THE ROLE & THE TEAM
Join the Search Retrieval Team, the engine driving product and content discovery for Zalando. We build and operate the core search engine that connects over 62 million active customers across 29 markets with the products and content they love. Our Search Engine powers tens of millions of searchable content stored in multiple clusters and hundreds of indices distributed. Every content has ~4-10 embeddings that power our semantic understanding. We also integrate with LLMs models to power our query understanding and lexical search.
Our mission is to deliver a world-class, intelligent, scalable, and reliable Search Platform.
WHAT YOU’LL DO
As a Senior Search Engineer, you will be at the heart of our mission, tackling complex distributed systems problems at hyperscale. You will:
Architect the Future of Search: Lead the design and implementation of our next-generation, AI-driven search engine, integrating Neural Search on top of our Elasticsearch platform.
Build for Hyperscale: Modernize and scale our real-time data ingestion systems using technologies like Kafka and Flink to handle millions of updates.
Drive Platform Innovation: Develop core platform capabilities that enable teams across Zalando to build rich, personalized discovery experiences for our customers.
Drive Operational Excellence and Cost Efficiency: Lead platform-wide infrastructure projects, such as consolidating multi-lingual search indices, mitigating critical risks by migrating core services, and supporting system readiness for high-traffic events like Cyber Week.
WE’D LOVE TO MEET YOU IF:
- Deep Search Expertise: Extensive experience building large-scale, preferably e-commerce, search engines. While our stack is built on Elasticsearch, we highly value equivalent expertise in Lucene, OpenSearch, Solr, or other distributed search systems.
Real-Time Data Pipeline Experience: Proven ability to design and build high-throughput data ingestion pipelines using Kafka and/or Flink or equivalent stream-processing frameworks.
Strong Backend Foundation: High proficiency in a JVM language (Java, Kotlin, or Scala) and a deep understanding of distributed systems architecture, concurrency, and performance optimization.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Excellent communication skills. You thrive when working closely with fellow engineers, applied scientists, and product partners, and you possess a knack for translating complex product requirements into reusable, reliable platform capabilities.
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-groups
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 Zalando Lounge, discounts from external partners
2 paid volunteering days a year
27 days of vacation a year (for Zalando SE)
Relocation assistance available (subject to prior agreement)
Family services, including counseling and support
Health and wellbeing options (including Gympass)
Mental health support and coaching available
Learn all about Zalando and our values here: https://jobs.zalando.com/en/?gh_src=22377bdd1us
Skills Required
- Extensive experience building large-scale search engines (Elasticsearch, Lucene, OpenSearch, Solr or equivalents)
- Proven experience designing and building high-throughput data ingestion pipelines using Kafka and/or Flink or equivalent stream-processing frameworks
- High proficiency in a JVM language (Java, Kotlin, or Scala)
- Deep understanding of distributed systems architecture, concurrency, and performance optimization
- Experience integrating embeddings and LLMs / building Neural Search capabilities on top of lexical search
- Experience with hyperscale, multilingual index consolidation, migrations, and operational readiness for high-traffic events
- Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills
Zalando Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Zalando and has not been reviewed or approved by Zalando.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Paid time off includes a sizable annual allowance that can grow with tenure, plus additional paid days for volunteering. This breadth is highlighted as supportive of work–life balance.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Mental health support, round‑the‑clock counseling for employees and households, and broad fitness/wellness access are emphasized as robust. Substantial product discounts and partner offers add meaningful lifestyle value.
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Parental & Family Support — Structured support around parental leave—such as buddy programs, re‑onboarding, and paid child sick days—helps ease family responsibilities. Flexible and part‑time leadership options further accommodate parents.
Zalando Insights
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.
