Senior Director - Search Engineering

Own the future of sports fan discovery at Fanatics! As the Sr. Director of Engineering for Find & Discover, you'll lead a talented team in building and optimizing features that elevate the customer experience on the Fanatics family of 900+ websites, including nflshop.com, mlbshop.com, and store.nba.com. Fanatics is the undisputed leader in licensed sports merchandise. You'll be the driving force behind innovative search and navigation solutions, unlocking powerful fan journeys and fueling our continued growth.

 

What you'll be doing:

• Define and lead the vision and strategy for search and browse features on Fanatics.com, ensuring a flawless customer experience at every touchpoint.
• Oversee the development, deployment, and optimization of front-end features like search bars, filters, category pages, and product listings.
• Champion the growth and effectiveness of facet navigation, enabling fans to refine their search and discover their dream gear efficiently and precisely.
• Lead a high-performing team of engineers responsible for the search backend infrastructure – from indexing and ranking algorithms to data pipelines and caching strategies.
• Closely collaborate with UX and product management teams to understand user needs, translate them into technical requirements, and deliver solutions that exceed expectations.
• Collaborate closely with platform, infrastructure, and cloud teams to ensure scalability, performance, and reliability of search and browse features.
• Stay at the forefront of search technology, leveraging methodologies like ranking, semantic search, NLP, embeddings, and vector search to deliver unmatched relevance and personalized results.
• Drive measurable improvements through A/B testing and data analysis, iterating continuously to optimize engagement and conversion.
• Lead and empower your team to achieve ambitious OKRs and foster a culture of innovation and collaboration.
• Partner with the QA team to ensure the highest quality standards for all search and browse experiences.

What we're looking for:

• 12+ years of experience in software engineering, with a proven track record of success in leading high-performing teams.
• Deep search technology expertise includes ranking algorithms, relevance models, and performance optimization techniques.
• Experience leading a search backend team, including architects, data scientists, and infrastructure engineers.
• Solid understanding of cloud platforms and infrastructure, with experience working with teams in these areas.
• Passion for the customer experience and a relentless drive to deliver innovative solutions that delight fans.
• Exceptional leadership skills, including inspiring, motivating, and mentoring a team of talented engineers.
• Data-driven mindset with a focus on continuous improvement through A/B testing and experimentation.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, able to effectively partner with cross-functional teams.

Bonus Points!

• Experience working in e-commerce.
• Familiarity with machine learning techniques used in search and recommendation systems.
• Passion for fan culture and understanding of their search and discovery needs.