Engineering Manager, Research & Development

ACV • Buffalo, NY

2d

About The Position

ACV is a technology company that has revolutionized how dealers buy and sell cars online. We are transforming the automotive industry. ACV Auctions Inc. (ACV), has applied innovation and user-designed, data driven applications and solutions. We are building the most leading and efficient digital marketplace with data solutions for sourcing, selling and managing used vehicles with transparency and comprehensive insights that were once unimaginable. We are disruptors of the industry and we want you to join us on our journey. Our network of brands include ACV Auctions, ACV Transportation, ClearCar, MAX Digital and ACV Capital within its Marketplace Products, as well as, True360 and Data Services.
At ACV we focus on the Health, Physical, Financial, Social and Emotional Wellness of our Teammates and, to support this, we offer:
Multiple medical plans including a high deductible, low cost health plan
Company-sponsored (paid) Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, and Life Insurance
Comprehensive optional benefits such as Dental, Vision, Supplemental Life/AD&D, Legal/ID Protection, and Accident and Critical Illness Insurance
Generous paid time off options, including uncapped vacation days, the greater of 3 paid sick days or in accordance with the applicable state or local paid sick leave law, 6 paid company holidays, 2 floating holidays, parental leave, bereavement leave, jury duty leave, voting leave, and other forms of paid leave as required by applicable law or regulation
Employee Stock Purchase Program with additional opportunities to earn stock in the Company
Retirement planning through the Company’s 401(k)

Requirements

• 4 Year / Bachelors Degree - Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent required
• 8 year(s) Technology field
• Ability to read, write, speak and understand English.
• Providing architectural guidance across a modern stack including Python, Java, React, React Native, Postgres, MySQL, Kubernetes and more.
• Strong understanding of RESTful and/or GraphQL API design patterns to ensure seamless communication between mobile, web, and polyglot backend services.
• Practical experience with distributed messaging and streaming platforms, preferably Kafka, to support high-throughput, decoupled microservices.
• Experience managing technical roadmaps and resource allocation within Agile or Kanban frameworks, balancing long-term research goals with immediate delivery milestones.
• Demonstrated experience leading software teams in a Research and Development or high-innovation environment, specifically taking prototypes from "proof of concept" to production-grade deployment.
• Hands-on experience architecting and deploying scalable applications within AWS and GCP, including deep knowledge of their respective storage (S3/GCS) and database (RDS/others) ecosystems.
• Familiarity with Python-based machine learning libraries (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, or Scikit-learn) to support data-heavy research and predictive modeling projects.
• Experience managing containerized workloads at scale, particularly in hybrid-cloud or multi-cloud deployments.
• Exceptional ability to articulate complex technical trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders and translate business requirements into clear technical specifications for the engineering team.

Responsibilities

• People manage engineers (software, quality, or site reliability) and accountable for team delivery and performance.
• Actively and consistently support all efforts to simplify and enhance the customer experience.
• Lead a polyglot engineering team, directly manage and mentor a diverse team of engineers (local and remote).
• Act as a hands-on mentor, conducting deep-dive code reviews and creating personalized career development paths for engineers working across varied languages and frameworks.
• You are accountable for people management, recruiting for your team, associate career development and performance management.
• Serve as the primary technical interface for non-engineering partners, translating complex R&D progress into clear business impact and roadmap updates.
• Bridge Research and Production, drive the evolution of R&D prototypes into scalable, production-ready systems, ensuring that experimental code meets long-term stability and performance standards.
• Balance innovation with stability by strategically allocating resources to maintain the "innovation-to-maintenance" ration, ensuring core systems remain stable while the team pursues high-risk, high-reward R&D milestones.
• Other duties as assigned

Benefits

• Multiple medical plans including a high deductible, low cost health plan
• Company-sponsored (paid) Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, and Life Insurance
• Comprehensive optional benefits such as Dental, Vision, Supplemental Life/AD&D, Legal/ID Protection, and Accident and Critical Illness Insurance
• Generous paid time off options, including uncapped vacation days, the greater of 3 paid sick days or in accordance with the applicable state or local paid sick leave law, 6 paid company holidays, 2 floating holidays, parental leave, bereavement leave, jury duty leave, voting leave, and other forms of paid leave as required by applicable law or regulation
• Employee Stock Purchase Program with additional opportunities to earn stock in the Company
• Retirement planning through the Company’s 401(k)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager