About this role

THE ROLE & THE TEAM

We are looking for an experienced Senior Backend Engineer to enhance Zalando’s search systems and improve the shopping experience for millions of customers. In this role, you will build and optimise large-scale, high-throughput services on AWS and Kubernetes, enabling a smarter, more personalised experience that drives financial impact and improves customer engagement. If you thrive in solving complex problems and want to work on high-impact, scalable solutions, we’d love to have you on board.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Design and scale backend systems that power discovery for 51 M+ customers, ensuring performance, scalability, and reliability.
Build and optimise high-throughput solutions on AWS, Kubernetes, and NoSQL databases.
Collaborate with engineers, product managers, applied scientists and stakeholders to develop innovative, production-ready solutions that boost key business metrics.
Drive continuous improvements, ensuring our systems evolve to support new use cases, product assortments, and long-term growth.

WE’D LOVE TO MEET YOU IF

5+ years of experience in backend development, with expertise in Elasticsearch, JVM-based languages (Java or Scala), AWS, and Kubernetes.
Ability to understand and solve customer problems with scalable, high-impact solutions that drive measurable business outcomes.
Strong track record of building backend systems in large-scale production environments.
Excellent communication skills, with a history of leading cross-functional collaborations effectively.

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.

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% (or more) 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 (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