Back to jobs
New

Director of Data Engineering

Dublin, Ireland

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

 

Create a Job Alert

Interested in building your career at 2K? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Education

Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
You acknowledge that your personal information will be collected and used by 2K based on the Privacy Notice for Job Applicants (the “Privacy Notice”), available at https://www.take2games.com/applicantprivacypolicy/. The Privacy Notice provides information about how we use your data and how you can exercise your data rights (such as access, correction, or deletion).  If you need more information, please contact the Privacy Contact identified in the Privacy Notice. 
Select...
Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in 2K’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.