Principal Applied Scientist (Economics, Experimentation & Platform Analytics) at Zalando Search & Discovery (All genders)

Role: As a Principal in the Search & Discovery team at Zalando, you will serve as the insights, measurement and experimentation backbone of the Visibility program, improving the Zalando Marketplace for customers and partners. You will investigate and design marketplace dynamics, develop causal inference frameworks, and conduct exploratory data analysis across Search, Catalog, Recommendations, and the broader S&D platform. Your work informs strategic trade‑off decisions and shapes product development and program direction, while also monitoring platform health and analyzing marketplace economics. Responsibilities: - Design and execute analytical frameworks for the Visibility domain, defining KPIs and metrics for unbiased platform health. - Support visibility interaction through complex target and trade‑off investigations. - Lead an experimentation roadmap focusing on the relationship between short‑term experiment signals and long‑term platform health effects. - Conduct exploratory, hypothesis‑driven data analysis to identify visibility opportunities and structural risks, translating findings into actionable insights for product and commercial stakeholders. - Apply quasi‑experimental and causal inference methods (e.g., Double Machine Learning, difference‑in‑differences, causal forests) to observational data to establish causal relationships. - Build and maintain platform health monitoring frameworks that track visibility KPIs, detect anomalies, and surface early signals of marketplace imbalances. - Use economic modeling and first‑principles reasoning to support trade‑off decisions between competing visibility objectives. Qualifications: - PhD or Master’s (or higher) in quantitative economics, computer science, or a related quantitative discipline with a strong foundation in econometrics, statistics, and computational methods; 4+ years of relevant industry experience. - Deep expertise in experimentation design and quasi‑experimental research methods such as Double Machine Learning, difference‑in‑differences, synthetic control, and causal forests. - Experience in domains that combine economic modeling with empirical research (e.g., Empirical Industrial Organisation, Structural Estimation). - Strong experience conducting exploratory data analysis at scale and communicating findings clearly to both technical and non‑technical audiences, including senior leadership. - Hands‑on owner and builder who can drive large initiatives across departments. - Proficiency in Python and SQL, with hands‑on experience using Jupyter Notebooks, Airflow, PySpark, Databricks, and Git. - Comfortable with ML methods and frameworks (scikit‑learn, PyTorch) and able to apply them to causal and predictive modeling tasks. - Demonstrated strong scientific problem‑solving skills and ability to scope ambiguous analytical questions into structured research plans. What We Offer: - Employee shares program. - 40% off fashion and beauty products sold and shipped by Zalando, 30% off Lounge by Zalando, plus discounts from external partners. - 2 paid volunteering days per year. - 27 days of vacation per year for full‑time employees (starting amount). - Relocation assistance (subject to prior agreement). - Family services, including counseling and support. - Health and wellbeing options (including Wellhub, formerly Gympass). - Mental health support and coaching. - Development opportunities through training platform and biannual peer‑to‑peer review. - Inclusive by design culture with a focus on diversity and equal opportunity.