Engineering Manager, Search

Company Description

Depop is a peer-to-peer circular fashion marketplace where anyone can buy sell and discover secondhand fashion. Our mission is simple: to make fashion circular by making secondhand as exciting and rewarding as buying new.

Founded in 2011 Depops diverse community has helped move resale into the mainstream where buying secondhand is no longer an alternative but how people of different ages now engage with fashion. Today more than 56 million registered users come to Depop to find great value express their own personal style and give clothes a longer life. We believe that everything you want already exists and our role is to help people discover it.

Powered by a team of over 500 people our company is headquartered in London with offices in New 2021 Depop became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Etsy - the global marketplace for unique and creative goods - and continues to operate as a standalone company. For more information visit

We aim to create an inclusive environment where everyone is welcome no matter who they are or where theyre from. Just as our platform connects people globally we believe our workplace should reflect the diversity of the communities we serve. We thrive on the power of different perspectives and experiences knowing they drive innovation and bring us closer to our users.

Were proud to be an equal opportunity employer providing employment opportunities without regard to age ethnicity religion or belief gender identity sex sexual orientation disability pregnancy or maternity marriage and civil partnership or any other protected status. Were continuously evolving our recruitment processes to ensure fairness and are open to accommodating any needs you might have.

AI Disclosure: We use AI tools (Google Gemini) to help our team source and review applications for roles with a high volume of applications. These tools assist our recruiters in identifying great talent but do not replace human decision-making. At Depop every hiring decision is made by a human.

If due to a disability you need adjustments to complete the application please let us know by sending an email with your name the role to which you would like to apply and the type of support you need to complete the application to .

Engineering Manager Search

Role

In 2026 our ambition is to be a high-performing delivery-focused organisation and the best engineering organisation for those who value meaningful career growth.

We are looking for a UK based Engineering Manager to help run our Search Retrieval squad a key team responsible for improving the relevance of search at Depop. You will be responsible for building features and experiments on the search engine that will improve key search purchasing metrics . You will be expected to help guide your team while delivering a contribution to its impact and strategic roadmap and be part of shaping our engineering culture of high performance and high compassion.

As an Engineering Manager at Depop you will be responsible for the success wellbeing and effectiveness of the team. You will work alongside a Product Manager and Product Designer with domain expertise as part of our wider Discover initiative focusing specifically on our user experience on the Buyer side of our marketplace to Create a discovery & shopping experience so intuitive that users find what they love before they even know theyre looking for it.

You will manage all engineers in the team and be responsible for helping to create and executing on the teams roadmap. Youll report to the Senior Director of Engineering in the Demand pillar.

Responsibilities

• Deliver Value and Drive Results: Ensure your team delivers high-quality solutions that meet business needs while maintaining a strong focus on delivery and creating measurable value.
• Lead and Support Your Team: Manage a cross-functional team of 3-6 engineers ensuring they are happy motivated and set up for success. While encouraged to stay hands-on your primary focus will be on enabling the team to perform and deliver at their best.
• Foster Growth and Feedback: Be accountable for the teams performance and the career growth of its members providing regular feedback guidance and coaching through 1:1s and continuous support.
• Collaborate Across Functions: Partner closely with marketing analytics engineering product to align on goals define priorities and ensure smooth cross-functional collaboration.
• Build an Inclusive Culture: Advocate for team health inclusion and diversity while fostering a respectful and empowering environment that encourages continuous learning and improvement.

Qualifications

Youll be an excellent fit if you have:

• A proven track record as an Engineering Manager of growing and building high-performing engineers teams and processes.
• Experience as an individual contributor or leader in the Search Domain
• Worked closely with Machine Learning and Data Science colleagues
• Worked closely in tandem with Design and Product as either a Product Engineer in the past or Engineering Manager to build rich user experiences.
• You can work across the full-stack and lean on your technical expertise and leadership to provide the connective tissue between BE and FE in order to uphold high engineering standards across all.
• Have a strong sense of ownership and track record of delivery. You get huge satisfaction from tackling complex and ambitious problems and delivering the highest quality features.
• Strong decision making skills based on the data available in the face of ambiguous or changing priorities and goals with preference towards simplicity and a strong bias towards delivery.
• Strong stakeholder management skills able to collaborate with cross-disciplinary stakeholders with varying goals to achieve great results that satisfy all requirements.
• Know how to drive positive interactions throughout your team and drive positive change.
• You align with our Depop DNA - showing up for the community having each others backs acting with purpose while having sustainability and cost in mind through thinking thrift.

Bonus points if:

• You are familiar with search engine technology such as OpenSearch ElasticSearch Vespa..
• You are familiar with observability tracking and data pipeline tools and methodologies.

Additional Information

Health Mental Wellbeing

• PMI and cash plan healthcare access with Bupa
• Subsidised counselling and coaching with Self Space
• Cycle to Work scheme with options from Evans or the Green Commute Initiative
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) for 24/7 confidential support
• Mental Health First Aiders across the business for support and signposting

Work/Life Balance:

• 25 days of annual leave with the option to carry over up to 5 days
• Impact hours: Up to 2 days of additional paid leave per year for volunteering
• Fully paid 4-week sabbatical after completion of 5 years of consecutive service with Depop to give you a chance to recharge or do something you love.
• Flexible Working: MyMode hybrid-working model with Flex Office-Based and Remote options *role-dependent
• All offices are dog-friendly
  

Family Life:

• For birth parent: 20 weeks of paid parental leave for full-time regular employees
• For non-birth parents: 12 weeks of paid parental leave for full-time regular employees
• IVF leave shared parental leave and paid emergency parent/carer leave

Learn Grow:

• Twice-yearly development chats and yearly performance reviews
• Learning budget
• Upskilling our employees with company-wide training workshops materials and resources

Your Future:

• Life Insurance (financial compensation of 3x your salary)
• Pension matching up to 6% of full base salary with Aviva

Depop Extras:

• In-office Depop Shop (thats free!) and a packing station with free delivery.
• Special milestones are celebrated with gifts and rewards!