This is early, open territory. The standards are young, customer behaviors are still forming, and there's no established playbook to follow. You'll partner closely with engineering and product leadership to give the space shape — working out what's worth building, making the architectural decisions together, and getting real functionality in front of customers to learn from. For the first stretch you'll be the primary engineer on this work, with broad ownership of how it comes together. You'll report to our Senior Director of Engineering.
In This Role You'll Get To
Design and build the agentic-commerce layer end to end — from exposing our catalog, pricing, and inventory to AI shopping agents through cart, checkout, and order handoff — defining the integration surface rather than inheriting one.
Own how ThredUp gets discovered and surfaced by LLM-driven shopping agents, including the structured data that makes 4M+ unique, single-SKU items legible to machines.
Prototype quickly against real agent platforms, then harden what proves out into production-grade services — working across the stack, wherever the problem lives.
Use AI tools and agentic workflows as a core part of how you build, setting the bar for what AI-native engineering looks like at ThredUp.
Partner with engineering, product, and executive leadership to turn an undefined space into a roadmap, carry it from idea to shipped, and let real customer usage drive what comes next.
Our stack: Ruby on Rails, Java/JVM, MySQL, Kafka, Redis, Sidekiq, OpenSearch, AWS, Kubernetes, Terraform. Apollo GraphQL API gateway. React, PWA, native iOS and Android. No prior experience with any particular piece required.
What We're Looking For
5+ years of software engineering experience, owning systems end to end from ambiguous problem to production.
Fluent daily use of LLMs and agentic coding tools, with strong instincts for where AI output needs human judgment.
Experience building or deploying systems powered by LLMs, and an understanding of how model behavior shapes product experience.
Strong API and integration design skills, for interfaces consumed by other systems rather than by people.
Depth in backend engineering with the range to work across the stack. Design judgment matters more here than which languages you've used.
Genuine curiosity about a space that changes monthly — new protocols, new tooling, new model capabilities — and the habit of keeping up with it.
Comfort working from a blank page without a surrounding team to make progress.
The judgment to scope a problem, put a plan behind it, and drive it to shipped rather than exploring indefinitely.
Clear communication with engineers and non-technical executives alike.
Familiarity with the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), MCP, or other emerging agentic-commerce standards is a plus.
E-commerce or marketplace experience is a plus.
Experience having built something from zero, whether at a startup or inside a larger company is a plus.
Many ThredUp employees also have the opportunity to own shares of ThredUp stock, ThredUp employees are eligible for discretionary restricted stock unit awards, as well as a discount when purchasing ThredUp stock if voluntarily participating in ThredUp's Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Subject to eligibility requirements, you'll also receive other benefits: Comprehensive medical & dental coverage, vision, 401k, life and disability insurance.
This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship.
What We Offer
4-day work week, with most Fridays off
Competitive salary (we leverage market data)
Many ThredUp employees also have the opportunity to own shares of ThredUp stock and are eligible for discretionary restricted stock unit awards
Employee stock purchase plan
Flexible PTO (take the time you need) + 13 company holidays
Paid Sabbatical after 3 years of full time employment
Generous paid parental leave for new mothers and fathers
Medical, dental, vision, 401k, life and disability insurance offered
We live by our Core Values of Transparency, SpeakingUP, Thinking Big, Infinite Learning, Influencing Outcomes & Seeking the Truth
We believe diversity, inclusion and belonging is key for our team
At ThredUp, our mission has been built on extending the lives of millions of unique clothing items. Much like our inventory, we are proud to have fostered a workplace that is one-of-a-kind. As a company focused on diversity, inclusion and belonging, we are committed to ensuring our employees are comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work every day. A unique perspective is critical to solving complex problems and inspiring a new generation to think secondhand first. Be you.
If you are a candidate with a disability and have a reasonable accommodation request for the job application process, please email disabilitysupport@ThredUp.com the specific details of your disability related accommodation request. This email address is reserved for candidates with disabilities only. General application inquiries will not receive a response.
