Current Role and Responsibilities
John Davies has been serving as the Vice President of Engineering at Etsy since September 2019. His leadership trajectory at Etsy includes prior roles as Senior Director of Engineering and Director of Engineering, indicating continuous advancement within the company’s engineering hierarchy. He leads the Payments Engineering group, which encompasses critical functions such as checkout systems, payment processing, disbursements, and managing Etsy’s PCI compliance footprint. His teams are responsible for handling monetary transactions efficiently across dozens of countries and multiple currencies, reflecting a complex and highly regulated operational scope.
Leadership and Technical Expertise
John manages a sizable engineering organization comprising over 40 analysts, developers, contractors, and offshore resources operating across various delivery teams. Under his stewardship, his team has delivered critical input under aggressive timelines, significantly influencing development methodologies now standard within Etsy’s engineering practices. His leadership style is recognized for balancing technical rigor with business needs—he approaches projects with an eye on the big picture to engineer solid, business-aligned solutions.
He strongly advocates for experimentation as a key driver of technical innovation, actively promoting this ethos inside Etsy and in external forums such as the Dublin Tech Summit. This approach aligns with Etsy’s culture that values diligence, craftsmanship, and innovation.
Professional Background
Before joining Etsy, John held various senior technical leadership roles at OppenheimerFunds from July 2011 to July 2019, concluding as Head of Digital Technology. There, he led an engineering organization of comparable scale and complexity, supporting a strong foundation in managing multifaceted technical teams in financial services.
Company Context – Etsy
Etsy operates within the Flowers, Gifts & Specialty Stores industry and is headquartered in New York, United States. The platform supports seamless commerce across borders and cultures, maintaining a strong emphasis on artisan and crafted goods. Recent strategic developments at Etsy include a focus on recovering its artisan roots, moving away from commoditization, and a significant emphasis on experimentation and innovation within its technology teams. Etsy has faced economic headwinds and competition pressures, including a 28% stock value decline in 2024 and leadership team reshuffles, emphasizing the critical role of its engineering leadership in maintaining competitive and operational excellence.
Relevant Professional Insights for Engagement
- John Davies has demonstrated the ability to understand and translate business needs into robust technical solutions and has a track record of delivering under pressure and tight deadlines.
- He leads Etsy’s Payments engineering, a high-impact and security-sensitive domain that requires deep knowledge of compliance, cross-border financial flows, and system reliability.
- His leadership of experimentation initiatives suggests openness to innovative technical solutions that support iterative development and risk management.
- John’s prior experience in financial services technology potentially enriches his perspective on payment processing and digital transaction security.
- His involvement in external industry events signals a willingness to engage with new ideas and partnerships within the technology ecosystem.
This profile underscores John Davies as a senior, highly experienced engineering leader at Etsy with comprehensive responsibility for critical payment infrastructure and a strong strategic focus on innovation, operational reliability, and compliance in a complex e-commerce environment.
