Director of Data Engineering

Who We Are At 2K, we create some of the most iconic and culture-shaping video games in entertainment, including NBA® 2K, one of the top-selling franchises in the world, and legendary titles like BioShock®, Borderlands®, Mafia, Sid Meier’s Civilization®, and XCOM®, as well as fan favorites WWE® 2K, TopSpin®, and PGA TOUR® 2K. We build unforgettable experiences by pushing the boundaries of creativity, authenticity and innovation across every genre. Our portfolio is brought to life by some of the most influential game development studios in the world. Visual Concepts, Firaxis Games, Hangar 13, Cat Daddy Games, 31st Union, Cloud Chamber, Gearbox, HB Studios, and 2K SportsLab create world-class experiences across platforms. But what truly powers 2K is our people. We believe the best ideas come from teams that feel empowered, supported, and inspired. As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive workplace where people are encouraged to come as they are and do their best work. What We Need The Director of Data Engineering is a technical and strategic powerhouse responsible for architecting the data foundations that power 2K’s global ecosystem. This role oversees the engineering strategy, telemetry standards, and infrastructure framework that transforms raw player interactions into high-fidelity, actionable intelligence. You will lead the evolution of our data platform, moving beyond traditional ETL toward a proactive, AI-integrated environment. As a natural "bridge builder," you will partner deeply with Studio leads and cross-functional executives to expand the remit of data engineering. Crucially, you will act as a steward of our resources, applying FinOps principles to ensure our infrastructure is high-performing, cost-efficient, and that every technical investment delivers clear business value—ensuring the "juice is always worth the squeeze." What You’ll Do Architect 2K’s Next-Gen Data Strategy Lead a forward-looking data engineering vision that scales across Sports, Core, and R&D, prioritizing high-scale telemetry and proactive data modeling. Transition 2K’s infrastructure toward AI-augmented data processing, leveraging tools like Snowflake Cortex or Databricks Genie to automate and optimize the data lifecycle. Drive FinOps & Infrastructure Efficiency Own the cloud infrastructure budget, implementing rigorous FinOps practices to monitor, manage, and optimize data processing costs. Evaluate technical debt versus innovation, ensuring all platform scaling is economically sustainable and tied to measurable ROI. Own the End-to-End Telemetry Lifecycle Drive the strategy for telemetry design and implementation, ensuring an intimate connection between game-client events and downstream analytical value. Establish rigorous telemetry standards that ensure high-signal, low-latency data capture across all titles and platforms. Build the Platform for ML Ops & Proactive Modeling Design and scale a dedicated ML Ops framework that allows Data Scientists to deploy, monitor, and iterate on AI models with industry-leading efficiency. Champion the use of proactive modeling to predict player needs and business trends before they occur. Expand Impact Through Strategic Partnerships Act as a key relationship builder, creating strong alliances with Studio Engineering, DevOps, and Commercial leadership to align data roadmaps with product goals. Navigate complex partner dynamics with diplomacy, building trust and expanding the Data Engineering team's influence across the broader organization. Partner tightly with the Director of Product of 2K Data to define and deliver upon a modern and comprehensive data strategy. Build, Lead & Develop a High-Performing Engineering Team Hire, mentor, and grow a world-class team of data engineers, telemetry specialists, and ML platform engineers. Foster a culture of technical rigor, financial accountability, and "bridge-building" collaboration. Foster an internal culture of innovation and fearless technical thought leadership throughout the data teams What Will Make You A Great Fit Extensive experience in Data Engineering or Software Engineering, with a heavy emphasis on high-scale distributed systems and telemetry. Proven Success leading or managing engineering teams in complex, multi-title environments with proven track record of promoting engineers in both title and breadth of technical expertise Intimate knowledge of Telemetry: You understand the nuances of event-driven architecture and how to design schemas that capture the "heartbeat" of a product. Experience in Streaming Telemetry and Feature Pipelines: Solid understanding and experience in delivering large-scale, global data streaming services with scalable and sustainable architecture to support real-time machine learning operations and features FinOps Mentality: Proven ability to manage large-scale cloud budgets, optimizing for both performance and cost-efficiency. Master Relationship Builder: You have a track record of turning "difficult" technical partners into advocates and successfully expanding your team's strategic remit. Growth Mindset: Indexes toward learning through challenges and didactic learning patterns to bring about change at the individual and organizational levels. Experience in Matrix-driven and Product-led Environments: Able to successfully operate and thrive in matrixed environments led by product strategies and roadmaps. A Track Record of Operational Excellence: You have demonstrated experience upleveling global data operations and a deep understanding of SRE or DevOps principles. You don't just maintain systems; you build the guardrails, automation, and infrastructure needed to scale them reliably. Bonus Points Full-Lifecycle Data Science & ML Enablement: Comprehensive experience across the data science lifecycle, from exploratory data analysis and feature engineering to model deployment and monitoring. Software Engineering Background: Strong experience in full-stack development or systems architecture. Game Engine Expertise: Hands-on experience with Unreal Engine, Unity, or proprietary game engines, specifically regarding how they emit data. AI Fluency: Experience with Snowflake Cortex, Databricks Genie, Langchain, Rust or similar AI-integrated data platforms. Passion for games and a player-focused mindset. As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to ensuring that qualified individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform their essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us if you need reasonable accommodation. Please note that 2K Games and its studios never uses instant messaging apps or personal email accounts to contact prospective employees or conduct interviews and when emailing, only use 2K.com accounts. #LI-Hybrid