Data Engineer
✨ AI Summary
Zalando, Europe's largest online fashion retailer, is hiring a Data Engineer for its rapidly growing Lounge by Zalando division in Berlin, Germany. The role focuses on building large-scale Machine Learning pipelines and real-time recommender systems, working with backend engineers and data scientists. Tech stack includes Spark, Hadoop, Flink, Kafka, Python or Java, and high-throughput/low-latency data stores like DynamoDB, Cassandra, or Redis. Requires 3+ years of data engineering experience and strong software engineering skills. Offers hybrid work (up to 60% remote), 27 vacation days, employee shares, and 40% fashion discount.
THE ROLE & THE TEAM
Lounge by Zalando is a rapidly growing part of Zalando, now turning over billions of euros each year. That said, there is so much untapped potential with respect to personalization and recommendation.
You will be a data engineer, working alongside backend engineers and data scientists to build large-scale recommender systems. As the largest online fashion retailer in Europe, we require a skilled engineer who can design, build, and maintain Machine Learning pipelines at a global scale.
You will play a key role across the entire ML lifecycle, from designing and implementing robust batch and streaming preprocessing pipelines to enabling efficient model training and distribution for our real-time recommender systems. This is a very good opportunity to build a data product that has a measurable impact on the business outcomes and the user experience. You will have significant input into architectural decisions, and help to implement state of the art ML recommender algorithms. There are very few roles that offer this unique synthesis of scale and ML complexity.
Our team thrives on a multidisciplinary approach, and while this role is primarily focused on data engineering development, we highly value individuals who are adaptable and willing to contribute to other areas as needed, fostering a truly collaborative environment.
INCLUSIVE BY DESIGN
At Zalando, our vision is to be inclusive by design. And this vision starts with our hiring - 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. do.BETTER - our diversity & inclusion strategy: https://corporate.zalando.com/en/our-impact/dobetter-our-diversity-and-inclusion-strategy
Our employee resource groups: https://corporate.zalando.com/en/our-impact/our-employee-resource-groups
WHAT WE’D LOVE YOU TO DO (AND LOVE DOING)
-
Design, build, and optimize large-scale ETL, stream, and batch processing pipelines.
-
Implement and maintain high-throughput/low-latency data stores (e.g., for real-time recommendations).
-
Implement and improve data governance mechanisms to ensure data quality and reliability.
-
Accelerate the pace of innovation by building and improving ML infrastructure, such as training and evaluation frameworks, experimentation frameworks.
-
Collaborate with brilliant Product Managers, Data Scientists, Engineers, and Analysts across Zalando to create positive customer impact together.
-
Help define our team's objectives. Continuously improve the self-organization of the team.
WE’D LOVE TO MEET YOU IF
-
Strong experience applying software engineering principles to data management systems. You should be proficient in building robust, scalable data infrastructure using high-quality code — not just SQL.
-
3+ years of experience in data engineering projects.
-
Good understanding of distributed data processing mechanisms. You should be able to diagnose and optimize a slow-running data pipeline.
-
Experience with large-scale batch processing and/or stream processing (e.g. Spark, Hadoop, Flink, Storm, Apache Beam, Kafka.)
-
Proficient in either Python or Java.
-
A strong understanding of distributed databases, especially high-throughput/low-latency data stores (e.g. DynamoDB, Cassandra, or Redis), is highly valued.
OUR OFFER
Zalando provides a range of benefits, here’s an overview of what you can expect. Ask your Talent Acquisition Partner to learn more about what we 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 up to 60% remote per week
-
Work from abroad for up to 30 working days a year
-
27 days of vacation a year to start
-
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
-
Drive your development through our training platform and biannual peer-to-peer review
Learn all about Zalando and our values here: https://jobs.zalando.com/en/?gh_src=22377bdd1us
ABOUT LOUNGE BY ZALANDO
Lounge by Zalando is an online outlet for fashion and lifestyle products in +20 European countries. We offer our members daily, time-limited sale campaigns with discounts of up to 75% off the recommended retail price. However, Lounge by Zalando is so much more than discounts. Our strength lies in our focus on fashion and lifestyle brands: from sought-after labels to niche brands, from famous international names to trendy luxury brands, we make sure to meet the fashion taste of all our customers, who are always on the hunt for the best products at the best prices. Working with our brand partners, we're pioneering innovative supply-chain and production processes and offer them an impactful and smart solution, creating a new way to shop for fashion - and a new way to sell it.
About the Company
4dayweek.io is a job board dedicated to helping job seekers find roles at companies that offer a 4-day work week, 9-day fortnights, flexible schedules, and other reduced-hours policies. The platform lists thousands of jobs across various categories and locations, with a focus on work-life balance. It also offers an Auto Apply feature (JobCopilot) that automatically applies to matching roles on behalf of users. The site verifies each company's schedule policy before listing and provides resources like pros and cons of the 4-day week.
More jobs at Zalando
-
Senior Data Engineer-Product Data Quality
Dublin, Ireland · hybrid · Aug 20, 2026
-
Engineering Manager
Ansbach, Germany · hybrid · Aug 18, 2026
-
Principal Software Engineer - Zalando Payments
Berlin, Germany · hybrid · Aug 18, 2026
-
Senior Software Engineer - Backend
Germany · hybrid · Aug 18, 2026
-
Senior Machine Learning Engineer
Berlin, Germany · hybrid · Aug 18, 2026
Similar cassandra roles
-
Principal AI/ML Engineer - AdTech
zeta-global · United States · Aug 20, 2026
-
Principal AI/ML Engineer - AdTech
zeta-global · New York, United States · Aug 20, 2026
-
Principal AI/ML Engineer - AdTech
zeta-global · San Francisco, United States · Aug 20, 2026
-
Principal Software Developer - Vector Search
elastic · Canada · Aug 20, 2026
-
Software Engineer - Customer Success
feedzai · Atlanta, United States · Aug 18, 2026