Director of Engineering, eBay

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, with 5+ years in direct people management and 3+ years managing other managers
• Master's degree in Computer Science, or Bachelor's degree with equivalent experience
• Proven ability to lead, inspire, mentor, and grow large engineering teams and managers. Strong coaching skills
• Significant hands-on technical background (software development, architecture, systems design). Ability to understand complex technical challenges and trade-offs deeply, even if not coding daily
• Ability to set technical vision, translate business strategy into engineering execution, and make long-term architectural decisions
• Proven track record of shipping complex, high-quality software products at scale. Expertise in Agile methodologies
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills. Ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences (including executives)
• Excellent interpersonal and stakeholder management skills. Ability to build strong cross-functional partnerships
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills. Ability to navigate ambiguity and make sound decisions under pressure
• Experience establishing processes, metrics, and driving continuous improvement

Desirable

• We are looking for a director of engineering to lead the Item Engineering Organization. This individual will lead a group of highly motivated, collaborative, smart, driven engineers who can help us reshape the future of our e-commerce platform. You'll also work with a world class team of designers, product managers, business partners and analysts in a fun environment building world-class customer experiences
• Define and drive the long-term technical vision, roadmap, and architecture for the engineering organization
• Align engineering strategy with overall business goals and product vision
• Evaluate and recommend new technologies, tools, and methodologies
• Ensure technical decisions support scalability, reliability, security, and maintainability
• Lead, mentor, and grow multiple Engineering Managers and/or Team Leads
• Oversee the hiring, onboarding, performance management, and career development of engineering staff (including managers and senior ICs)
• Foster a high-performing, collaborative, innovative, and inclusive engineering culture
• Build and maintain team morale, engagement, and retention
• Oversee the planning, execution, and timely delivery of complex software projects across multiple teams
• Ensure teams adhere to best practices (coding standards, code reviews, testing, CI/CD)
• Manage engineering budgets, resource allocation, and capacity planning
• Track key performance indicators (KPIs) related to delivery velocity, quality, and system health
• Establish, optimize, and standardize engineering processes (SDLC, Agile/Scrum/Kanban, release management, incident response)
• Drive continuous improvement in engineering efficiency, productivity, and quality
• Implement and monitor metrics to measure team and organizational performance
• Partner closely with Product Management, Design, Data Science, Security, and IT/Operations to define requirements, prioritize work, and ensure successful product delivery
• Collaborate with senior leadership (Sr. Directors, other Directors, Executives) on strategic initiatives and company-wide goals
• Represent the engineering organization in cross-functional meetings and strategic discussions
• Provide high-level technical guidance and oversight across projects
• Champion software quality, best practices, and operational reliability (e.g., SLOs, SLIs)
• Ensure systems are designed for scalability, performance, and cost-efficiency
• Manage technical debt and advocate for necessary refactoring/infrastructure investments
• Growing your team through coaching, mentoring
• Forecast hiring needs and participate in recruitment strategy