Software Engineer Ad Platform (all genders)

Role: Software Engineer in the Ad Platform team within Zalando Marketing Services (ZMS), focusing on building and maintaining the critical infrastructure that powers the ad marketplace. The role involves working on high-performance systems handling thousands of requests per second, processing massive volumes of user interaction events in near real-time, and managing hundreds of terabytes of data. This position offers the opportunity to solve complex technical challenges at scale while contributing to a platform connecting ~50 million active customers across 25 European markets. Responsibilities: - Develop high-performance systems: Implement scalable, resilient services that power the ad marketplace platform, handling up to 4k RPS with strict latency requirements (p99 of 25ms). - Deliver features: Decompose epics into manageable tasks, owning execution from requirement refinement through to deployment and production operations. - Maintain engineering excellence: Elevate the codebase through readable, testable, and maintainable code, writing automated tests and defining clear acceptance criteria. - Collaborate and share knowledge: Actively participate in team discussions, help skill-up peers, and partner with Product Managers, Analysts, and ML Ops to fill requirement gaps. - Operate what you build: Deliver supporting operational elements (metrics, alerting, graphs, tracing) to monitor performance and assist in root-cause analysis during production incidents. Qualifications: - Passionate about clean code, readability, comprehensive testing, and building a culture of engineering excellence. - Enjoy sharing knowledge, helping the team grow, and constructively contributing to established team processes. - Deep experience with Java, Spring, and distributed systems, with knowledge of the tech stack (or eagerness to learn). - Ability to methodically break down complex requirements into small, safe deployment iterations while navigating technical constraints. - Collaborate with product teams to understand user needs, call out conflicting requirements, and understand core business KPIs. What We Offer: - 27 days of holiday a year to start for full-time employees (and +1/year until 30). - 2 paid volunteering days a year. - Hybrid working model with up to 60% remote per week, actual practice is up to each team. - Work from abroad for up to 30 working days a year. - Employee shares program. - 40% off fashion and beauty products sold and shipped by Zalando, 30% off Lounge by Zalando, discounts from external partners. - Relocation assistance available (subject to prior agreement). - Family services, including counseling and support. - Health and wellbeing options (including Wellhub, formerly Gympass). - Mental health support and coaching available. - Drive your development through our training platform and biannual peer-to-peer review.