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Senior Principal Scientist - Artificial Intelligence

Employer
Zalando
Location
Berlin
Closing date
9 Oct 2020

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Function
Technology
Level
Senior Manager

Job Details

Background

At the moment, we have over 150 scientists working on the application of ML, Econometrics, Data Science and Operations Research to all customer and partner-facing problems across Zalando. The vast majority of these roles are in product groups working on the application in an area of eCommerce (e.g., pricing, search, recommendation, payments, but also Size & Fit and Outfits which are more fashion-specific) but also include roles in Zalando Research which are focused on research breakthroughs to enable future customer and partner experiences (strategic research).

This role is focused on (1) raising and setting the scientific bar and standards across all teams at Zalando including reviewing (and documenting) all existing research solutions, and (2) kick-starting new and strategic scientific projects that have a large amount of research risk through initial deep dives and prototyping (e.g., simulation-based forecasts as opposed to pure pattern-matching based forecasts).

What this role is

In this role, you will report directly to the SVP, Builder Platform and Artificial Intelligence (AI). You will be responsible for the scientific bar across the whole company and be expected to have an in-depth understanding of all business-relevant algorithms used across business-critical Zalando systems. This role operates across organizational boundaries and optimizes for the Zalando Group as a whole. It is a role that influences by demonstrating depth, delivering research results and building of prototypes, not through project or process management.

You will be the go-to person for all scientists and senior technical leaders at Zalando because of your deep and broad scientific expertise, and develop and operate mechanisms that establish and maintain a high standard of scientific documentation and reviewing of algorithmic solutions.

You will have one in-depth area where you are expected to work on a solution that not only unifies existing algorithm solutions but also advances the state-of-the-art. This area will be reviewed every six months between you and the SVP, Builder Platform and AI, based on strategic priorities, current needs (e.g., surfaced through senior technical leaders) and scientific advances. Such areas include forecasting, pricing, computer vision, natural language processing, real-time learning, search or algorithmic fairness & privacy.

In essence, you will spend some of your time on consulting and mentoring other scientists, but the majority of your time will be spent on advancing state-of-the-art research in a strategically important area.

You are not a people manager, but you will be expected to be influential across Zalando by constantly demonstrating scientific depth (in one area) and breadth (across all areas). You will use scalable mechanisms to lead others and coordinate closely with the Principal Engineering community leaders at Zalando to ensure that scientific solutions end up in scalable software solutions.

What is expected of you
  • Development and implementation of company-wide mechanisms to raise and set the scientific bar (e.g., regular reviews of scientific roadmaps and technical reports of the science in business-critical Zalando systems).
  • Development of prototypes and scientific documentation in strategic research areas.
  • Natural curiosity to learn about new scientific fields in the area of Machine Learning, Economics, Data Science and Operations Research.
  • Strong writing skills, in particular with mathematical rigor and broad accessibility.

Company

Zalando is Europe’s leading online platform for fashion and lifestyle. Founded in Berlin in 2008, we bring head-to-toe fashion to 35 million active customers in 17 markets, offering clothing, footwear, accessories and beauty from over 3,000 international brands.

Our platform is a one-stop fashion destination for inspiration, innovation and interaction. As Europe’s most fashionable tech company, we work hard to find digital solutions for every aspect of the fashion journey: for our customers, partners and every valuable player in the Zalando story.

Our goal is to become the starting point for fashion. We focus on the fashion industry and therefore operate in a variety of business areas.

  • Fashion Store
    Zalando online shops are tailored to local customers’ needs in 17 different European markets. The range extends from renowned global brands and fast fashion to local brands and is supplemented by our private labels.
     
  • Offprice
    The Offprice business of Zalando serves the sale of previous season’s assortments. As part of a shopping club, the Zalando Lounge offers registered members exclusive sales campaigns at discounted prices.
     
  • Zalando's Private Labels
    Zalando’s private label assortment includes shoes, clothing and accessories for women, men and children. With a total of six private labels, Zalando creates its own products, covering the entire value chain from design to sales.
     
  • Zalon
    Zalon is our style advice service, via which customers can consult and get inspiration from selected stylists regarding individualized purchases.
     
  • Zalando Marketing Services
    The entirety of Zalando’s expertise and scope is bundled in Zalando Marketing Services, which now offers personalized marketing solutions for our brand partners.
     
  • Zalando Fulfilment Solutions
    Zalando makes its own logistics capabilities available to external partners, so they do not have to be concerned with infrastructure issues but can concentrate fully on their core competence in the fashion business.
     
  • Zalando Partner Services
    Zalando helps other players in the industry to be successful in the digital world. For example, by connecting warehouse stocks with multiple retailers, by digitizing processes involved in fashion wholesale and by integrating offline businesses into our Zalando platform.


With a strong workforce of around 14,000 employees of over 130 different nationalities, Zalando unites diverse people, capabilities and concepts. Consolidating our effort and ideas scales our impact as an innovator in Fashion, Technology, Digital Marketing and Logistics Operations.

Company info
Website
Telephone
+49 (0)30 2759 4693
Location
Zalando SE
Valeska-Gert-Straße 5
Berlin
Germany
10243
Germany

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