Engineering Manager, Research and Development

If you are looking for a career at a dynamic company with a people-first mindset and a deep culture of growth and autonomy, ACV is the right place for you! Competitive compensation packages and learning and development opportunities, ACV has what you need to advance to the next level in your career. We will continue to raise the bar every day by investing in our people and technology to help our customers succeed. We hire people who share our passion, bring innovative ideas to the table, and enjoy a collaborative atmosphere.

Please note that this is a hybrid work environment in Buffalo, NY or Toronto, CA.

Who we are: ACV is a technology company that has revolutionized how dealers buy and sell cars online. We are transforming the automotive industry. ACV Auctions Inc. (ACV), has applied innovation and user-designed, data driven applications and solutions. We are building the most trusted and efficient digital marketplace with data solutions for sourcing, selling and managing used vehicles with transparency and comprehensive insights that were once unimaginable. We are disruptors of the industry and we want you to join us on our journey. Our network of brands include ACV Auctions, ACV Transportation, ClearCar, MAX Digital and ACV Capital within its Marketplace Products, as well as, True360 and Data Services.

At ACV we focus on the Health, Physical, Financial, Social and Emotional Wellness of our Teammates and, to support this, we offer:

Multiple medical plans including a high deductible, low cost health plan

Company-sponsored (paid) Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, and Life Insurance

Comprehensive optional benefits such as Dental, Vision, Supplemental Life/AD&D, Legal/ID Protection, and Accident and Critical Illness Insurance

Generous paid time off options, including uncapped vacation days, the greater of 3 paid sick days or in accordance with the applicable state or local paid sick leave law, 6 paid company holidays, 2 floating holidays, parental leave, bereavement leave, jury duty leave, voting leave, and other forms of paid leave as required by applicable law or regulation

Employee Stock Purchase Program with additional opportunities to earn stock in the Company

Retirement planning through the Company’s 401(k)

Who are we looking for: We’re hiring a Product Manager to lead our Data & Search platform, with a focus on leveraging industry leading data capabilities to improve how buyers discover inventory and how sellers maximize performance. As a Product Manager for our Vehicle Intelligence Team you will you will sit at the intersection of:

Auto Tech / Automotive Marketplace dynamics (supply, demand, pricing)

Search & ranking systems

Machine learning models (ranking, pricing, recommendations)

This role directly impacts

conversion, liquidity, and revenue optimization

across the platform.

This role sits at the core of building a

data-driven competitive advantage

by ensuring the platform has the

highest quality, most complete, and most actionable data foundation

in the market. While machine learning enables optimization, it is the

breadth, accuracy, and structure of the underlying data

that ultimately determines performance. You will drive how vehicle, pricing, and behavioral data are sourced, enriched, standardized, and made usable across the ecosystem—powering everything from search relevance to pricing confidence and marketplace liquidity. By improving data coverage, reducing inconsistency, and unlocking new signals, you enable faster, more reliable decision-making for both buyers and sellers, creating a compounding advantage that competitors cannot easily replicate.

What you will do

Own data products powering ML models, such as vehicle attributes, condition, and history.

Lead as the connective tissue between Engineering, Data Science, ML teams, and Commercial stakeholders.

Collaborate with engineering and data science teams on ML model feature definition and selection, ensuring inputs align with product goals, customer behavior, and measurable business outcomes.

Collaborate with engineering and data science teams to define, evaluate, and improve model performance metrics aligned to product outcomes and customer value.

Employ a hypothesis-driven approach to product development, converting ambiguity and assumptions into a clear framework for experimentation and validation via experimentation frameworks, including A/B testing, and evaluating offline versus online metrics to measure product and model performance.

Ensure data quality, coverage, and the reliability of underlying models and services that power critical product experiences and business decisions.

Translate complex data from multiple sources—including user behavior, seller performance, and model outputs—into actionable insights that drive product prioritization and innovation.

Improve inventory liquidity, pricing accuracy to drive trust and optimize the marketplace.

Identify high-leverage product opportunities through ranking improvements, data enrichment, and better use of signals to improve relevance, conversion, and customer outcomes.

Guide product strategy by evaluating and clearly communicating critical trade-offs between technical implementation and business value (e.g., performance vs. explainability).

Define and own a 6–12 month roadmap across Data, Search, and ML-driven features.

Articulate and advocate for product strategy, roadmap, and business outcomes to executive leadership to secure buy-in and alignment.

What you should have:

4+ years industry (Auto-tech) / Product Management experience

Experience owning data-heavy or technically complex product areas, including data pipelines, schema and event design, platform integrations, and prioritizing product investments that improve data accessibility, usability, and business impact.

Strong understanding of modern data hygiene practices, including data quality management, governance, lineage, validation, and the processes required to ensure trusted, reliable, and scalable data assets across the organization.

Demonstrated success in identifying and implementing LLM-based solutions to augment user workflows, resulting in significant efficiency gains or enhanced capabilities.

Proven track record of leading the end-to-end delivery of complex, technical products, from ideation through to launch and iteration, consistently driving measurable business impact.

Ability to drive product strategy by translating complex data into actionable insights, which requires a strong quantitative toolkit including hands‑on proficiency in SQL, rigorous experimentation design, and a deep understanding of metrics architecture

Experience working cross-functionally with engineering teams

Agile experience and release planning prioritization skills

Presentation skills - Ability to simplify complex data and technical systems

Mentoring and coaching skills

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or similar). Advanced degrees are a plus.

Our Values Trust & Transparency | People First | Positive Experiences | Calm Persistence | Never Settling

At ACV, we are committed to an inclusive culture in which every individual is welcomed and empowered to celebrate their true selves. We achieve this by fostering a work environment of acceptance and understanding that is free from discrimination. ACV is committed to being an equal opportunity employer regardless of sex, race, creed, color, religion, marital status, national origin, age, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, disability, military status, status as a veteran, or any other protected characteristic. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you have a disability or special need that requires reasonable accommodation, please let us know.

For information on our collection and use of your personal information, please see our Privacy Notice.

No immigration or work visa sponsorship provided for this position.

Compensation The compensation range for this position is listed in the "Job Details" section at the top of this posting. Please note that final compensation will be determined based upon the applicant's relevant experience, skill set, location, business needs, market demands, and other factors as permitted by law.

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