Compared with the fractional order generalized themoelastic theory, the generalized thermoelastic theory based on the memory-dependent derivative has following significant advantages: First, the generalized thermoelastic theory with memory-dependent derivative has more specific physical meanings and can excellently describe that the present state of a system is dependent on its past states; Second, the memory-dependent derivative is based on the integer order calculus, which is more convenient to operate than fractional order model; Particularly, for different kernel functions, the time-dealy factor has different choice to adapt to different specific problems, which makes it greatly possible to describe the real thermoelastic response of medium. In present work, the transient response of an infinite rotating hollow cylindrical conductor with variable material properties subjected to a thermal shock at its inner surface is investigated based on the generalized thermoelastic theory with memory-dependent derivative. The hollow cylinder is placed in an external magnetic field with constant intensity, whose outer surface is traction free. The governing equations are formulated and then solved by using Laplace transform and its numerical inversion. The distributions of the dimensionless temperature, displacement, induced electric field, induced magnetic field, hoop stress as well as radial stress in the cylinder are obtained and illustrated graphically. The obtained results show that the kernel function, the time-delay factor and the temperature-dependent material properties influence the distributions of the considered variables more or less, while, the angular velocity significantly influence the variations of the dimensionless displacement, hoop stress and radial stress.