Sleeper

Backend Engineer - Risk & Trading

United States

Not SpecifiedCompensation
Junior (1 to 2 years)Experience Level
Full TimeJob Type
UnknownVisa
Financial Services, Trading, Risk Management, FintechIndustries

Job Description

Position Overview

Sleeper is a rapidly growing platform for sports fans with messaging and gameplay at its core. This role focuses on Python services that integrate tightly with Elixir, GCP, and our distributed databases. You will collaborate with product, data, and frontend teams to ship user-facing features that are fair, fast, and resilient.

Employment Type: Full-Time Location Type: Remote

What You’ll Be Doing

  • Design & implement Python backend services that power real-time risk management and trading operations.
  • Build scalable infrastructure for pricing engines, market creation, settlement, and exposure management.
  • Integrate with our Elixir services via gRPC/REST, Kafka, and Redis to ensure consistency and low-latency performance.
  • Architect distributed systems on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) using Pub/Sub, Cloud Run/Kubernetes, and BigQuery.
  • Develop robust monitoring, alerting, and CI/CD pipelines to ensure high availability and quick incident response.
  • Collaborate with data scientists on model deployment and optimize end-to-end latency from pricing to settlement.
  • Own projects from ideation through production, making thoughtful trade-offs in ambiguous, high-stakes environments.

Who You Are

  • 4+ years of backend engineering experience with a strong focus on Python (FastAPI, Django, or similar).
  • Proven ability to design and operate distributed systems handling high throughput and low latency.
  • Experience with message queues/streams (Apache Kafka, Google Pub/Sub) and caching layers (Redis).
  • Comfortable interacting with Elixir/Erlang or other functional stacks, or eager to learn.
  • Pragmatic engineer who thinks critically about edge cases and failure modes, especially in financial or real-time systems.
  • Calm, methodical, and communicative when incidents occur; you thrive under pressure.

Preferred Skills (Nice to Have)

  • Prior work with ScyllaDB/Cassandra or other wide-column distributed databases.
  • Familiarity with Rust, Go, or C++ for high-performance components.
  • Knowledge of risk modeling, market-making algorithms, or sports-betting infrastructure.
  • Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, GitLab CI, and infrastructure-as-code tools (Terraform).
  • Deep understanding of observability: Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry.

Preferred Skills (Not Required)

  • Experience with Elixir, ErlangVM, or other functional programming languages.
  • Familiarity with ScyllaDB, Cassandra, or other distributed databases.
  • Experience in financial systems, market making, or real-money gaming infrastructure.
  • Knowledge of risk modeling, pricing engines, or real-time alerting systems.

Benefits

  • Competitive salary and stock options.
  • Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
  • 401(k).
  • Flexible working hours and remote work options.
  • Opportunities for career advancement.

Company Information

Sleeper believes in quality over quantity, and intentionally keeps our team small. Our team includes designers, engineers, product experts, and finance & operations focused on connecting people over sports. We believe in fair and equitable pay.

Compensation: Competitive salary plus benefits including Medical, Dental, PTO, 401k. The salary range for this role takes into account a wide range of factors including skill sets, experience, training, licensure, certifications, and other business needs.

Equal Employment Opportunity: The policy of Sleeper is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexu...

Skills

Python
FastAPI
Django
gRPC
REST
Kafka
Redis
GCP
Pub/Sub
Cloud Run
Kubernetes
BigQuery
Monitoring
CI/CD
Model deployment
Distributed systems
Low latency
High throughput
Financial systems
Real-time systems

Sleeper

Fantasy sports platform with social features

About Sleeper

Sleeper operates a platform for managing fantasy sports leagues, particularly focusing on fantasy football and bracket pools. Users can engage with the platform through features like in-app chat, live game watching, and an easy-to-navigate design, which fosters communication and shared experiences among sports fans. Unlike many competitors, Sleeper does not rely on advertisements for revenue; instead, it offers premium features and services, such as advanced draft modes and customization options, to enhance the user experience. This focus on quality and user engagement has led to significant growth, with over 4 million users and high retention rates. Sleeper's goal is to create a social and immersive fantasy sports environment that keeps users engaged throughout the sports season.

San Francisco, CaliforniaHeadquarters
2014Year Founded
$67.3MTotal Funding
SERIES_CCompany Stage
Consumer Software, GamingIndustries
51-200Employees

Benefits

Health Insurance
Unlimited Paid Time Off
401(k) Retirement Plan

Risks

New fantasy sports platforms with innovative features may erode Sleeper's market share.
Sports betting apps integrating fantasy elements may attract users from Sleeper.
Stricter data protection regulations could impact Sleeper's data-driven features.

Differentiation

Sleeper offers an ad-free experience, unlike many competitors in the market.
The platform includes in-app chat and live game watching for enhanced user interaction.
Sleeper focuses on a premium user experience with advanced draft modes and customization.

Upsides

Increased interest in women's sports offers expansion opportunities for Sleeper.
Blockchain integration can enhance security and transparency for Sleeper users.
The rise of micro-betting could boost user engagement on Sleeper's platform.

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