Principal Applied Scientist

Principal Applied Scientist - Size & Fit Organization at Zalando

The Role & The Team

As a Principal Applied Scientist specializing in Economics and Experimentations within our Size and Fit organization, you will design and implement cutting-edge methods to accurately measure the business and customer impact of our AI-driven Size & Fit products in fashion. This role involves applying economic theories and principles to real-world business challenges, collaborating closely with exceptional scientists focused on Deep Learning, Computer Vision, and LLMs. Your expertise will help address pivotal size and fit issues for over 50 million Zalando customers.

Alongside deep scientific expertise, a strong publication record, and exceptional collaboration and communication skills are essential. Your ability to interface effectively with cross-functional teams will be crucial in driving the success of our AI-driven products and their business impact measurements.

About Size & Fit

At Zalando, we understand the importance of Size and Fit and leverage our vast article and customer datasets to tackle this challenge using innovative deep learning and computer vision techniques. If you are passionate about improving online shopping experiences for clothing and shoes, this is the perfect opportunity for you.

Join our multidisciplinary Size and Fit team, composed of applied scientists, engineers, and full-stack developers from over 20 nationalities. We provide size and fit recommendations and predictions, creating AI-driven products using cutting-edge technologies. Working with product specialists, fitting experts, engineers, and other applied scientists, you'll help customers navigate the expansive Zalando fashion catalog to find what fits them best.

Inclusive by Design

Our vision at Zalando is to be inclusive by design, starting with our recruitment process. We do not discriminate based on gender identity, sexual orientation, personal expression, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or disability status. Your application will be assessed solely on your qualifications and merit.

For more information, check out our diversity & inclusion strategy and employee resource groups:

Where Your Expertise is Needed

• Develop and deploy advanced experimentation methods at scale using your strong background in economics, experimentations, and scientific research.
• Support high-stakes experiments and ensure decisions are based on robust insights, focusing on customer and business impact.
• Collaborate with applied science leaders and product managers to leverage data-driven approaches for measuring the business impact of AI-driven customer-facing products.

What We Are Looking For

• PhD in Econometrics, Statistics, Mathematics, Physics, Operations Research, or related field with at least 4 years of industry experience in applied experimentation or statistics.
• Expertise in at least two of the following areas:
  • Business/Customer impact analysis
  • Advanced experiment designs (network experiments, bandit-based experimentation, etc.)
  • High-dimensional statistics and variance reduction techniques
  • Long-term heterogeneous treatment effect estimation
  • Bayesian approaches to A/B testing
• Experience with building and leading Causal Inference products, from problem analysis to production deployment.
• Strong coding skills in Python and/or R, along with experience with big data tools like Spark and SQL.
• Nice to have: Experience with cloud computing frameworks such as AWS and other programming languages like Scala.

Perks at Work

• Culture of trust, empowerment, and constructive feedback.
• Meetups, game nights, knowledge sharing through tech talks, internal tech academy and blogs.
• Competitive salary, employee share shop, Zalando shopping discount, and discounts from external partners.
• Centrally located offices, public transport discounts, and great IT equipment.
• Flexible working times, additional holidays, and volunteering time off.
• Free beverages, fruits, and diverse sports and health offerings.
• Extensive onboarding, mentoring, and personal development opportunities.
• Relocation assistance, family service, and