Machine Learning Engineering Manager at Deliveroo

MACHINE LEARNING ENGINEERING MANAGER – SEARCH & RECOMMENDATIONS Join us in our mission to transform the way people shop and eat, where impact, innovation and growth drive everything we do. Our Engineering teams tackle complex technical challenges across a global, three-sided marketplace, building and scaling systems that serve millions of customers, riders and partners every day. From real-time logistics to resilient infrastructure and marketplace optimisation, we design, build and operate technology that powers Deliveroo’s growth at scale. We’re looking for a Machine Learning Engineering Manager to join our London team. In this role, you’ll lead the Search & Recommendations team to build and scale the ML systems that optimise discovery across restaurants, grocery, and retail, directly impacting how millions of customers find what they love. Get to know our Engineering [Upgrade to PRO to see link] team — what drives us, how we work, and what you can expect. WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING You’ll be joining the Search & Recommendations team. This team sits at the heart of our consumer experience, owning the ranking and recommendation engines that drive growth and engagement across our global marketplace. Here’s what your day-to-day might look like: - Lead and develop a high-performing team of Machine Learning Engineers (from mid to Staff levels), fostering a culture of technical excellence, ownership, and rapid experimentation. - Own and evolve the search ranking and recommendation systems that power customer discovery, focusing on relevance, personalisation, and supply-demand balance. - Provide technical guidance on ML system design, modelling approaches, and production architecture to ensure systems are robust, scalable, and production-grade. - Partner with Product and Data Science to identify high-impact opportunities, define roadmaps, and translate ambiguous business problems into ML solutions. - Drive key marketplace metrics, such as conversion and engagement, while balancing experimentation, system performance, and long-term technical quality. WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO THRIVE Essential - Proven experience line-managing ML Engineers, with a track record of building high-performing teams and coaching engineers through career progression. - Significant experience building and deploying machine learning systems in production at scale, specifically in areas like Search, Information Retrieval, or Personalisation. - Demonstrated ownership of complex technical roadmaps and the ability to manage stakeholders across product, engineering, and business functions. - Strong technical expertise in modern ML tooling (e.g., Python, PyTorch/TensorFlow) and experience handling noisy, real-world data in a fast-paced environment. - A pragmatic and impact-focused mindset, prioritizing outcomes and customer experience over theoretical perfection. Nice to Have - Experience with multi-armed bandits or explore-exploit systems. - Familiarity with LLMs or Generative AI within the context of search and recommendations. - Background in experimentation platforms or causal inference. WHY JOIN US? At Deliveroo, you’ll do work that matters—solving real-world problems in a three-sided marketplace that’s constantly evolving. We’re food lovers, problem solvers, community builders and more, brought together by a shared drive to make things better. Working here you can expect to: 🔧 Solve meaningful problems at real scale Work on a complex, always-on marketplace that impacts millions every day. 🌱 See your impact, fast Ship, test and improve ideas quickly in a low-hierarchy, high-ownership environment. 🧠 Grow through challenge and ownership Take on big, ambiguous problems and accelerate your career with strong support. 🌎 A culture built for builders High standards, collaboration, flexible working and continuous learning. 💰 Share in the success you help create Competitive salary and equity options, so you’re rewarded for the impact you make. ➡️ Want a deeper look at how we build? Check out our Tech Blog [Upgrade to PRO to see link] OUR GLOBAL STRUCTURE Deliveroo is now part of DoorDash, bringing together teams with even greater reach, scale, and ambition. Depending on your role, you may collaborate with teammates, systems, and leaders across DoorDash and Wolt. Together, we’re unlocking new possibilities as one global team. DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION At Deliveroo, we know that a great workplace reflects the world around us and that true diversity and inclusion make us stronger, more creative, and better at what we do. We’re committed to fostering an environment where everyone can do their best work and feel they belong. We believe in equality of opportunity and welcome candidates from all backgrounds regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion, or belief. If you have a disability or long-term health condition and need support to apply for one of our roles, or require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, you’ll have the opportunity to let us know once you’ve submitted your application. We’ll share details on how to request support so we can ensure you have a fair and equitable experience. If you’re excited about making a real impact in a fast-moving marketplace and growing your career alongside ambitious, supportive teams, we’d love to hear from you!