Director of Engineering - Auctions & Sourcing
ABOUT SOTHEBY'S
Established in 1744, Sotheby’s is the world’s premier destination for art and luxury. Sotheby’s promotes access to and ownership of exceptional art and luxury objects through auctions and buy-now channels including private sales, e-commerce and retail. Our trusted global marketplace is supported by an industry-leading technology platform and a network of specialists spanning 40 countries and 70 categories which include Contemporary Art, Modern and Impressionist Art, Old Masters, Chinese Works of Art, Jewelry, Watches, Wine and Spirits, and Design, as well as collectible cars and real estate. Sotheby’s believes in the transformative power of art and culture and is committed to making our industries more inclusive, sustainable and collaborative.
THE ROLE
Lead engineering for our Auctions & Sourcing platforms, driving outcomes through hands-on technical leadership and strong product partnerships. You'll guide teams in building our auction systems and sourcing platforms while fostering a culture of ownership and engineering excellence.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Drive engineering outcomes across auction management and consignment sourcing platforms through direct technical contribution and team leadership
- Partner with product teams to deliver high-value, cost-effective solutions
- Build highly cohesive teams that own their development processes while meeting product needs
- Drive pragmatic technical decisions that favor proven, scalable solutions and managed services
- Make technical decisions backed by metrics and system data
- Actively participate in technical decisions through direct code reviews and system design discussions
IDEAL EXPERIENCE & COMPETENCIES
Technical Leadership
- 12+ years of engineering experience, 5+ years leading teams.
- Experience building and retaining high-performing engineering teams.
- Ability to set clear expectations and provide actionable feedback.
- Strong hands-on capabilities in distributed systems and cloud infrastructure.
- Proven track record deploying and maintaining large-scale user-facing applications.
- Experience modernizing critical business systems.
- Track record of building reliable, cost-effective solutions.
Working Style
- Proven track record of delivering measurable business impact.
- Demonstrates intellectual curiosity and collaborative problem-solving approach.
- Balances strong opinions with openness to alternative approaches.
- Drives technical alignment while minimizing meeting overhead.
Product Partnership
- Proven ability to translate business needs into technical solutions.
- Experience balancing technical debt against product delivery.
- Track record of improving engineering-product collaboration.
- Skill in representing engineering considerations in product planning.
- Experience with gRPC and GraphQL is a plus.
- BS or MS in Computer Science or related technical field.
- This remote-first role requires excellent communication skills and building trust across globally distributed teams.
To view our Candidate Privacy Notice for the US, please click here.
To view our Candidate Privacy Notice for the UK, Hong Kong, France and Switzerland, please click here.
The Company is an equal opportunity employer and considers all applicants for employment without regard to race (including, without limitation, traits historically associated with race, such as natural hair, hair texture, and protective and treated or untreated hairstyles), color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership/union status, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy, genetic predisposition, genetic information, reproductive health decision, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, alienage or citizenship status, domestic violence victim status, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state/province or local law. The Company complies with applicable state and local laws prohibiting discrimination in employment in every jurisdiction in which it operates.
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By
Sotheby's
Established in 1744, Sotheby’s is the world’s largest, most trusted and dynamic marketplace for art and luxury. We empower our international community of collectors and connoisseurs to discover, acquire, finance and consign fine art and rare objec...
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