Associate Director, Software Engineering, Product Discovery

Wayfair; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Wayfair is seeking an Associate Director of Software Engineering for Product Discovery in Boston. The role leads three core teams—Product Exploration, Shopping Discovery, and Promotions & Curations—driving the technical vision, strategy, and roadmap for customer-facing discovery experiences across web and app.

You will coach engineering managers, partner with Product and Design, and champion a data-informed, experimentation-driven culture to deliver scalable platforms and equitable outcomes for

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering building and operating large-scale, customer-facing web applications.
• 4+ years of experience leading engineering managers and/or multi-team organizations, ideally in e-commerce, consumer technology, or similarly high-scale environments.
• Demonstrated success leading engineering teams that build discovery, search, browse, navigation, or merchandising experiences.
• Strong technical foundation in modern web architectures and platforms (microservices, event-driven systems, modern frontend frameworks such as React/Next.js, GraphQL or RESTful APIs).
• Proven ability to define and drive multi-year technical and organizational roadmaps across multiple teams, using data to prioritize, sequence, and communicate tradeoffs.
• Track record of building, developing, and retaining high-performing, diverse engineering teams.
• Experience operating in highly cross-functional environments; collaborate with Product, Design, Analytics, Marketing, and partner teams.
• Strong communication and storytelling skills for engineers, partners, and executives.
• Learning mindset and curiosity about new technologies and patterns.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent.

Responsibilities

• Provide the technical vision, strategy, and roadmap for Product Discovery, spanning listing experiences, browsing and navigation, and promotional surfaces across web and app.
• Lead and develop a group of engineering managers and their teams, ensuring clear goals, high-quality execution, and alignment to business outcomes.
• Partner with Product and Design leaders to define ambitious but achievable roadmaps balancing near-term impact with long-term platform investments.
• Own the reliability, performance, and quality of customer-facing discovery experiences and ensure observability and tooling for scale.
• Drive a multi-year technical and organizational strategy for discovery platforms and storefront integration.
• Champion experimentation and data-informed decision making with metrics and A/B testing.
• Collaborate across Wayfair to align on standards and reusable platforms for discovery and promotions.
• Build and nurture a high-performing, inclusive engineering culture with ownership and continuous improvement.
• Coach and develop direct reports and broader organization with clear expectations and growth opportunities.
• Represent Product Discovery engineering with senior leaders, communicating tradeoffs and progress.

Skills

Senior leadership

Engineering managers

Discovery/merchandising

Web architectures

Roadmaps/strategy

Hiring/diversity

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Growth mindset

Bachelor's degree in CS/CE

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering

Job description

This is a hybrid role based in our Boston, MA office. Candidates must be able to work on-site Tuesday through Thursday, with Mondays and Fridays remote.
This above base pay range may vary depending on location, job-related knowledge, skills and experience. The range listed is just one component of Wayfair's total compensation package for employees. Depending on the position offered, equity, bonuses, commissions and other forms of compensation may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to a comprehensive suite of medical, financial and additional benefits.

Who We Are

Wayfair’s Product Discovery organization is responsible for how customers explore, navigate, and find products across our storefront. We own the customer journey from the moment a shopper lands on a broad idea ("sofas for a small apartment") through to highly targeted product sets and timely promotions.

As the Associate Director of Software Engineering for Product Discovery, you will lead the engineering organization behind three core teams:

• Product Exploration – Owns the core product listing experiences across web and app, including product listing pages, grids, product cards, refinements, sorting, carousels, and shared interaction patterns. This team enables customers to efficiently explore assortments and quickly identify products worth deeper evaluation by powering dynamic listing models that surface the most relevant matches.
• Shopping Discovery – Builds rich category experiences, brand destinations, navigational pathways, guided shopping flows, and conversational shopping to help customers move from a need or idea to the best possible shopping experience. The team’s mission is to make starting—and redirecting—a shopping journey effortless by helping customers refine broad ideas into clear shopping intent and guiding them to the right products, categories, or shopping paths.
• Promotions & Curations – Owns curated collections, promotional destinations, and seasonal campaigns that connect customers with timely shopping opportunities across Wayfair. The team is focused on transforming how promotional and curated experiences are created and optimized in the agentic era, dramatically increasing the speed, quality, and effectiveness of promotions while helping customers discover more timely and relevant products.

