Senior Principal Applied Scientist - ZMS (all genders)

Role: As a Senior Principal Applied Scientist you will drive the scientific vision and execution for the Bidding and Allocation engines within Zalando Marketing Services (ZMS), shaping real‑time ad‑tech decisions. Responsibilities: - Lead research and development of real‑time bidding and allocation algorithms, optimizing platform health, advertiser performance and user relevance. - Advance auction theory and mechanism design to ensure a fair, efficient and transparent marketplace. - Collaborate with Product Managers, Engineers and Analysts to translate business constraints into mathematical objective functions. - Define and execute the long‑term scientific roadmap for ZMS Ad Tech Bidding Optimization. - Mentor and grow senior team members, acting as a force multiplier for the scientific community. Qualifications: - PhD in Machine Learning with a strong publication record. - 10+ years of experience at Principal level in optimizing complex systems through automated algorithms, preferably in Ad Tech or marketplaces. - Deep expertise in optimization, control theory, reinforcement learning, auction theory or mechanism design. - Proven ability to productionalise ML models under ultra‑low latency constraints and work with large‑scale distributed systems. - Strong proficiency in Python and data‑pipeline architecture for high‑dimensional advertising data. What We Offer: - 27 days of holiday (up to 30 with seniority) and 2 paid volunteering days. - Hybrid working model with up to 60 % remote and up to 30 days per year working from abroad. - Employee share program, 40 % discount on Zalando fashion and beauty products, and additional partner discounts. - Relocation assistance, family services, health and wellbeing options, mental health support and coaching. - Continuous development through training platforms and bi‑annual peer‑to‑peer reviews.