Engineering Manager, Search Systems

Etsy • New York, NY

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

Etsy is the global marketplace for unique and creative goods. We build, power, and evolve the tools and technologies that connect millions of entrepreneurs with millions of buyers around the world. As an Etsy Inc. employee, whether a team member of Etsy or Depop, you will tackle unique, meaningful, and large-scale problems alongside passionate coworkers, all the while making a rewarding impact and Keeping Commerce Human. What’s the role? We are looking for an Engineering Manager to lead the Search Systems team at Etsy. This team owns the core retrieval and indexing infrastructure that powers fast, reliable, and seamless search experiences for millions of Etsy buyers. As we embark on a major next-gen infra upgrade, you’ll guide the team through consolidating our retrieval systems, simplifying our architecture, and unlocking new machine learning capabilities to improve relevance, performance, and developer experience. You will lead a talented group of engineers responsible for scaling our search backends, ensuring we serve high-quality, low-latency search results at global scale. This is an opportunity to shape Etsy’s next-generation search platform—one that supports innovation in retrieval models, personalization, and semantic search. This is a full-time position reporting to the Director of Engineering, Search. In addition to salary, you will also be eligible for an equity package, an annual performance bonus, and our competitive benefits that support you and your family as part of your total rewards package at Etsy. For this role, we are considering candidates based in the United States. Candidates living within commutable distance of Etsy’s Brooklyn Office Hub may be the first to be considered. For candidates within commutable distance, Etsy requires in-office attendance once or twice per week depending on your proximity to the office. Etsy offers different work modes to meet the variety of needs and preferences of our team. Learn more details about our work modes and workplace safety policies here. What’s this team like at Etsy? The Search Systems team is part of the Search organization and provides the foundational technology that enables high-quality search at scale. Our mission is to ensure Etsy’s search stack is fast, reliable, and extensible—serving hundreds of millions of listings efficiently while supporting rapid ML experimentation and innovation. This team is responsible for: Owning and operating next-gen retrieval infra and other search backends that power Etsy’s core retrieval layer. Unify our retrieval infrastructure (lexical and ANN infra) across Etsy products, simplify system architecture, and enable ML-based rankers in retrieval. Building and maintaining scalable, low-latency systems that meet strict SLAs and power live A/B experiments. Collaborating closely with applied scientists, Data Platform, ML Enablement teams, and product engineers to integrate new retrieval models and unlock advanced ranking capabilities. You’ll help define the roadmap for Etsy’s search infrastructure—balancing operational excellence, developer velocity, and innovation in ML retrieval.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Proven experience in large-scale search systems or ml infrastructure, with a strong background in retrieval systems, distributed computing, or ML-powered search.
• 2+ years of experience leading engineering teams, ideally with experience in real-time search, recommendation, or ads systems.
• Deep understanding of search engines and frameworks (e.g., Elasticsearch, Lucene, Solr, or modern hybrid search or vector search systems).
• Familiarity with modern retrieval and ranking techniques, including neural retrieval, semantic search, and transformer-based models.
• Experience with system performance optimization, caching strategies, and scaling high-throughput, low-latency services.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills; capable of bridging between technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Track record of driving complex technical projects from conception to launch while maintaining a high bar for quality and reliability.
• Passion for mentoring engineers, fostering growth, and cultivating an inclusive, learning-oriented team culture.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow a team of engineers and scientists responsible for designing, building, and maintaining search backend systems and infrastructure.
• Partner with research and ML teams to productionize new retrieval and ranking models efficiently at scale.
• Oversee the next-gen retrieval infra adoption, ensuring reliable data pipelines, index health, and performance during and after transition.
• Drive architectural decisions around indexing, query execution, and ranking infrastructure to improve latency, throughput, and system resilience.
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners—including other Search ML and Enablement Teams—to shape long-term direction of the search stack.
• Foster a culture of technical excellence, mentorship, and continuous learning through regular code reviews, design discussions, and performance feedback.
• Establish clear technical goals, monitor system health, and proactively identify and resolve performance and reliability bottlenecks.
• Of course, this is just a sample of the kinds of work this role will require! You should assume that your role will encompass other tasks, too, and that your job duties and responsibilities may change from time to time at Etsy's discretion, or otherwise applicable with local law.

Benefits

• In addition to salary, you will also be eligible for an equity package, an annual performance bonus, and our competitive benefits that support you and your family as part of your total rewards package at Etsy.

What This Job Offers

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