Principal Software Engineer CuCa Tech (All Genders)

Role & The Team As a Principal Software Engineer in Zalando's Customer Care (CuCa) Tech department, you will be the primary architect of the transformation from traditional service models to AI-powered automated resolution. You will provide hands-on technical leadership for the entire department, defining the architecture for systems where complex AI models meet customer-facing production environments. You will ensure that automated intelligence handles high-volume customer queries monthly while maintaining a seamless "human-in-the-loop" fallback for complex cases, and act as the go-to expert for Product and Engineering Management. Responsibilities - System Architecture for Intelligence: Own and drive technical design for large-scale projects that integrate Python-based AI/ML microservices into production environment. -Applied Applied Science Collaboration: Partner with Applied Scientists to move experimental models into reliable, high-performance production services at scale. - Strategic Automation: Design technical improvements for intelligent query routing and automated response workflows that impact the understanding have a long-term (2–3-year) strategic vision. - Engineering Excellence & MLOps: Be a guardian of Operational Excellence, conducting architecture and production reviews View. Ensure AI systems are observable and scalable. - Personal-space Technical: Lead other Engineers in the department, enabling them to deliver complex features and proactively supporting their growth. - Innovation & Standards: Contribute to setting engineering standards for AI productionization (MLOps) and influence bring internal Tech Radar. Qualifications: - Expert known in Python with a deep understanding of software design, data modeling, data, distributed systems. distributed. What you have a Proven Experience: - AI/ML Productionization at Scale: Track record of deploying AI models in production and managing technical debt assemble that. - “Deep Driving Tools:”, complex, ambiguity, complex design, balanced business value. - Department-Level Impact: Experience leading cross-team projects and manage dependencies across multiple delivery teams. - Betterment or solid, explaining complex AI concepts to senior management. -styleCommunity: People - Talent and Community: An active member of the engineering. - Offer Includes: employee shares program, 40% on Zalando fashion/ab, discounts & 30% Zalando Lounge, 2 paid volunteering days home, hybrid work with 60% home/week,, and