About

• Description
• Director, Data Engineering & Technology

Position Overview

• The Chicago Bulls Business Strategy and Analytics Department is a team of strategic critical problem solvers who champion a continuous improvement approach across the organization. Our mission is to collaborate with key decision makers across the business and empower them with data and insights to better serve our fans.

• The Director of Data Engineering & Technology will lead our data strategy and manage key technology infrastructure, including our Snowflake data platform and CRM system. This role will lead a small but high-performing team that supports data-driven decision making across all business operations (Ticketing, Corporate Partnerships, Product, Digital Marketing, etc.). This is a hands-on technical leadership role requiring deep data engineering expertise – we are looking for a leader who excels at both “doing the work” while also providing strategic direction to expand the usage of data & insights across the organization.

Key Responsibilities

• Data Platform Leadership
• Oversee the strategic direction, architecture, and optimization of our modern data stack that is aligned with overarching organizational priorities
• Collaborate with all business operations departments to understand data’s role in helping them achieve their short and long-term priorities
• Manage vendor relationships for data and analytics tools while staying current on emerging technologies
• Liaise with the NBA to understand best practices around fan data strategy
• Database Management & Data Engineering
• Lead the day-to-day management of our Snowflake data warehouse and key third-party integrations
• Build and standardize queries and data sources to enable rapid insights and consistent metrics across teams
• Design and implement scalable CI/CD pipelines for seamless deployment of data models, ETL processes, and analytics workloads
• Lead development of data integration solutions for complex data sources, including legacy systems and third-party APIs
• Drive data governance initiatives and establish best practices for data collection, storage, and analysis
• Optimize cloud resource configurations to balance performance with cost-effectiveness
• Champion data engineering methodologies (lint checks, code review) to ensure data accuracy and reliability
• Monitor data health and quality across all systems
• CRM Strategy & Sales Enablement
• Optimize CRM configuration and identify improvements to enhance usability based on business requirements and user feedback
• Support implementation and ongoing management of CRM integrations (e.g., Outreach, Wolfcycle) to enhance productivity
• Team Management
• Lead and develop a small data team (one Analytics Engineer, two Senior Data Analysts) to meet strategic priorities
• Foster a collaborative environment that encourages innovation and continuous learning
• Manage team performance, professional development, and resource allocation

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with a consistent track record of professional and personal achievement
• 8+ years of hands-on data engineering experience building and maintaining production data pipelines
• 2+ years managing staff, including responsibility for project assignments and performance evaluation
• Expert-level SQL skills including query optimization, indexing strategies, and performance tuning
• Experience working with a Snowflake Cloud Data Warehouse and data ingestion / reverse ETL tools such as Fivetran, Matillion, Census, or Hightouch
• Experience with dbt, Airflow, or similar orchestration tools
• Strong Python skills for data engineering, transformation, and automation
• Experience managing a BI tool and designing effective visualizations (Tableau preferred)
• Familiarity with CRM applications, preferably Microsoft Dynamics CRM
• Experience with workflow automation across revenue operations, sales, and marketing functions
• Experience handling budgets and efficiently allocating resources to meet business objectives

Skills

The perfect candidate has a good mix of the following

• Entrepreneurial spirit that thrives in a high profile, small business, balancing multiple projects across different functions
• Hands-on leadership style with an ability to both lead strategic projects and also dive into the details
• A broad background across data warehousing, ETL, and reporting, that is excited about architecting data platforms
• Strong business acumen with a demonstrated ability to translate business needs into technical design solutions
• Great interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to build relationships and share findings with both technical and non-technical team members
• Comfort working in a fast-paced environment and able to adapt quickly to real-time changes to the business

Location & Compensation

• The base salary range for this role is $130,000-$160,000 annually + annual discretionary bonus. This salary range is an estimate, and the actual salary will vary based on applicant’s education, experience, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.

The Chicago Bulls offer competitive benefits and perks. Our full-time offerings include, but are not limited to

• Low premiums for healthcare, dental, and vision coverage
• 100% paid premium for basic employee life insurance and disability coverage
• 401(k) with employer match plus annual discretionary contribution
• Flexible spending account for healthcare and dependent care as well as commuter benefits
• Paid time-off including vacation, sick, holiday, days of significance, and parental leave
• Complimentary home game tickets, parking, and gym access
• Complimentary snacks, lunch and dinner (if working games / events)
• Pet Insurance
• The Chicago Bulls offer workplace flexibility. Full-time remote work is not an option for this role and interested applicants should be currently located in or prepared to move to the Chicagoland area. This role will require a flexible schedule with the ability to work evenings and weekends as required.

• We are an Equal Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other status or characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.