Contract Unity Software Developer Jobs in Chicago, IL

As a Software Engineer, you'll join a highly specialized internal team focused on building the systems that power how we source, process, and manage ticket supply across the live events ecosystem. This is an opportunity to help shape the internal tooling, automation frameworks, and operational systems that support high-volume workflows and data-driven decision making across the business.

How your role contributes to the success of Vivid Seats: 

• Build and maintain systems that collect, normalize, and analyze inventory and pricing data from digital marketplaces and ticketing platforms.

• Design and implement scalable web scraping and browser automation solutions.

• Develop backend services and internal tools that support inventory workflows, ticket fulfillment, and operational automation.

• Create automated pipelines to ingest, validate, monitor, and store large volumes of structured and semi-structured data.

• Build workflows to parse and process ticket transfer emails, links, and related artifacts.

• Continuously iterate through prototyping, testing, and rebuilding based on real-world outcomes rather than rigid specifications.

• Partner closely with operations, data, and engineering teams to align tooling with business needs and technical standards.

• Help establish lightweight architectural patterns and scalable frameworks for internal automation systems.

• Use AI-assisted development tools, LLMs, and automation platforms to accelerate experimentation, debugging, and software delivery.

• Deliver pragmatic, maintainable solutions that prioritize business impact, speed, and adaptability.

How your role expectations will progress as a Software Engineer III in the first 30, 90, and 180 days:

30 Days in

• Complete new hire orientation, gaining the resources you need to be successful.

• Learn how ticket marketplaces operate and how your systems and automation work will support internal business operations.

• Acclimate to team and company norms, business objectives, and Vivid Seats values.

• Build a working understanding of the existing tools, workflows, tech stack, and operational processes supporting the department.

90 Days In

• Contribute to our approaches, methods, or technologies to support overall business goals and drive team efficiency.

• Maintain, harvest and aid internal and external relationships to achieve progress and advance objectives.

• Develop and deploy new automation workflows, ingestion pipelines, and internal tooling enhancements.

• Partner with operational stakeholders to identify automation opportunities and iteratively deliver impactful solutions.

• Leverage AI-assisted development workflows to improve iteration speed, debugging, and experimentation.

180 Days In

• Apply methods to execute individual tasks that positively impact the team.

• Play an active role in continued learnings to advance skill sets necessary for team goals.

• Operate with end-to-end ownership across the team's internal applications, automation systems, and operational tooling.

• Independently design and deliver solutions for new automation and workflow challenges in a rapidly evolving environment.

• Continue advancing expertise in AI-assisted development, automation tooling, and cloud-native engineering practices.

What You'll Bring:

• 4+ years of professional experience building and supporting production software applications, internal platforms, or automation systems.

• Strong programming experience in Python or similar languages.

• Experience integrating LLM APIs or using AI-assisted development platforms in production workflows.

• Proven ability to design and debug web scrapers, browser automation, and data-ingestion pipelines.

• Experience with cloud services and distributed systems, preferably AWS.

• Strong SQL skills and experience working with relational databases.

• Solid understanding of HTTP, HTML/DOM structures, REST APIs, and JSON-based data exchange.

• Comfort manipulating data, reverse-engineering workflows, and adapting to frequently changing external systems.

• Familiarity with cron jobs, message queues, and event-driven architecture.

• Experience with browser automation frameworks or anti-bot mitigation strategies and automating email-based workflows is preferred.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to explain technical tradeoffs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• A self-directed, detail-oriented mindset and comfort operating with autonomy in fast-moving environments.

• A proactive mindset toward embracing, experimenting with, and integrating AI tools to drive efficiency, elevate engineering output, and support innovation.