Head of Engineering (Search & Recommendations)

ASOS.com; Greater London; On-site; GBP 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee discount

25 days paid annual leave

Discretionary bonus scheme

Private medical care

Flexible benefits allowance

Flexible benefits allowance

Personalised learning opportunities

Job summary

A leading online fashion retailer in Greater London is seeking a Head of Engineering to lead the Search & Recommendations team. You will define the vision and inspire teams to innovate and deliver world-class customer experiences. The ideal candidate has significant experience in digital businesses and a proven track record in scaling search and recommendations systems. This role offers perks such as an employee discount, private medical care, and a discretionary bonus scheme.

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading engineering teams in digital businesses.
• Proven track record scaling discovery systems for consumer products.
• Deep understanding of large-scale data pipelines and machine learning.
• Strong technical leadership with the ability to balance strategic vision with hands-on problem solving.
• Excellent communicator and influencer, able to build trusted relationships across Product, Data, and Design.
• Passion for building diverse, inclusive, and high-performing teams.

Responsibilities

• Define the technology vision for search and recommendations.
• Build and inspire product development teams.
• Collaborate with leaders to align technology with strategy.
• Design and scale search platforms for high performance.
• Oversee category navigation and product catalogue systems to ensure customers can easily browse and find products at scale.
• Partner with Data Science to embed AI‑driven experiences (e.g., AI Stylist) into the shopping journey.

Skills

Leadership in engineering teams

Scaling search and recommendations systems

Knowledge of distributed systems

Problem-solving skills

Excellent communication

Building inclusive teams

Job description

Head of Engineering (Search & Recommendations)

We’re ASOS, the online retailer for fashion lovers all around the world. We exist to give our customers the confidence to be whoever they want to be, and that goes for our people too. At ASOS, you’re free to be your true self without judgement, and channel your creativity into a platform used by millions.

We are proud members of Inclusive Companies, are Disability Confident Committed, have signed the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter, and placed 8th in the Inclusive Top 50 Companies Employer list. Everyone needs some help showing up as their best self. Let our Talent team know if you need any adjustments throughout the process in whatever way works best for you.

Job Description

We are looking for a Head of Engineering to lead our Search & Recommendations team, a mission‑critical function at the heart of our customer experience. You will set the vision, define the technical strategy, and inspire product development teams to deliver world‑class discovery experiences.

Focused on consumer mobile and web e‑commerce, this role operates at huge scale: over 2.5 billion visits a year, 23 million active customers, and 50 million unique visitors per month. You’ll partner with Product, Data Science, and Design to build systems that are fast, relevant, and reliable, guiding the evolution of our discovery and customer experience platforms.

Details

• Define the technology vision and roadmap across Search, Recommendations, Category Navigation, Product Catalogue, AI Stylist, and Customer Care Experience.
• Build, grow, and inspire six product development teams and a team of 60, fostering a culture of innovation, delivery, and technical excellence.
• Collaborate with senior product and business leaders to align technology priorities with company strategy and customer needs.
• Lead the design and scaling of search and recommendations platforms, ensuring speed, relevance, and personalisation.
• Oversee category navigation and product catalogue systems to ensure customers can easily browse and find products at scale.
• Partner with Data Science to embed AI‑driven experiences (e.g., AI Stylist) into the shopping journey.

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading engineering teams in fast‑moving digital businesses.
• Proven track record scaling search, recommendations, ranking or discovery systems in consumer‑facing products.
• Deep knowledge of distributed systems, large‑scale data pipelines, information retrieval, and applied machine learning.
• Strong technical leadership with the ability to balance strategic vision with hands‑on problem solving.
• Excellent communicator and influencer, able to build trusted relationships across Product, Data, and Design.
• Passion for building diverse, inclusive, and high‑performing teams.

BeneFITS

• Employee discount (hello ASOS discount!)
• Employee sample sales
• 25 days paid annual leave + an extra celebration day for a special moment
• Discretionary bonus scheme
• Private medical care scheme
• Flexible benefits allowance – which you can choose to take as extra cash, or use towards other benefits
• Opportunity for personalised learning and in‑the‑moment experiences that enable you to thrive and excel in your role.

Seniority level

• Executive

Employment type

• Full‑time

Job function

• Information Technology
• Retail