Senior Software Engineer, Etsy
Machine Learning, Search Systems
€98-132k
+ Equity package + Annual performance bonus
More information about location
eCommerce platform for handcrafted goods
Be an early applicant
eCommerce platform for handcrafted goods
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
€98-132k
+ Equity package + Annual performance bonus
More information about location
1001+ employees
Company mission
To keep human connection at the heart of commerce.
Role
Who you are
- You build and ship production ML systems, ideally in real-time search, recommendation, or ads systems
- You have strong engineering and coding skills, with the ability to write high quality production code. Proficiency in Python, Scala, Java and/or other equivalent languages
- You have experience with system performance optimization, caching strategies, and scaling high-throughput, low-latency services
- You turn ideas into deeply reliable and well tested code that other people – or you, six months into the future – will find easy to comprehend and modify
- You are a mindful, empathetic, and communicative member of your team
- Hands-on experience with AI and agentic frameworks, including designing and building agentic workflows
- Familiarity with modern retrieval and ranking techniques, including neural retrieval, semantic search, and transformer-based models is a plus
What the job involves
- We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer I, Machine Learning to join 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, the team has been focused on consolidating our retrieval systems, simplifying our architecture, and unlocking new machine learning capabilities to improve relevance, performance, and developer experience
- This is a full time role reporting to the Engineering Manager
- 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
- Utilizing numerous AI tools to unlock both individual and team velocity, developing agentic workflows while improving developer experience
- You'll design, build, and maintain search backend systems and infrastructure
- Partner with ML modeling teams to productionalize new retrieval and ranking models efficiently at scale
- Ensure reliable data pipelines, index health, and performance
- Develop features around indexing, query execution, and ranking infrastructure to improve latency, throughput, and system resilience
- Collaborate with cross-functional partners across other Search ML and Enablement Teams
- Contribute to a culture of technical excellence, mentorship, and continuous learning through regular code reviews, design discussions, and performance feedback
- 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
Application process
- Please share your resume with us and feel free to include a cover letter if you'd like
- We don't want you to be like everyone else -- we want you to be like you! So tell us what you're all about
Our take
Created as an alternative to more corporate eCommerce sites, Etsy is a peer-to-peer (P2P) website where users buy and sell handmade crafts, vintage items, art and photography. The online marketplace works similarly to Amazon and eBay, only with an emphasis on unique items rather than mass-produced merchandise.
Since its IPO in 2015, it has managed to hold its own in an increasingly competitive eCommerce industry, including from Amazon's handmade section that launched in 2015. Further, by providing sellers with ownership over pricing and branding, the site is attractive for those wanting to set up a business on an established platform.
However, the seller-side of Etsy is not without problems. A hike in transaction fees and the introduction of mandatory marketing fees for artists with high turnovers created significant discontent amongst sellers. Despite this, Etsy continues to connect artists and consumers, attracting shoppers with its message of extraordinary, handmade and affordable products.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
8% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 6 rounds)
May 2012
$40m
LATE VC
Aug 2010
$20m
SERIES E
Total funding: $91.7m
Company benefits
- Equity (offers vary by country)
- Performance bonuses
- Paid gender neutral parental leave
- Adoption and family planning
- Back-up care
- Volunteer time off
- Donation matching
- Employee resource groups
- Global virtual events
- Employer paid health benefits
- Fitness benefits
- Wellness programming
- Mental health benefits
Company HQ
Downtown Brooklyn, NY
Leadership
Josh Silverman
(CEO)Previously senior executive at eBay, CEO of Shopping.com, CEO of Skype and President of Consumer Products & Services at American Express.
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