Senior Applied Scientist (All genders)
At a glance
Senior AI Research role at Zalando. Berlin · full-time.
Pay not stated AI Research salary
aimlroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Use elasticity models, forecasts and mathematical optimization to guide advertising investment under competing goals and uncertainty
- Run machine learning projects from research and problem framing through rollout, scaling and ongoing monitoring
- Work with engineers to turn modeling prototypes into tested systems running in production
- Share ML and MLOps practices across teams, and mentor colleagues through technical knowledge exchange
- Explain algorithmic options to product and commercial partners, shaping business decisions with them
What you bring
- A strong academic background in econometrics, statistics, machine learning or optimization; a PhD is preferred
- Hands-on experience applying optimization to portfolio choices, marketing investment or pricing
- Proficiency in Python, SQL and PySpark, with experience building data science frameworks in ambiguous settings
- A track record of mentoring less-experienced data scientists and helping set a team’s technical direction
Who this fits
This senior role suits an applied scientist who can combine optimization research with production machine learning and advise business partners. The position is based in Berlin, and the listing offers the option to work abroad for thirty working days per calendar year.
From the employer
THE ROLE & THE TEAM
The Marketing Science team acts as the engine behind Zalando’s growth, partnering with business units across the full marketing funnel. We extend the Zalando experience beyond our platform, connecting customers with the fashion inspiration and shopping convenience they love. By leveraging cutting-edge technology, we ensure our marketing is relevant, engaging, and deeply respectful of customer privacy.
We collaborate closely with product managers, engineers, and analysts to refine our industry-leading marketing engine.
WHAT THE TEAM DOES
Rigorous Experimentation: Establishing the "ground truth" framework for measuring marketing effectiveness.
Advanced Modeling: Building attribution models to value touchpoints and propensity models to refine targeting.
Audience Optimization: creating customer uplift models to identify incremental value and building audiences that improve marketing efficiency.
Marketing Investment Optimization: Steering external advertising platforms and optimizing marketing spend to align with core business objectives.
In this particular role, you will collaborate closely with Senior and Principal Applied Scientists within Zalando to ensure that we are making the right investment decisions when it comes to advertising channels. To do so, you will leverage elasticity modeling, forecasting, and mathematical optimization to solve for multi-objective optimization under constraints and uncertainty.
WHAT WE’D LOVE YOU TO DO (AND LOVE DOING)
End-to-End ML Ownership: Own the entire machine learning lifecycle within your project scope - from initial research and formulation to scaling and monitoring - directly driving the evolution of our marketing steering engine.
Bridge Research & Production: Partner closely with our engineering teams to transition sophisticated modeling POCs into robust, highly-tested, and fully deployed production systems.
Elevate the Technical Culture: Foster and initiate cross-team knowledge sharing, establishing best practices in ML and MLOps to elevate both the technical depth and breadth of our broader data science community.
Collaborate as a Trusted Partner: Act as a strategic technical partner for product and commercial stakeholders, translating complex algorithmic concepts into clear business strategies and solving high-impact problems across all organizational levels.
WE’D LOVE TO MEET YOU IF YOU HAVE…
A strong academic foundation (PhD preferred) in Econometrics, Statistics, Machine Learning, Optimization, paired with practical industry experience, preferable within marketing science.
Proven experiences in applying optimization techniques in the context of Portfolio optimization, Marketing optimization or Pricing.
Proficiency in Python, SQL, and PySpark, with a commitment to high coding and packaging standards, including active participation in code reviews and elevating the team's engineering culture.
A self-starter with a proven track record of architecting Data science frameworks in high-ambiguity environments.
Demonstrated experience guiding, upskilling, and mentoring mid-to-junior data scientists and driving the team's technical roadmap.
OUR OFFER
Zalando provides a range of benefits, here’s an overview of what you can expect. Ask your Talent Acquisition Partner to learn more about what we offer.
27 days of holiday a year to start for full-time employees (+1 day for every calendar year up to 30 days)
40% off fashion and beauty products sold and shipped by Zalando, 30% off Lounge by Zalando, discounts from external partners
Family support, including counselling and dedicated services for parents and carers
Company pension scheme
Employee shares programme
Health and wellbeing options, including Wellhub
Mental health support and coaching
Development through our training platform and biannual peer-to-peer review
2 paid volunteering days a year
Relocation assistance (subject to prior agreement)
Learn all about Zalando and our values here: https://jobs.zalando.com/en/?gh_src=22377bdd1us
INCLUSIVE BY DESIGN
At Zalando, our vision is to be inclusive by design. And this vision starts with our hiring - we do not discriminate on the basis of gender identity, sexual orientation, personal expression, ethnicity, religious belief, or disability status. You are welcome to leave out your picture, age, or marital status from your application. We only assess candidates on their qualifications and merit.
We want to provide you with a great candidate experience. Feel free to inform us of any accommodations you may need, so we can best support you throughout the hiring process.
do.BETTER - our diversity & inclusion strategy: https://corporate.zalando.com/en/our-impact/dobetter-our-diversity-and-inclusion-strategy
Our employee resource groups: https://corporate.zalando.com/en/our-impact/our-employee-resource-groupsOpportunity to work from abroad for 30 (working) days per calendar year