Senior Principal Applied Scientist (all genders)

Zalando; Zürich; Hybrid; CHF 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee shares program

40% off fashion and beauty products

30% off Lounge by Zalando

Discounts from external partners

2 paid volunteering days a year

Hybrid working model up to 60% remote

Work from abroad up to 30 days

25 days vacation

Health and wellbeing options

Swiss SBB Halbtax

Mental health support and coaching

Training platform and peer review

Job summary

Zalando in Zurich seeks a Senior Principal Applied Scientist for Size & Fit to lead research and deliver production-scale AI solutions for fashion sizing and fit. You will leverage GenAI and advanced computer vision on large datasets to influence product decisions that improve customer satisfaction at scale.

You will mentor scientists, shape the scientific roadmap, and collaborate with product and design to translate complex business goals into impact-driven technical initiatives.

Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, AI, or related field with 5+ years post-doc/industry experience.
• Hands-on AI/ML model building, deployment and rapid prototyping.
• Strong publication record in premier venues (CVPR/ICCV/ECCV/NeurIPS/ICML/PAMI/IJCV).
• Fluent in English with excellent communication to tech and leadership audiences.
• Mentorship and talent development of junior and senior scientists.

Responsibilities

• Lead in CV/ML, raise scientific bar with peer review and knowledge sharing.
• Partner with Product Management and Design to refine requirements and deliver MVPs.
• Stay at the forefront of CV techniques (GANs, Diffusion, NeRFs) and AI/ML.
• Implement durable, repeatable processes ensuring MLOps and reliability.
• Mentor and grow team members to become world-class researchers and engineers.

Skills

Python

PyTorch

ML frameworks

GenAI

3D Computer Vision

Diffusion models

Computer Vision

Education

Ph.D. in CS/ML/CV/AI

Job description

THE ROLE & THE TEAM

The Size and Fit team is tackling one of the key challenges in the fashion industry: helping online customers confidently find what they love and decide on the right size and fit of clothes and shoes they buy. By doing so, we directly improve customer satisfaction, reduce returns, and drive sustainable, profitable growth. As an interdisciplinary team of applied scientists, software engineers, product managers, and design experts, we work holistically to deliver high-impact solutions with a focus on immediate, scalable results. While developing and maintaining proven, highly-adopted solutions such as ML-based size recommendations, we push the boundaries of what’s possible in online fashion by rapidly iterating our approaches with cutting-edge AI, including diffusion models, image and video generation, and 3D try-on experiences, to shape the future of Size & Fit.

As a Sr. Principal Applied Scientist on the Size & Fit team, you’ll leverage your deep scientific expertise and leadership to tackle these challenges. You will use our unique, large-scale datasets to drive bold, hands-on research and develop game-changing, production-scale solutions for over 50 million customers. You will apply cutting-edge GenAI and Computer Vision models to help customers express their unique fit preferences, act as a key advisor on our scientific roadmap, and mentor other scientists to deliver innovative, business-oriented outcomes.

Lead & Empower: Raise the scientific bar—specifically in Computer Vision and Machine Learning—by fostering a culture of rigorous peer review and knowledge sharing. Collaborative Strategy: Partner with Product Management and Design to refine requirements for initiatives that delight customers. You will translate ambiguous business goals into technical solutions, MVPs, and iterative roadmaps. Research & Innovation: Stay at the forefront of Computer Vision techniques (GAN’s, Diffusion Models, etc.) and AI/ML. Interest in Data Engineering and ML Engineering is a plus. You will encourage your team to engage with the global research community through publications in prestigious conferences. Operational Excellence: Act as an advisor by implementing durable, repeatable processes that promote agility. Ensure the systems your team builds and maintains adhere to high standards of MLOps and technical reliability. Mentorship & Growth: Support the professional development of both junior and senior team members. You will provide constructive, "egoless" feedback, handle performance management, and coach your colleagues to become world-class researchers and engineers.

WE’D LOVE TO MEET YOU IF

• Academic Foundation: You hold a Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, AI, or a closely related field, paired with 5+ years of post-doctoral industry or academic experience.
• Full-Lifecycle Ownership: You possess an extensive track record of driving large-scale ML applications through the complete product lifecycle—from initial problem analysis and data processing to literature review, production deployment, monitoring, and long-term maintenance.
• Technical Mastery: You maintain deep hands-on expertise in AI/ML model building & deployment, with proficiency in Python, PyTorch, and modern machine learning frameworks; you excel at rapidly prototyping, iterating on, and deploying hands-on scientific solutions that turn complex business challenges into immediate, scalable wins.
• Specialized Domain Depth: You bring in-depth experience in 3D Computer Vision (leveraging GenAI, diffusion models, NeRFs, Gaussian splatting, and 3D reconstruction) and/or scaled application of modern AI/ML techniques built to solve high-impact business problems.
• Exceptional Communication: You are fluent in English and can communicate complex ideas with clarity to both technical peers and senior leadership, facilitating timely decision-making across the organization.
• Talent Mentorship: You are an active mentor and talent advocate, dedicated to developing, guiding, and elevating both junior and senior applied scientists.
• Research Excellence: You boast a strong, proven publication track record in premier venues such as CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML, PAMI, or IJCV.

OUR OFFER

Zalando provides a range of benefits, here’s an overview of what you can expect.

• Employee shares program
• 40% off fashion and beauty products sold and shipped by Zalando
• 30% off Lounge by Zalando
• Discounts from external partners
• 2 paid volunteering days a year
• Hybrid working model with up to 60% remote per week, actual practice is up to each team to best support their collaboration
• Work from abroad for up to 30 working days a year
• 25 days of vacation a year for full-time employees
• Health and wellbeing options (SportAbo in Zurich)
• Swiss SBB Halbtax (half-fare card)
• Mental health support and coaching available
• Drive your development through our training platform and biannual peer-to-peer review

INCLUSIVE BY DESIGN

At Zalando, our vision is to be the leading pan-European ecosystem for fashion and lifestyle e-commerce - one that is inclusive by design. We only assess candidates based on qualifications, merit, and business needs. We welcome applications from people of all gender identities, sexual orientations, personal expressions, racial identities, ethnicities, religious beliefs, and disability statuses. We only want to know why you’re great for this role, so please avoid including your picture, age, and marital status in your CV as well. We want to provide you with a great candidate experience. Please feel free to inform us of any accommodations you may need, so we can best support and assist you throughout the hiring process.

do.BETTER - our diversity & inclusion strategy:

https://jobs.zalando.com/en/our-culture/diversity-and-inclusion

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. Our values do.More - our sustainability strategy

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