Senior Engineering Manager, Backend
Engineering Manager · Manager · Full Time
Opens Poshmark's application page
Role
What you'll do.
Senior Engineering Manager role at Poshmark, a leading social commerce platform with 165 million members. You'll lead multiple engineering teams, shape technical strategy for a major product area, and drive execution across large cross-functional initiatives while maintaining deep technical judgment. This role combines organizational leadership with hands-on technical contributions, requiring 10+ years of software engineering experience and 5+ years of engineering management, particularly in leading multiple teams and building distributed systems.
Responsibilities
- Multi-team Engineering Leadership: Lead and manage multiple engineering teams across a major product area, providing strategic direction and tactical guidance while fostering a collaborative environment that encourages innovation and technical excellence.
- Technical Strategy & Architecture: Define and shape engineering strategy aligned with company objectives, participate actively in architecture reviews, challenge technical decisions with deep domain expertise, and drive architectural consistency across all teams under your leadership.
- Cross-Functional Program Execution: Drive execution of large-scale, cross-functional initiatives by partnering closely with Product, Design, Data Science, and executive leadership to align technical delivery with business outcomes and customer impact.
- Engineering Leadership Development: Develop and mentor Engineering Managers and technical leaders, creating pathways for career growth, improving organizational capabilities, and building a strong succession pipeline within your organization.
- Organizational Planning & Talent Management: Own organizational planning, staffing decisions, hiring strategy, and succession planning to ensure the team has the right talent and structure to execute long-term platform strategy and scale effectively.
- Process Optimization & Culture Building: Improve engineering processes and systems to remove friction and unnecessary bureaucracy while creating an environment where engineers can perform their best work and feel empowered to contribute strategically.
- Platform Alignment & Investment Planning: Ensure engineering investments align with long-term platform strategy and business priorities, making data-driven decisions about resource allocation and technical debt management across your domain.
Qualifications
What we look for.
Technical
Distributed Systems Architecture
Deep understanding of distributed systems principles, including consistency models, fault tolerance, scalability patterns, and trade-offs in designing systems for reliability and performance.
System Design & Technical Decision-Making
Ability to evaluate complex technical decisions, conduct architecture reviews, assess technical approaches for long-term viability, and guide teams toward optimal solutions.
Software Development Fundamentals
Strong foundation in software development practices, design patterns, code quality standards, and engineering discipline necessary to mentor teams and make informed technical judgments.
Scalable Backend Systems
Hands-on experience building backend systems capable of serving massive scale, understanding performance optimization, data persistence, API design, and operational excellence.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or Related Field
Academic foundation in computer science, software engineering, mathematics, or equivalent discipline, providing foundational knowledge for advanced technical leadership roles.
Experience
10+ Years Software Engineering
Comprehensive background spanning multiple software engineering roles with deep expertise in designing, building, and scaling systems at scale across diverse technology domains and company stages.
5+ Years Engineering Management
Proven track record of successful engineering management with progressive responsibility, including direct experience leading and developing other managers and overseeing multiple engineering teams simultaneously.
Large-Scale Distributed Systems
Hands-on experience architecting and building large distributed systems, understanding tradeoffs between performance, reliability, and scalability in production environments serving millions of users.
Technical Leadership in Complex Organizations
Demonstrated ability to provide technical vision and leadership while navigating complex organizational structures, multiple stakeholders, and competing priorities in scaled engineering environments.
Cross-Functional Program Delivery
Proven ability to execute large, complex programs involving multiple engineering teams, product, design, and other functions with accountability for outcomes and timelines.
Skills
Required
Engineering Team Leadership
Proven ability to lead, mentor, and develop high-performing engineering teams across multiple areas, fostering psychological safety, ownership, and excellence.
Technical Strategy & Vision
Capability to develop coherent technical strategies that align with business goals, articulate clear technical vision, and guide teams toward long-term architectural excellence.
Organizational Leadership
Strong organizational and people leadership skills including hiring, performance management, career development, and creating organizational structures that scale.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Ability to work effectively with product, design, data science, and executive stakeholders, translating between technical and business contexts to drive aligned outcomes.
Executive Communication
Excellent communication skills with ability to articulate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences, present to leadership, and influence without authority.
Architectural Judgment
Ability to evaluate technical approaches, understand system tradeoffs, and make sound architectural decisions that balance performance, maintainability, and business constraints.
Program Execution
Track record of successfully driving large, complex initiatives to completion with multiple dependencies, unclear requirements, and cross-functional coordination challenges.
Preferred
Marketplace Platform Experience
Nice to haveBackground building or leading engineering efforts in marketplace platforms, understanding the unique challenges of connecting buyers and sellers with scale and reliability.
Search & Discovery Systems
Nice to haveExperience with search infrastructure, ranking algorithms, discovery systems, or information retrieval at scale, relevant to e-commerce and marketplace environments.
