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Senior Applied Scientist (Vision Language Models) - Size & Fit (All Genders) - Job Opportunity at Zalando SE

Berlin, Germany
Full-time
Senior
Posted: June 16, 2025
Hybrid
EUR 95,000 - 130,000 annually, reflecting Berlin's competitive tech market, Zalando's market leadership position, and the specialized nature of Vision Language Model expertise combined with the business-critical nature of size and fit solutions

Benefits

Equity participation through employee shares program providing ownership stake in Europe's leading fashion e-commerce platform
Substantial product discounts with 40% off fashion and beauty items and 30% off Lounge by Zalando, significantly reducing personal shopping expenses
Paid volunteering time with 2 days annually, demonstrating corporate social responsibility commitment
Flexible hybrid work arrangement allowing up to 60% remote work weekly, optimizing work-life balance
International work flexibility with up to 30 working days abroad annually, supporting global mobility
Generous vacation package starting at 27 days annually for full-time employees
Comprehensive relocation support for international candidates
Family support services including counseling and assistance programs
Health and wellness benefits including Wellhub (formerly Gympass) membership
Mental health support and professional coaching services
Professional development opportunities through dedicated training platform and biannual peer reviews

Key Responsibilities

Lead the development and deployment of cutting-edge Vision Language Models to revolutionize size and fit recommendations for 50+ million customers across Europe's largest fashion platform
Drive strategic research initiatives from conception to production deployment, directly impacting customer satisfaction and reducing return rates in the multi-billion euro fashion e-commerce market
Establish scientific thought leadership through publications in top-tier AI conferences and journals, positioning Zalando as an innovation leader in fashion technology
Mentor junior scientists and foster cross-functional collaboration, building organizational AI capabilities and knowledge sharing culture
Partner with business stakeholders and product leaders to translate complex AI research into commercially viable solutions that drive revenue growth and customer retention

Requirements

Education

Ph.D or M.Sc. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Artificial Intelligence, or related field

Experience

2+ years of research experience in university or industry with primary emphasis on AI research

Required Skills

In-depth experiences in deep learning, in particular vision language transformer models Proficiency in Python and PyTorch Experience implementing software and executing complex experiments involving large AI models and datasets Publication records at top conferences and journals such as CVPR, ICCV/ECCV, NeurIPS, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML, PAMI, IJCV
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Sauge AI Market Intelligence

Industry Trends

The fashion e-commerce industry is experiencing a fundamental shift toward AI-driven personalization, with size and fit being the primary pain point causing up to 30% return rates, making this specialization increasingly critical for business sustainability. Vision Language Models are becoming the cornerstone of next-generation e-commerce experiences, combining computer vision with natural language processing to understand customer preferences and product attributes in ways previously impossible. European fashion e-commerce is consolidating around technology leaders, with companies investing heavily in AI research to differentiate their customer experience and reduce operational costs associated with returns and customer service. The integration of transformer architectures in fashion technology is accelerating, with companies seeking researchers who can bridge the gap between cutting-edge academic research and practical commercial applications at scale.

Role Significance

Likely leading a team of 3-5 junior scientists and engineers within a larger multidisciplinary organization of 20+ members, requiring both technical excellence and leadership capabilities
This is a high-impact senior research position with significant autonomy and strategic influence, requiring independent research leadership while mentoring junior team members and directly shaping product roadmaps that affect millions of customers

Key Projects

Development of multimodal AI systems that combine product images, customer reviews, and sizing data to predict fit accuracy Implementation of large-scale transformer models for understanding fashion attributes and customer preferences Research into novel computer vision techniques for automated garment measurement and fit prediction Creation of personalized recommendation systems that adapt to individual customer body types and style preferences

Success Factors

Deep technical expertise in transformer architectures and multimodal AI systems, as the role requires pushing the boundaries of current Vision Language Model capabilities in a commercial setting. Strong publication record and research methodology skills, essential for maintaining scientific rigor while working in a fast-paced business environment and contributing to Zalando's thought leadership. Business acumen and customer-centric thinking, crucial for translating complex AI research into solutions that directly impact customer satisfaction and business metrics. Leadership and mentoring capabilities, necessary for building team capabilities and fostering a collaborative research culture within a diverse, international team. Pragmatic approach to research and development, balancing innovative exploration with practical implementation constraints and commercial viability requirements.