You’ll partner closely with Product, Design, Data Science, and other engineering leaders across Customer Tech, Ads & Promotes, and broader Wayfair to build scalable platforms and delightful discovery experiences that unlock growth for the business.

What You’ll Do

• Provide the technical vision, strategy, and roadmap for Product Discovery, spanning listing experiences, browsing and navigation, and promotional surfaces across web and app.
• Lead and develop a group of engineering managers and their teams (Product Exploration, Shopping Discovery, Promotions & Curations), ensuring clear goals, high-quality execution, and strong alignment to business outcomes.
• Partner closely with Product and Design leaders to define ambitious but achievable roadmaps, balancing near-term impact with long-term platform investments.
• Own the reliability, performance, and quality of customer-facing discovery experiences, and ensure your teams have the observability, tooling, and processes needed to operate safely at scale.
• Drive a multi-year technical and organizational strategy for discovery platforms, including storefront integration with search and recommendations, experimentation and personalization capabilities, and foundational services and APIs.
• Champion a culture of experimentation and data-informed decision making; use metrics and A/B testing to understand customer behavior, measure impact, and iterate quickly.
• Collaborate across Wayfair to align on shared standards, patterns, and platforms for discovery, merchandising, and promotional experiences, avoiding one-off solutions where a reusable platform can exist.
• Build and nurture a high-performing, inclusive engineering culture that emphasizes craftsmanship, ownership, and continuous improvement; attract, hire, and grow diverse engineering managers and senior ICs.
• Coach and develop your direct reports and broader organization, providing clear expectations, actionable feedback, and growth opportunities.
• Represent Product Discovery engineering with senior technology and business leaders, clearly communicating tradeoffs, risks, and progress against goals.

We Are A Match Because You Have

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering building and operating large-scale, customer-facing web applications.
• 4+ years of experience leading engineering managers and/or multi-team organizations, ideally in e-commerce, consumer technology, or similarly high-scale environments.
• Demonstrated success leading engineering teams that build discovery, search, browse, navigation, or merchandising experiences (e.g., category pages, product listing pages, personalized or promotional surfaces).
• Strong technical foundation in modern web architectures and platforms (e.g., microservices, event-driven systems, modern frontend frameworks such as React / Next.js, GraphQL or RESTful APIs), with the ability to engage deeply in technical tradeoffs without being the primary implementer.
• Proven ability to define and drive multi-year technical and organizational roadmaps across multiple teams, using data to prioritize, sequence, and communicate tradeoffs.
• Track record of building, developing, and retaining high-performing, diverse engineering teams — including hiring and growing engineering managers and senior ICs.
• Experience operating in highly cross-functional environments; you collaborate effectively with Product, Design, Analytics, Marketing, and other partner teams, and can influence decisions without direct authority.
• Strong communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to adjust your message for engineers, cross-functional partners, and senior executives.
• A learning and growth mindset, staying curious about new technologies, discovery patterns, and ways of working — and bringing those learnings back into your teams.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Assistance For Individuals With Disabilities

Wayfair is fully committed to providing equal opportunities for all individuals, including individuals with disabilities. As part of this commitment, Wayfair will make reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of qualified individuals with disabilities, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on business operations. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, please let us know by completing our Accomodations for Applicants form.

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About Wayfair Inc.

Wayfair is one of the world’s largest online destinations for the home. Whether you work in our global headquarters in Boston, or in our warehouses or offices throughout the world, we’re reinventing the way people shop for their homes. Through our commitment to industry-leading technology and creative problem-solving, we are confident that Wayfair will be home to the most rewarding work of your career. If you’re looking for rapid growth, constant learning, and dynamic challenges, then you’ll find that amazing career opportunities are knocking.

No matter who you are, Wayfair is a place you can call home. We’re a community of innovators, risk-takers, and trailblazers who celebrate our differences, and know that our unique perspectives make us stronger, smarter, and well-positioned for success. We value and rely on the collective voices of our employees, customers, community, and suppliers to help guide us as we build a better Wayfair – and world – for all. Every voice, every perspective matters. That’s why we’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship status, marital status, disability, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected characteristic.

Your personal data is processed in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Notice (https://www.wayfair.com/careers/privacy). If you have any questions or wish to exercise your rights under applicable privacy and data protection laws, please contact us at [e-mail].