Job Title: Director, Sport Operations & Insights
Reports To: EVP, League Operations
Location: Remote, USA
About Us We’ve entered a new chapter at X Games. With new leadership and a clear vision, we’re building what’s next for action sports. Backed by MSP Sports Capital and ESPN/Disney, now operating as an independent company, we’re scaling fast, launching our league, expanding our events, pushing content forward, and building a global home for athletes and fans who live this culture.
About the Role
This role unifies the athlete-systems and competition-data responsibilities needed for League Operations. It is the single operational owner of XGL's athlete and competition data and registration, the manager of the athlete and Club data and insights function (staff, tools, and output), and the storytelling liaison to production and broadcast, with a mandate to drive AI-enabled efficiency across all of it.
Key Responsibilities
1. Athlete & Competition Data
- Maintain the league-wide athlete database — results, points, medals, standings, and historical records — as the single source of truth for XGL competition data. Use Google/Claude AI to enable a database that can be easily accessed and used in live time.
- Own athlete database and registration system entry, partnering with Athlete Relations and Live Events POCs to ensure event set up is correct, data accuracy and timeliness, and athletes are all in the system properly for disciplines of which they’re rostered.
- Validate scoring and league points/standings after every contest — including confirming judging scores in our internal event system before results go live with production, a time-sensitive task performed onsite alongside judges — and publish athlete and Club standings.
2. Sport Operations
- Respond to injury reports and withdrawals in real time by moving alternates into fields; maintain athlete profile data in our internal event system.
- Own start order methodology and seeding logic across disciplines, partnering with League Operations to keep methodology aligned league-wide and clearly communicated.
- Partner with Athlete Relations and League Compliance to send start of season memos outlining season format and format changes.
3. Research Team, Tools & AI Enablement
- Lead AI-enablement of the function: launch a single structured athlete/results database as source of truth that can be accessed by designated / identified stakeholders; required to begin using automated generation daily reports, athlete notecards, and Fact Collectors; AI-assisted first drafts of previews/recaps for editorial review; and drive 20% reduced per-event contracted research hours as a result beginning Summer 2027.
- Serve as the point of contact for General Managers and Club Staff who have questions or inquiries regarding athletes performances and statistics during free agency or expansion draft years.
- Serve as a key coordinator across the research tool tech stack, along with League Operations, Marketing, and others: EventCenter reporting, xgamesresearch.com, database inputs, Teamworks athlete profiles
4. Data Insights & Storytelling
- Scope, delegate, and onboard event research staff against a research staffing budget set for 6 annual stops, budget to increase when additional stops are added
- Provide real-time onsite storytelling support for host set, Talent, PR, and Production; serve as liaison to the production partner for athlete packages (AI enabled).
Qualifications
- Experience in sports operations, leading or managing a research, editorial, or content team
- Familiarity with Teamworks, Treeline, Raw Motion, EventCenter, or comparable athlete-management/scoring/research platforms, or ability to learn quickly.
- Comfort using AI tools to automate research and content workflows (structured databases, auto-generated stat products, AI-assisted drafting).
- Strong storytelling and editorial judgment, with experience producing athlete-facing content for broadcast / production partners.
- Strong attention to detail and comfort operating under live, time-pressured conditions onsite at events.
- Ability to travel to all XGL events throughout the season.
- Strong cross-functional collaborator, able to work closely with League Operations, Live Events, Production/Broadcast, judges, and club/GM contacts.
Compensation and Benefits
The base salary range for this role is $140,000 - $155,000. Compensation is determined based on factors including experience, skills, job-related knowledge, and geographic location.
