Engineering Manager, Search in London

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 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.

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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, Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) for 24/7 confidential support.
• Work/Life Balance: 25 days of annual leave with the option to carry over up to 5 days, impact hours for volunteering, fully paid 4-week sabbatical after completion of 5 years of consecutive service.
• Flexible Working: MyMode hybrid-working model with Flex, Office-Based, and Remote options.
• Family Life: 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.
• Your Future: Life Insurance, pension matching up to 6% of full base salary.
• Depop Extras: In-office Depop Shop and a packing station with free delivery.