Engineering Manager - Search & Discovery - PartsTech

PartsTech creates automotive e-commerce technology, helping repair shops, auto part distributors, and manufacturers run their businesses more effectively and profitably through e-commerce and data innovation. We increase efficiency for the automotive aftermarket by connecting repair shops, parts distributors, and manufacturers in one seamless, e-commerce platform. PartsTech makes finding and ordering the right parts simple, fast, and accurate.

Engineering Manager - Search & Discovery

Eastern Time Zone - US & Canada, Remote

PartsTech is seeking a talented and experienced Engineering Manager to lead our Search & Discovery Product Engineering team. As a new Engineering Manager, you will play a crucial role in shaping the product vision, driving feature development, and delivering impactful solutions that enhance the search and discovery experience for our users. You will lead a global team of skilled engineers, collaborate closely with product managers and designers, and champion the technical roadmap to drive product innovation and growth.

What You’ll Accomplish:

• Embody PartsTechs Operating Principles, fostering a customer-first mindset, commitment, curiosity, humility, and trustworthiness.
• Lead and mentor a team of product engineers responsible for developing and enhancing search and discovery features on the PartsTech platform.
• Collaborate with product managers to define product requirements, prioritize features, and align with business objectives, ensuring the technology fully supports search and discovery initiatives.
• Partner with the Product team to manage the end-to-end product development lifecycle, from ideation to release, delivering high-quality features on schedule that meet customer needs and generate business value.
• Work with UX/UI designers to craft intuitive and engaging user experiences, optimizing search relevance, navigation, and product discovery.
• Engage with cross-functional teams, including product management, design, data analytics, and customer success, to iterate on features and elevate product quality through continuous feedback.
• Utilize key product metrics and performance indicators to inform decisions, optimize products, and guide the search and discovery strategy with data-driven insights.
• Keep abreast of industry trends, the competitive landscape, and customer feedback, integrating this knowledge into strategic planning and product innovation.
• Promote software development best practices, such as agile methodologies, continuous integration, and test-driven development, to ensure the delivery of scalable and reliable solutions.
• Lead by example, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement within the Search & Discovery Product Engineering team.
• Drive operational excellence by implementing processes for code reviews, testing, deployment, and monitoring to ensure the reliability and performance of search and discovery features.

Who You Are:

General

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field; an advanced degree is preferred.
• Must reside in the Eastern Time Zone in either the US or Canada.
• Previous experience in the automotive, B2B online marketplaces, or SaaS industry is a plus.

Leadership

• 8-10 years of proven experience in product engineering leadership roles, with 3-5 years of management experience (most in Search), focusing on search and discovery systems within a B2B SaaS environment.
• Experience leading global teams, preferably with 2-3 years in a follow-the-sun model.
• Experience as both a player and a coach, working with teams in Eastern Europe, particularly with Ukrainian teams.
• Proven managerial skills including hiring, coaching, and performance management.
• Experience in planning, staffing, budgeting, managing expenses, and implementing methodological changes.

Technology

• Strong technical background with proficiency in programming languages such as Java, Kotlin, Python, or similar, and experience building scalable and performant search solutions.
• Familiarity with GraphQL/gRPC.
• Familiarity with PHP/Symfony.
• Deep understanding of search technologies such as Elasticsearch, Solr, or equivalent, as well as search relevance and ranking algorithms.
• Demonstrated ability to translate customer needs and business requirements into product features and technical specifications, with a track record of delivering successful product launches.
• Minimum 5 years of experience with AWS or other public cloud services, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), SaaS application development/support, CI/CD practices, Containerization, Kubernetes, Agile/DevOps methodologies.
• In-depth knowledge and hands-on experience with search engines (ideally in online or marketplace high-volume sites).
• Familiarity with React JS or other front-end frameworks.
• AWS certifications are a plus.

Soft Skills

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams and influence technical and strategic decision-making.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a data-driven approach to product development and optimization.
• Experience with agile methodologies and product management tools such as Jira, Confluence, and Aha! or equivalent product engineering collaboration tools.
• Passion for innovation and a drive to stay ahead of industry trends, with a customer-centric mindset and a focus on delivering exceptional user experiences.

Nice to Have:

Leadership:

• Proven track record of building and scaling teams.
• Prior experience working with teams in Eastern Europe, especially with Ukrainian teams.

Technology:

• Full stack engineering experience (7+ years).

Compensation & Benefits: Based on location. 

Why You Should Join Us:

Our vision is to make it fast and easy for auto repair shops to find the right parts across all of their suppliers with one search. Together, PartsTech’s team helped countless businesses save valuable time so they can focus on their customers — and we’re just getting started.

The PartsTech team is a global, distributed group of passionate self-starters based in Cambridge, Hartford, CT, Eastern Europe, and beyond. We are remote-first, privately held and venture-backed. 

PartsTech is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and values diversity at every level of our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We believe you should bring your whole self to work, so come as you are. 

PartsTech is an equal-opportunity employer and welcomes applications from candidates of all backgrounds.

Note: The job description provided is a general outline of responsibilities and qualifications for this role at PartsTech. Actual responsibilities and qualifications may vary depending on the specific needs of the company and department.