Backend Engineer - Search and Retrieval

Company Description Depop is a peer-to-peer circular fashion marketplace where anyone can buy, sell and discover secondhand fashion. Our mission is simple: to make fashion circular by making secondhand as exciting and rewarding as buying new. Founded in 2011, Depop’s diverse community has helped move resale into the mainstream, where buying secondhand is no longer an alternative, but how people of different ages now engage with fashion. Today, more than 56 million registered users come to Depop to find great value, express their own personal style and give clothes a longer life. We believe that everything you want already exists, and our role is to help people discover it. Powered by a team of over 500 people, our company is headquartered in London, with offices in New York. In 2021, Depop became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Etsy - the global marketplace for unique and creative goods - and continues to operate as a standalone company. For more information, visit www.depop.com We aim to create an inclusive environment where everyone is welcome, no matter who they are or where they’re from. Just as our platform connects people globally, we believe our workplace should reflect the diversity of the communities we serve. We thrive on the power of different perspectives and experiences, knowing they drive innovation and bring us closer to our users. We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer, providing employment opportunities without regard to age, ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy or maternity, marriage and civil partnership, or any other protected status. We’re continuously evolving our recruitment processes to ensure fairness and are open to accommodating any needs you might have. AI Disclosure: We use AI tools (Google Gemini) to help our team source and review applications for roles with a high volume of applications. These tools assist our recruiters in identifying great talent but do not replace human decision-making. At Depop, every hiring decision is made by a human. If, due to a disability, you need adjustments to complete the application, please let us know by sending an email with your name, the role to which you would like to apply, and the type of support you need to complete the application to adjustments@depop.com. Job Description Depop is looking for an experienced Backend Software Engineer to join us permanently in the Search and Retrieval team. Within this role, you’ll be working in the cross-functional team in partnership with mobile, web and machine learning/data science teams to drive the team to success. You will be responsible for maintaining, scaling and improving the search system. As well as improving the underlying infrastructure that serves search and recommendations at Depop. Responsibilities As a Backend Engineer within this team, you can expect to: Work closely with Product Managers, Data Scientists, Front-End and other Backend Engineers to understand problems and to design solutions.Produce high-quality code that is well-structured and simple to understand that will be used by 1M+ active daily usersEmbrace agile methodologiesEngage in a culture of continuous improvement by attending events such as blameless post-mortems, architecture reviews etc. Collaborate on a daily basis with fellow engineers in the cross functional environment to solve problems and write codeYou’ll own , code, workflows and data, through their entire lifecycleDocumenting any feature development Qualifications Be capable of writing high quality code in Scala, Java or Python Experience or interest in working with retrieval systems such as Opensearch/Elasticsearch or similarEagerness to work with ML colleagues on ML driven retrieval systemsExperience with distributed datastores (e.g. DynamoDB, Redshift, AWS Athena)Experience with Message queues: (e.g. RabbitMQ / Apache Kafka)Experience building scalable applications serving 10,000s of requests per secondExperience working with RDBMS, ideally PostgresDevOps culture (CI/CD pipeline)Ability to proactively find and solve complex problems independently, but also know when to seek guidance or help from your peers. Must Haves Experience with Scala or Java or PythonProficient in testing solutions at different levels - unit, integration, etcExperience with relational or non-relational databases, preferably PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, AWS Athena Nice To Haves Experience with search systems such as Elasticsearch/OpenSearchExperience with Vector based retrieval systemsExperience working with ML scientists and ML pipelines Experience in eCommerceExperience with event-driven architectures, such as KafkaExperience in using production AWS infrastructureA genuine curiosity about AI and a willingness to explore how it can enhance your day-to-day work Additional Information Health + Mental Wellbeing PMI and cash plan healthcare access with BupaSubsidised counselling and coaching with Self SpaceCycle to Work scheme with options from Evans or the Green Commute InitiativeEmployee Assistance Programme (EAP) for 24/7 confidential supportMental Health First Aiders across the business for support and signposting Work/Life Balance 25 days of annual leave with the option to carry over up to 5 daysImpact hours: Up to 2 days of additional paid leave per year for volunteeringFully paid 4-week sabbatical after completion of 5 years of consecutive service with Depop, to give you a chance to recharge or do something you love.Flexible Working: MyMode hybrid-working model with Flex, Office-Based, and Remote options *role-dependentAll offices are dog-friendly Family Life For birth parent: 20 weeks of paid parental leave for full-time regular employeesFor non-birth parents: 12 weeks of paid parental leave for full-time regular employees IVF leave, shared parental leave, and paid emergency parent/carer leave Learn + Grow: Twice-yearly development chats and yearly performance reviewsLearning budgetUpskilling our employees with company-wide training workshops, materials and resources Your Future Life Insurance (financial compensation of 3x your salary)Pension matching up to 6% of full base salary with Aviva Depop Extras In-office Depop Shop (that’s free!) and a packing station with free delivery.Special milestones are celebrated with gifts and rewards!