Head of Applied Science - Ranking

Role: Head of Applied Science – Ranking About the Role: We are looking for a Head of Applied Science to lead the scientific strategy and execution for Ranking across Europe’s largest fashion & lifestyle platform. This leader will define the long-term vision for Ranking relevance and visibility, leveraging machine learning, AI, and experimentation to help millions of customers find the right products quickly and confidently. You will lead a team of applied scientists driving the core ranking platform across Zalando’s discovery surfaces. Partnering with Product, Engineering, Analytics, and Design, you will shape cross-surface experiences by balancing customer relevance, commercial steering governance, and marketplace health in line with Zalando's Platform-First strategy. Responsibilities: - Define and drive the long-term Applied Science strategy, aligning roadmap investments with customer needs and business priorities. - Lead the development of advanced ML models for retrieval, ranking, and personalization to improve product ranking and discovery. - Build and inspire a high-performing team of Applied Scientists, fostering a culture of scientific rigor, mentorship, and continuous learning. - Optimize for business outcomes by balancing relevance, diversity, monetization, and operational efficiency. - Accelerate innovation by investing in scalable machine learning platforms, data infrastructure, and experimentation frameworks. - Establish best practices for model governance, offline evaluation, online experimentation, and standardized scientific methods across teams. - Drive adoption of emerging AI/ML techniques, ensuring the organization stays at the forefront of technological advancements. - Collaborate cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, UX, and leadership to define priorities and influence the broader organizational strategy. Qualifications: - Proven experience leading high-performing Applied Science or Machine Learning organizations. - Track record of defining technical vision and delivering business impact through AI and machine learning. - Ability to attract, develop, and retain exceptional scientific talent. - Deep expertise in machine learning for ranking and recommender systems, particularly learning-to-rank and personalization. - Strong understanding of experimentation, causal inference, statistical modeling, and evaluation methodologies. - Experience deploying and operating large-scale ranking systems in production. - Demonstrated ability to translate customer problems into scientific solutions that deliver measurable business impact. - Experience balancing customer experience, operational considerations, and commercial objectives. - Strong strategic thinking with the ability to prioritize long-term investments alongside near-term delivery. - Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills. - Experience leading complex, cross-functional initiatives across engineering, product, analytics, and business teams. - Ability to influence senior leadership through data, scientific reasoning, and clear communication. What We Offer: - 27 days of holiday a year to start for full-time employees (+1 day for every calendar year up to 30 days) - 40% off fashion and beauty products sold and shipped by Zalando, 30% off Lounge by Zalando, discounts from external partners - Family support, including counselling and dedicated services for parents and carers - Company pension scheme - Employee shares program - Health and wellbeing options, including Wellhub - Mental health support and coaching - Development through our training platform and biannual peer-to-peer review - 2 paid volunteering days a year - Relocation assistance (subject to prior agreement)