Fanaticsfbg Engineering Manager, Search & Consumer AI at Fanaticsfbg leads software engineers building search and AI capabilities across the Fanatics ecosystem. Own delivery plans and manage risk for AI-powered customer experiences and search relevance.
Responsibilities
Consumer AI: customer support AI, including LLM-powered assistants, conversational analytics, sentiment analysis, predictive troubleshooting, and the tooling that lets customer success teams act on AI-generated insights; and (2) embedded AI experiences in the fan journey, such as AI commentary, recommendations, summaries, and in-app assistance.
Search: native search, including query understanding, relevance and ranking, autocomplete, and personalization; and (2) AI search, including natural-language and conversational search that lets fans ask for what they want in their own words and get answers, not just results.
Success in this role requires strong partnership with Product, Data Science, Customer Operations, and product teams across the ecosystem to shape the roadmap, make smart trade-offs, and deliver outcomes fans feel. You’ll work on complex, high-scale challenges as part of a team that values innovation, collaboration, and excellence.
Delivery & Ownership
Lead the team to deliver against commitments across Search and Consumer AI, owning delivery plans end to end: scope and sequence work, remove blockers, and manage risk.
Set a high bar for reliability, performance, and relevance quality, with observability in place for AI and search services.
Ensure the team’s work meets Fanatics standards for data governance, security, compliance, and responsible AI.
Qualification
We value aptitude over experienceExperience in a Java / AWS ecosystemStrong understanding of searchStrong technical judgment and clearFamiliarity with KafkaDepending on the roleFor information about our benefits$190By submitting your application
Required
We value aptitude over experience, but here are some key skills that will make you successful on this team:
1-3+ years managing a software engineering team, or significant tech-lead experience with people-leadership responsibilities, delivering complex, high-scale systems.
Own on-call, incident response, and operational health for the team’s systems.
Strategy & Roadmap
Partner with Product and engineering leadership on planning and roadmap building, using technical insight and fan impact to influence priorities.
Connect day-to-day execution to team strategy and Fanatics business goals so engineers understand why their work matters.
Partner with product teams across the ecosystem to embed AI experiences into their surfaces, agreeing on shared ownership, interfaces, and quality bars.
Experience in a Java / AWS ecosystem; familiarity with AWS Bedrock or equivalent managed AI services preferred.
Experience shipping consumer-facing AI/ML or NLP features to production, including integrating LLMs and building the pipelines and evaluation practices that keep them reliable.
Strong understanding of search, discovery, or relevance systems, including how traditional search and LLM-based approaches complement each other.
Strong technical judgment and clear, confident communication with engineers, Product partners, and leadership.
Proven ability to mentor engineers and build a healthy, high-performing team culture.
Preferred
Background in customer support AI or embedded consumer AI experiences (assistants, conversational analytics, AI commentary, recommendations).
Familiarity with Kafka, Airflow, dbt, OpenSearch, Kotlin, and Salesforce.
Experience building shared platforms consumed by multiple product teams.
Depending on the role, your interview and onboarding experience may include in-person components, such as onsite interviews or Launching into Better: LIVE—a multi-day cultural immersion in New York City for full-time, non-seasonal hires. These sessions are designed to build connection and bring our culture to life, though specific travel and participation requirements will be confirmed based on your role and location. Your recruiter will provide clear guidance at each stage of the process.
For information about our benefits, please visit https://benefitsatfanatics.com/
Ranges will change based on country and state of residence, which are reflected in Geographical Zones defined by Fanatics Betting and Gaming. The range incorporates all of our Geographical Compensation Zones and is subject to change as the Zone associated with the actual offer is confirmed. In addition to the base and bonus, full-time employment, and more. For information about our benefits, please visit https://benefitsatfanatics.com/
$190,000—$237,500 USD
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