Engineering Manager, Search

Depop Limited - Nova; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health + Mental Wellbeing PMI

Cycle to Work scheme

Life Insurance

Pension matching

Office dog-friendly

Job summary

Depop is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead the Search Retrieval squad, focusing on improving search relevance and key purchasing metrics. You will guide a 3-6 person team, collaborating with product and design, and shaping the roadmap within the Discover initiative for buyer experience.

You will report to the Senior Director of Engineering and be responsible for team wellbeing, delivery, and impact. The role emphasizes hybrid working, inclusion, and a strong curiosity about AI-driven

Qualifications

• Proven track record as Engineering Manager of high-performing teams.
• Experience leading teams in the Search domain and delivering impact.
• Collaborates with ML/Data Science, design and product partners.
• Strong ownership and delivery focus under changing priorities.

Responsibilities

• Deliver value and drive measurable results for the search domain.
• Lead a cross-functional team of engineers and enable high performance.
• Foster growth, provide feedback, and support career development.
• Collaborate with marketing, analytics, engineering, and product teams.
• Build an inclusive culture with emphasis on learning and improvement.

Skills

Engineering management

Search domain experience

ML & Data Science collaboration

Cross-functional collaboration

Full-stack capability

Ownership mindset

Data-driven decision making

Stakeholder management

AI curiosity

Tools

OpenSearch

Elasticsearch

Vespa

Job description

Company Description

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, Depop’s 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 York. In 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 www.depop.com We aim to create an inclusive environment where everyone is welcome, no matter who they are or where they’re 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. We’re 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. We’re 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 [e-mail].

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 they’re looking for it.’ You will manage all engineers in the team and be responsible for helping to create and executing on the team's roadmap. You’ll 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 team's 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

• 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 other's backs, acting with purpose while having sustainability and cost in mind through thinking thrift.
• A genuine curiosity about AI and a willingness to explore how it can enhance your day-to-day work.

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 (that’s free!) and a packing station with free delivery. Special milestones are celebrated with gifts and rewards!

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, Depop’s 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 York. In 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 www.depop.com Want to learn more about life at Depop? We share life at Depop updates on our LinkedIn page, and you can also keep an eye on all our job opportunities on our careers page.