible remote work policy (collaboration across teams expected)
What You’ll Do
⦁ Design and build core backend systems powering Sleeper’s games and real-time experiences (fantasy contests, Sleeper Picks, profiles, leaderboards, and more)
⦁ Architect scalable distributed services that support millions of concurrent users with low latency and high availability
⦁ Lead backend initiatives end-to-end, from concept through deployment, with clean interfaces and well-documented services
⦁ Improve performance through monitoring, profiling, and capacity planning, proactively removing bottlenecks
⦁ Partner with product, design, and frontend teams to ship features users love
⦁ Mentor engineers through code reviews, technical guidance, and raising backend best practices
⦁ Drive technical direction and contribute to engineering culture as a senior leadership voice
What You Need
⦁ 7+ years of backend engineering experience, including staff-level or tech lead ownership
⦁ Strong track record designing and scaling distributed systems for real-time, gaming, or high-traffic environments
⦁ Proficiency in one or more backend languages (Go, Python, Node.js, Java, or similar) and sound judgment on trade-offs
⦁ Deep database knowledge (SQL + NoSQL), caching strategies, and message queues (Kafka, RabbitMQ, Pub/Sub, etc.)
⦁ Experience designing and maintaining REST and/or GraphQL APIs, data models, and internal tooling
⦁ Cloud experience (AWS, GCP, or similar) and comfort with containers (Docker); Kubernetes is a plus
⦁ Product mindset and strong communication skills, with a consistent habit of mentoring and elevating teammates
⦁ Bonus: Interest in sports, gaming, or multiplayer/real-time systems
Benefits
⦁ Competitive salary: $225,000–$300,000/year (not inclusive of equity and benefits)
⦁ Equity
⦁ Medical, dental, and vision insurance
⦁ 401(k) with company matching
⦁ Generous PTO and flexible remote work policy
⦁ Fast growth opportunities on a small, focused team
Roles like this don’t come up often. If you want to own major backend decisions and ship to a massive user base, move now.
Build the backbone of a sports platform that actually feels alive.
Happy Hunting,
~Two Chicks…