Software Engineer - Front End

Churchill Downs Incorporated•Lexington, KY

About The Position

TwinSpires is the premier online horse racing wagering platform in the United States. TwinSpires is owned and operated by Churchill Downs, Inc., and is the official online betting partner of the Kentucky Derby, bringing you more than 148 years of wagering experience. Players can wager through the TwinSpires desktop, mobile, and app-based advance-deposit wagering platforms as well as at retail locations and race tracks across the country.JOB SUMMARYThe Software Engineer will work as a part of a larger team to design and develop custom frontend-focused, full-stack software solutions that meet the needs of the business and those of our patrons. This role will also participate as a member of an agile team and will therefore be required to participate in mutually deliverable goals and will have to coordinate efforts that maximize the contributions of the group. This engineer will have a strong emphasis on Angular-based frontend development while maintaining working knowledge of backend systems (Java, AWS Lambdas, etc.). Given our significant investment in AI-driven product initiatives, the ideal candidate will also bring applied experience with LLMs and AI-assisted development workflows.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science in Information Science/Systems, or equivalent experience and industry certifications
5+ years of demonstrated career progression
Strong experience in development against relational database, preferably using MySQL
Experience developing consumer facing applications in a distributed, scalable environment
Deep experience in technologies: Angular, CSS, HTML, Java, Java Spring, Spring Boot, Spring MVC, MySQL, GitHub; frontend proficiency is primary, with working backend knowledge expected
Experience developing applications in AWS, including AWS Aurora and Lambda-based serverless architectures
Experience serving as an Agile Scrum team member
Authorized to work in the US on full-time basis
Foundational understanding of Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI/ML concepts; familiarity with prompt engineering, API integration (e.g., Anthropic Claude, OpenAI), and responsible AI practices
Demonstrated experience leveraging AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., Claude, GitHub Copilot, or similar) to accelerate development workflows

Responsibilities

Write and support user-facing, web-based features that further the objectives of the organization
Write and support backend services and APIs (Java, Spring Boot, AWS Lambdas) that further the objectives of the organization
Manage and support a code base (repo), including deployment orchestration in a highly secure environment
Develop reusable, efficient code that lends itself to continual improvement and delivery
Collaborate with internal and external team members to design and achieve an optimal design solution
Document and troubleshoot bugs as is required to maintain a successful application platform; 24x7 operation
Investigate new technologies, techniques, and industry developments.
Integrate and work alongside AI/LLM-powered features and services; apply AI-assisted coding tools to improve development velocity and code quality
Improves operations by conducting systems analysis; recommending changes in policies and procedures
Determines operational feasibility by evaluating analysis, problem definition, requirements, solution development, and proposed solutions
Develops software solutions by studying information needs; conferring with users; studying systems flow, data usage, and work processes; investigating problem areas; following the software development lifecycle
Design and participate in the development of one or more web-based, responsive apps, and back-end business services (e.g. web services) for consumer-facing products
Other duties as assigned by Management