Zalando fulfills more than a hundred million customer orders every year and volumes are increasing. Fulfillment Core within Zalando builds and operates systems that are at the core of Zalando’s platform strategy and ensure timely, efficient, and correct delivery of every one of our customers’ 185+ million orders every year.
Enabling the fulfillment of orders is a complex process, involving the choice of physical locations of our warehouses and the placement of stock, the planning of inner warehouse processes and capacity management, the management of a diverse range of fulfillment and delivery configurations, all while optimizing towards various competing targets.
As a Principal Software Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in transforming Zalando's supply chain by enhancing customer experience, and addressing complex and critical challenges. You will create and build a new team and help develop financially viable self-serve products utilizing Optimization or Simulation techniques. Collaborating with a team of highly talented colleagues in Fulfillment Core, you will drive innovation and resilience within our supply chain operations.
You’ll find our Berlin campus and HQ in the vibrant area of Friedrichshain. With amazing views of the Spree river and East Side Gallery, it’s a campus designed to inspire. Berlin is the city that has shaped our business. Are you up for a new experience in one of the most vibrant, diverse, and green cities in Europe?
WHAT WE’D LOVE YOU TO DO (AND LOVE DOING)
As a Principal Software Engineer, you will report to the Head of Applied Science for Network Optimizations and serve as a senior leader, collaborating extensively with key stakeholders across Logistic Operations, B2B business units, and other Applied Science teams within Fulfillment Core. In this role, you will deeply engage with the domain, leveraging your people skills and expertise to develop advanced mathematical models that optimize product availability - ensuring the right products are in the right locations at the right time, all while navigating and upholding our network constraints.
In partnership with our highly skilled senior scientists and engineers (Principal, Engineering Managers +), you will be expected to interact credibly and confidently with senior management and leaders, and to develop a long-term vision and strategy for the function in line with Network Optimizations vision.
You will help optimize a wide range of business processes (e.g. inventory placement and positioning strategies, warehouse processes or order placement strategies) and configurations (e.g. warehouse network resilience, delivery connections) by leveraging various mathematical approaches, including Discrete Event Simulation, Mixed-Integer Linear Programming, and metaheuristics.
As a member of Fulfillment Core, you will also provide inputs to other research initiatives across the business unit.
More generally, you will be part of and shape our vibrant community of Applied Scientists at Zalando, participating in regular exchange meetings, reading groups and mentoring opportunities.
WE’D LOVE TO MEET YOU IF…
You bring a wealth of people/technical leadership experience rooted in applied sciences and engineering, with specialization in operations research for supply chain sectors including retail, e-commerce, airlines, and logistics.
Your interest spans across advanced mathematical programming techniques such as mixed-integer linear programming, metaheuristics, constraint programming, alongside proficiency in network simulation (e.g., discrete event simulation) and optimization.
A strong academic foundation in Industrial Engineering, Operations Research, Computer science or a related mathematical discipline underpins your expertise.
You have a remarkable track record of leading high-impact projects and delivering innovative, applied science-based solutions in challenging industry settings.
Your ability to engage with stakeholders, understand their needs, and work collaboratively with cross-functional teams sets you apart.
You excel in managing teams and organizations in dynamic, complex environments, leveraging strong team-building, mentorship, and strategic decision-making skills.
You excel at driving and helping teams improve their reliability by improving their operational excellence, maximizing visibility on the business value produced while at the same time reducing costs, anomalies and incidents.
Your experience in multinational environments showcases your adeptness at navigating cultural differences, championing diversity, and fostering an inclusive work culture.
You bring exceptional organizational and time-management skills, and you are adept at prioritizing high-stakes, time-sensitive initiatives while scaling effectively.
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.
Employee shares program
40% off fashion and beauty products sold and shipped by Zalando, 30% off Lounge by Zalando, discounts from external partners
2 paid volunteering days a year
Hybrid working model with up to 60% remote per week, actual practice is up to each team to best support their collaboration
Work from abroad for up to 30 working days a year
27 days of vacation a year to start for full-time employees
Relocation assistance available (subject to prior agreement)
Family services, including counseling and support
Health and wellbeing options (including Wellhub)
Mental health support and coaching available
Drive your development through our training platform and biannual peer-to-peer review
INCLUSIVE BY DESIGN
At Zalando, our vision is to be the leading pan-European ecosystem for fashion and lifestyle e-commerce - one that is inclusive by design. We only assess candidates based on qualifications, merit, and business needs. We welcome applications from people of all gender identities, sexual orientations, personal expressions, racial identities, ethnicities, religious beliefs, and disability statuses. We only want to know why you’re great for this role, so please avoid including your picture, age, and marital status in your CV as well.
We want to provide you with a great candidate experience. Please feel free to inform us of any accommodations you may need, so we can best support and assist you throughout the hiring process.
do.BETTER - our diversity & inclusion strategy: https://jobs.zalando.com/en/our-culture/diversity-and-inclusion
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What We Do
Welcome to Zalando. Here’s some key info about us:
Our position and vision:
- We’re Europe’s leading online platform for fashion and lifestyle
- Founded in Berlin in 2008, we bring head-to-toe fashion to more than 50 million active customers in 25 markets; offering clothes, footwear, accessories, and beauty
- Our vision is to become The Starting Point For Fashion.
Our offering:
- Our assortment of international brands ranges from world-famous names to local labels
- 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 friends of our brand.
- Our logistics network with 12 centrally located fulfillment centers allows us to efficiently serve our customers throughout Europe, supported by warehouses in Italy, France, Poland, and Sweden with a focus on local customer needs.
Our beliefs:
- Our ambition is to combine our passion for self-expression through fashion with our unwavering commitments to sustainability and D&I
- We believe that our integration of fashion, operations, and online technology gives us the capability to deliver a compelling value proposition to both our customers and fashion brand partners.
