Principal Applied Scientist - Customer Care Technology (all genders)

THE ROLE & THE TEAM

A Principal Applied Scientist in Zalando's Customer Care Technology team focuses on developing and deploying AI, LLM, and automation solutions to enhance customer experience and support customer care specialists.

This involves:

Building cutting-edge technology: Creating systems for self-service (chat, voice) and tools for specialists, leveraging AI/LLMs and automation.

Impactful contributions: Directly improving customer satisfaction (CSAT, NPS), operational efficiency, and Zalando's brand reputation, leading to business growth and customer retention.

Technical expertise: Working with AI/LLM providers, cloud platforms, data processing tools, and ML frameworks to build scalable solutions.

Collaboration: Partnering with product and project management to understand customer needs and deliver effective solutions, and contributing to the broader Zalando Applied Science community.

Mentorship and growth: Fostering a supportive team environment, prioritizing knowledge sharing, and offering career development opportunities within technical, leadership, or product tracks.

Visibility: Work is highly visible to leadership, with opportunities for continuous learning and career advancement.

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-groups  

WHAT WE’D LOVE YOU TO DO (AND LOVE DOING)

Focusing on AI/ML innovation, particularly using Large Language Models (LLMs), to improve customer satisfaction and efficiency. Their daily tasks likely involve:

• Technical Leadership: Guiding the team's AI/ML strategy for customer care, including research, development, and implementation of new solutions.

• Collaboration: Working closely with stakeholders (e.g., product managers, engineers, customer care teams) to understand needs and translate them into technical solutions.

• Innovation: Exploring and applying cutting-edge AI/ML techniques, especially LLMs, to address real-world customer care challenges. This includes developing next-generation self-service and agent-assisted tools.

• Development: Building and deploying AI/ML models at scale, ensuring they are robust and performant.

• Impact: Directly contributing to key metrics like customer satisfaction and cost efficiency, impacting Zalando's bottom line.

• Research & External Contribution: Staying up-to-date with the latest advancements in AI/ML, particularly in NLP and customer care, and potentially contributing to the field through publications or open-source projects.

• Mentorship/Guidance: Leading and mentoring other scientists and engineers on the team.

WE'D LOVE TO MEET YOU IF…

  You have:

• LLM Experience: Hands-on experience with large language models (e.g., GPT, Vertex, Llama) and their application.
• Prototyping & Production Skills: Ability to rapidly prototype, experiment, and deploy production-ready ML solutions.
• Coding Proficiency: Strong Python skills (pandas, numpy, matplotlib) and experience with ML/DL frameworks (scikit-learn, TensorFlow, Keras, PyTorch).

Nice to have but no essential:

• ML Systems Architecture: Deep understanding of building scalable and efficient large-scale machine learning systems.
• Tech Stack Familiarity: Hands-on experience with Docker, Git, cloud platforms (AWS, etc.), SQL, and Databricks.
• Code Quality Focus: Commitment to writing high-performance, reusable, robust, and well-tested code.
• Enterprise-Scale Optimization: Experience in benchmarking, testing, and optimizing enterprise-scale applications for performance, accuracy, and cost.  

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
• Hybrid working model with 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
• Relocation assistance available (subject to prior agreement)
• Family services, including counseling and support
• Health and wellbeing options (including Gympass)
• Mental health support and coaching are available

Learn all about Zalando and our values here: https://jobs.zalando.com/en/?gh_src=22377bdd1us