Machine Learning & Recommendations
Nice to haveFamiliarity with machine learning systems, recommendation engines, and data science collaboration in driving personalization and user engagement.
Advertising & Monetization Platforms
Nice to haveExperience with advertising systems, monetization infrastructure, or commerce platforms that balance user experience with revenue generation.
Engineering Organization Scaling
Nice to haveDemonstrated experience scaling engineering organizations from smaller teams to larger organizations, including process improvements and cultural development.
Organizational Change Leadership
Nice to haveTrack record of leading organizational change initiatives, restructurings, or transformations while maintaining team morale and delivering results.
High-Performance Engineering Culture
Nice to haveExperience building and sustaining high-performing engineering cultures focused on ownership, quality, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Tech stack
Languages
Frameworks
Databases
Tools
Other
Compensation
Pay and benefits.
Base·USD 210,000 – 280,000
Equity·Stock options
Benefits
Equity & Stock Options
Participate in company growth through equity grants as a key leadership member, aligning your success with Poshmark's long-term performance and mission.
Comprehensive Health Insurance
Full health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your family, with company contributions to ensure access to quality healthcare.
401(k) Retirement Plan
Employer-matched 401(k) retirement savings program to support your long-term financial security and retirement planning.
Flexible Time Off
Generous paid time off policy that recognizes the importance of work-life balance, rest, and personal well-being for sustained performance.
Professional Development
Investment in your continued growth through conference attendance, training programs, and educational opportunities to advance your leadership capabilities.
Remote Work Flexibility
Hybrid or remote work arrangements depending on team needs, enabling flexibility to work in the environment where you're most productive.
Employee Wellness Programs
Mental health support, wellness stipends, and fitness benefits to support holistic employee well-being and work-life integration.
Parental Leave
Comprehensive parental leave benefits supporting both primary and secondary caregivers during life-changing family events.
Company Events & Culture
Regular team events, all-hands meetings, and cultural initiatives that foster connection and community within the engineering organization.
Process
Interview steps.
- 01
Initial Screening Call
Preliminary conversation with recruiting or hiring manager to discuss your background, experience, and alignment with the role's leadership philosophy and technical requirements.
- 02
Technical Assessment Discussion
Deep dive conversation with engineering leadership exploring your approach to system design, technical architecture decisions, and how you evaluate complex technical tradeoffs.
- 03
Leadership & Strategy Interview
Discussion with senior leadership focused on organizational leadership philosophy, how you develop engineering leaders, approach to building high-performing teams, and strategic thinking.
- 04
Cross-Functional Stakeholder Conversations
Meetings with Product, Design, or Data Science leaders to assess collaboration style, communication effectiveness, and ability to partner across disciplines.
- 05
Executive Leadership Interview
Conversation with executive stakeholders (VP Engineering or CTO) to discuss long-term vision, strategic alignment, and how you approach major organizational challenges.
- 06
Offer & Culture Fit Discussion
Final conversation addressing compensation, logistics, team dynamics, and ensuring mutual fit before extending an offer.
Full posting
Original listing.
About Poshmark
Poshmark is the leading fashion marketplace where style comes alive through discovery, self-expression, and human connection. Powered by a vibrant community of 165 million members, Poshmark brings real people and taste to shopping through a social experience shaped by shared discovery. Buying and selling fashion feels simple, joyful, and personal, while every item tells its own story. Poshmark empowers sellers to grow meaningful businesses, keeps fashion in circulation longer, and gives shoppers access to unique and trusted finds, from everyday pieces to one-of-a-kind vintage and luxury.
Senior Engineering Manager
Role Summary
We're looking for a Senior Engineering Manager to lead multiple engineering teams while shaping the technical direction of a major product area.
This role combines organizational leadership with deep technical judgment. You'll influence architecture, grow future engineering leaders, and drive execution across several teams.
This is not a pure management role. We expect Senior Engineering Managers to understand systems deeply enough to participate in architecture reviews, challenge technical decisions, and help teams navigate ambiguity.
Responsibilities
Lead multiple engineering teams across a product area.
Develop Engineering Managers and technical leaders.
Drive execution across large cross-functional initiatives.
Define engineering strategy aligned with company goals.
Partner closely with Product, Design, Data Science, and executive leadership.
Improve engineering processes without adding unnecessary bureaucracy.
Ensure engineering investments align with long-term platform strategy.
Drive architectural consistency across teams.
Own organizational planning, staffing, hiring, and succession planning.
Create an environment where engineers can do their best work.
Qualifications
Required
10+ years software engineering experience.
5+ years engineering management experience.
Experience managing managers or multiple engineering teams.
Strong background building large distributed systems.
Demonstrated technical leadership across complex organizations.
Proven ability to execute large, cross-functional programs.
Excellent communication and organizational leadership.
Preferred
Experience in marketplaces, search, advertising, or machine learning.
Experience scaling engineering organizations.
Experience leading organizational change.
Experience building high-performing engineering cultures.
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