Senior Software Engineer, Ticketing

Overview

Are you passionate about building systems that make unforgettable fan experiences possible? Join us as a Senior Software Engineer on our Ticketing team and help evolve the technology that powers live event access across high school and youth sports. You’ll design and deliver scalable backend systems that process millions of tickets annually, ensure smooth game-day experiences, and empower schools to focus on what matters most—the players, the fans, and the moments that bring them together.

As a Senior Engineer, you’ll own key backend services, APIs, and integrations that power our ticketing ecosystem. You’ll work across our Java microservices, contribute to our core APIs, and collaborate closely with product, payments, and data teams to drive reliability, scale, and performance. From evolving our data models and event flows to integrating with Stripe for secure, seamless payments, you’ll play a critical role in maturing a platform trusted by thousands of schools nationwide.

• Design and operate APIs and microservices that power ticket creation, checkout, redemption, and reporting.
• Integrate with Stripe and other third-party systems to enable secure, scalable payments, redemptions, and refunds.
• Contribute to architectural decisions, RFCs, and design reviews for both new and existing services.
• Collaborate with data, cloud engineering, QA, and product teams to deliver robust, high-quality features.
• Identify and eliminate bottlenecks through performance tuning, load testing, and data-driven scaling.
• Mentor 3–4 full-time engineers and several contractors, helping guide technical direction and development best practices.
• Participate in interviews, refine coding standards, and strengthen engineering culture.

• 5–8 years of professional software engineering experience, including designing and maintaining backend systems at scale.
• Strong skills in Java and familiarity with Postgre
  
  SQL or other relational databases. Experience with Go, Type Script or Python is a plus.
• Experience with AWS services such as Cloud Front, RDS, S3, EKS/ECS, SQS/SNS, and familiarity with event streaming tools like Kafka.
• Deep understanding of API design, microservices architecture, and distributed systems.
• Solid understanding of observability, monitoring, alerting, and incident management.
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills—you thrive in cross-functional environments with product, design, and operations.
• A passion for reliable systems, clean code, and mentoring others.
• Experience integrating with Stripe or similar payment platforms preferred.
• Familiarity with modern data pipelines and orchestration tools (e.g. Snowflake, Tinybird, Estuary, Dagster) preferred.

• Ownership over Participation
  - You take responsibility for achieving holistic outcomes, prioritize key objectives, and adapt quickly when situations require a different approach. You follow through even against the toughest challenges.
• Team over Stars
  - You are a bridge builder, establishing processes and relationships with teams outside your own. You work to rally around common goals, find win-win solutions, compromise when necessary, and help others succeed.
• Growth over Comfort
  - You are driven by a desire to grow and actively seek opportunities to expand your comfort zone, skills, and confidence. You embrace new challenges with curiosity, accepting discomfort and failure as opportunities to learn.
• Fairness over Popularity
  - You approach decisions with a scientist’s mindset, challenging your assumptions and remaining objective. You consider long-term impact rather than relying on short-term gains, proactively seek others’ perspectives, and manage emotions in decision-making.

Play On is a dynamic growth-stage company dedicated to championing the spirit of play in the high school space. Backed by KKR, our family of brands—including GoFan, NFHS Network, and Max Preps—empowers schools with innovative solutions and exceptional service. Our fan engagement platform is the only one that offers event ticketing, streaming, fundraising, concessions, merchandise sales, and website management in one place.

We save administrators time so they can focus on what truly matters: supporting the students, staff, and fans who bring their programs to life.

Trusted by thousands of schools across the country, we’re here to help create more instant replays, hold-your-breath moments, last-minute comebacks, and games you want to watch over and over again.

When being there means everything, we make sure you never miss a moment.

• Multiple medical insurance plans to choose from
• Dental, vision life and disability insurance
• Employee Emergency Fund
• Company equity (stock options)
• Open PTO policy
• 401K plan with company match
• Hybrid/flexible work environment
• Note:
  
  Must be a full-time employee to participate in the company’s employee health benefit plan. Part-time employees and interns are not eligible to participate.