Market Demand

Very High - The intersection of computer vision, NLP, and e-commerce applications represents one of the fastest-growing segments in AI research, with limited talent pool and increasing business investment

Important Skills

Critical Skills

Vision Language Model expertise is absolutely essential as the role specifically focuses on developing multimodal AI systems that can understand both visual fashion attributes and textual customer feedback, requiring deep understanding of transformer architectures, attention mechanisms, and cross-modal learning techniques. PyTorch proficiency is critical for implementing and experimenting with large-scale deep learning models, as most cutting-edge research in Vision Language Models relies on PyTorch's flexibility for custom architectures and distributed training. Research publication experience demonstrates the ability to conduct rigorous scientific work, communicate complex ideas effectively, and contribute to the broader AI research community, which is essential for maintaining Zalando's position as a thought leader in fashion technology. Large-scale AI system implementation experience is crucial for translating research prototypes into production systems that can handle millions of customer interactions daily while maintaining performance and reliability standards.

Beneficial Skills

Fashion domain knowledge and understanding of garment construction, sizing systems, and customer fit preferences would accelerate the learning curve and improve the practical applicability of research outcomes. Distributed systems and MLOps expertise would be valuable for scaling AI models across Zalando's infrastructure and ensuring reliable deployment of research innovations. User experience research and customer psychology understanding would enhance the ability to design AI systems that truly address customer needs and preferences in fashion shopping. European language capabilities would facilitate better understanding of customer feedback and cultural differences in fashion preferences across Zalando's diverse European markets.

Unique Aspects

Access to one of the world's largest fashion and customer behavior datasets, providing unprecedented opportunities for research in consumer preferences, sizing variations, and fashion trends across diverse European markets.
Direct impact on millions of customers' daily shopping experiences, with research outcomes immediately visible in customer satisfaction metrics and business performance, providing rare opportunity for academic research with immediate commercial validation.
Intersection of multiple cutting-edge AI disciplines including computer vision, natural language processing, and recommender systems, applied to the complex and nuanced domain of fashion and personal style.
Opportunity to work in the rapidly evolving field of multimodal AI while addressing a fundamental e-commerce challenge that affects the entire industry, positioning the role at the forefront of both technological innovation and business transformation.

Career Growth

3-5 years to Principal level with continued research excellence and team leadership, 5-8 years to executive roles with demonstrated business impact and organizational leadership

Potential Next Roles

Principal Applied Scientist or Research Director positions, leading larger research organizations and setting strategic direction for AI initiatives across multiple product areas Head of AI or Chief Technology Officer roles at fashion technology companies, leveraging deep domain expertise in e-commerce applications Academic positions as Research Professor or Industry Partnership roles, bridging commercial applications with academic research institutions Entrepreneurial opportunities founding AI-focused fashion technology startups, particularly in areas related to virtual fitting and personalized shopping experiences

Company Overview

Zalando SE

Zalando SE is Europe's leading online fashion platform, serving over 50 million active customers across 25 markets with a gross merchandise volume exceeding EUR 14 billion annually, representing one of the continent's most successful e-commerce success stories and a technology leader in fashion retail.

Market leader in European fashion e-commerce with strong competitive positioning against both traditional retailers and tech giants, significant investment in technology and logistics infrastructure, and established presence in key European markets with growing profitability.
This Berlin-based role places the candidate at the heart of Europe's largest tech ecosystem outside of London, with Zalando's headquarters providing access to world-class research facilities, diverse talent pool, and strategic proximity to both European fashion centers and technology hubs.
International, data-driven culture emphasizing innovation and customer-centricity, with strong emphasis on diversity and inclusion (20+ nationalities in the team), collaborative research environment, and balance between academic rigor and commercial application in a fast-growing technology company.
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