Senior Search Engineer - Search and Browse Core (All genders)

Join the Search Retrieval Team, the engine driving product and content discovery für Zalando. We build and operate the core search engine that connects over 62 million active customers across 29 markets with the products and content they love. Our Search Engine powers tens of millions of searchable content stored in multiple clusters and hundreds of indices distributed. Every piece of content has 4‑10 embeddings that power our semantic understanding. We also integrate with LLM models to power our query understanding and lexical search. Our mission is to deliver a world‑class, intelligent, scalable, and reliable Search Platform.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Architect the Future of Search: Lead the design and implementation of our next‑generation, AI‑driven search engine, integrating Neural Search on top of our Elasticsearch platform.
• Build for Hyperscale: Modernize and scale our real‑time data ingestion systems using technologies like Kafka and Flink to handle millions of updates.
• Drive Platform Innovation: Develop core platform capabilities that enable teams across Zalando to build rich, personalized discovery experiences for our customers.
• Drive Operational Excellence and Cost Efficiency: Lead platform‑wide infrastructure projects, such as consolidating multi‑lingual search indices, mitigating critical risks by migrating core services, and supporting system readiness for high‑traffic events like Cyber Week.

WE’D LOVE TO MEET YOU IF:

• Deep Search Expertise: Extensive experience building large‑scale, preferably e‑commerce, search engines. While our stack is built on Elasticsearch, we highly value equivalent expertise in Lucene, OpenSearch, Solr, or other distributed search systems.
• Real‑Time Data Pipeline Experience: Proven ability to design and build high‑throughput data ingestion pipelines using Kafka, Flink or equivalent stream‑processing frameworks.
• Strong Backend Foundation: High proficiency in a JVM language (Java, Kotlin, or Scala) and a deep understanding of distributed systems architecture, concurrency, and performance optimization.
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration: Excellent communication skills. You thrive when working closely with fellow engineers, applied scientists, and product partners, and you possess a knack for translating complex product requirements into reusable, reliable platform capabilities.

INCLUSIVE BY DESIGN

At Zalando, our vision is to be inclusive by design. 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

• 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
• 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

It’s the perfect time to join Zalando on our journey, from being a pioneer in the world of e‑commerce, to the Starting Point for Fashion in Europe. We connect customers, brands, and partners across 25 markets. Help us drive digital and sustainable solutions for fashion, logistics, advertising and research, bringing head‑to‑toe fashion to 50 million active customers through a team of diverse skill‑sets, cultural backgrounds, and interests.