Director, Software Engineering - NHL

Overview

ABOUT THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Founded in 1917, the National Hockey League (NHL) is the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. With more than 1500 employees across the US and Canada, the NHL is a global sports and entertainment organization committed to building healthy and vibrant communities using the sport of hockey.

At the NHL, we are looking for dynamic, energetic and impactful individuals who are committed to doing the same by sharing in our philosophy that Hockey is for Everyone – and inclusion belongs on the ice, in the locker rooms, boardrooms and stands.

• We are seeking an experienced Director of Software Engineering with strong expertise in API design and relational database modeling to join our team. You will be responsible for designing and implementing high-performance backend services and RESTful APIs that power our consumer-facing and internal applications. This role requires both technical excellence and leadership skills to mentor team members and drive architectural decisions.

• Backend Development
• Develop high-performance, scalable backend services using Java
• Write clean, maintainable, and well-documented code
• Design and implement caching strategies for optimal performance
• Build robust error handling and logging mechanisms
• Ensure proficiency in unit and integration testing
• Deep understanding of native mobile and web multi-tiered, distributed applications

• API Design & Development
• Design and implement RESTful APIs following industry best practices and standards
• Create comprehensive API specifications using OpenAPI/Swagger
• Ensure API consistency, versioning strategies, and backward compatibility
• Implement and integrate OAuth 2.0 and SAML-based authentication
• Establish and maintain API design guidelines and patterns for the engineering team
• Understanding how to leverage CDNs for API scale/optimization (e.g., Cloudflare)
• Carefully craft API inputs/outputs to maximize CDN cache hit ratios
• Utilize API testing frameworks to ensure reliability and performance
• Experience with API performance monitoring and optimization

• Leadership
• Mentor junior developers on API design principles and data modeling best practices
• Participate in code reviews and provide constructive feedback
• Lead technical design discussions and architectural decisions
• Contribute to technical documentation and knowledge sharing
• Collaborate with operational counterparts on observability metrics

• Knowledge Areas/Experience Required: 8+ years of backend development experience with at least 3 years focused on API design
• Strong understanding of RESTful principles, HTTP protocols, and web standards
• Proven track record of designing scalable, maintainable APIs

• Preferred
• Experience with Apache Cayenne ORM framework
• Experience with Agrest REST API framework
• Knowledge of API gateway patterns and service mesh concepts
• Experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Bamboo, Kubernetes)
• Experience with data processing and analysis frameworks like Apache Spark Data Frame API, DFLib
• Familiarity with event-driven architectures
• Contributions to open-source projects
• Experience programming/scripting with Python
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS), S3, Kinesis, Dynamo
• Apache Flink

• Education/Certifications
• Bachelor s degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent practical experience

• Required Technical Skills
• Java:
  Strong proficiency in Java development with experience building enterprise-grade applications

• MySQL:
  Hands-on experience with MySQL (v. 8.0 and above), including performance optimization and query tuning
• Data Modeling:
  Proven experience with relational database design and data modeling best practices
• Git:
  Proficiency with Git version control, including branching strategies, merge conflict resolution, and collaborative workflows
• Maven:
  Strong experience with Maven for build automation, dependency management, and project lifecycle management
• Bamboo:
  Experience with Atlassian Bamboo for continuous integration and deployment pipelines
• JAX-RS:
  Expertise in building RESTful web services using JAX-RS
• Jackson API:
  Proficiency with Jackson for JSON processing and serialization
• POJO:
  Experience working with Plain Old Java Objects and understanding of object-oriented design principles

• Additional Skills
• Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively in a team environment

CORE COMPETENCIES reflect the NHL values:
Accountability, Adaptability, Communication, Critical Thinking, Inclusion, Professionalism, Teamwork & Collaboration. The NHL offers U.S. regular, full-time employees many benefits including Paid Time Off, health benefits from day one, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), mental/physical health resources, childcare leave, retirement savings program, hybrid work schedules, relocation to One Manhattan West, commuting benefits, partner rates, and…