Applied Science Manager - Forecasting

The Role and the Team

As an Applied Science Manager (Forecasting) in the Markets organization, you will lead the Applied Science Forecasting team, enabling exceptional Applied Scientists to create bold research experiments with today's most exciting State-of-the-Art approaches in the scientific field. You will be leading the team developing cutting-edge forecasting solutions that will support the steering of Zalando’s $10Bn+ Business.

You will empower the team to stay up-to-date with the latest research in Forecasting Science for Demand Planning (e.g., forecasting market demand, logistics KPIs, etc.). You will provide egoless and constructive scientific feedback to peers and coach junior colleagues to become great researchers.

In addition to the science depth, research, and publication track record, you must possess exceptional research management and communication skills. Above all, we expect you to be a strong people leader who understands how to effectively coach an applied science team and create state-of-the-art solutions that deliver business value.

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.

What We’d Love You to Do (and Love Doing)

• You will be a leader in Applied Science, raising the scientific bar across your team and Zalando through publications in prestigious international conferences and engaging in rigorous peer reviews.
• Actively collaborate with other teams and share knowledge and expertise within our talented applied science community.
• Support the team in defining and executing roadmaps, integrating the high level of uncertainty and complexity involved in our projects.
• Scale up, manage, and mentor other junior and senior scientists, reviewing and guiding their work.
• Work closely with other senior leaders and engineering & product team members to bring our state-of-the-art solutions to customers.

We’d Love to Meet You If You Have

• Strong academic background in a STEM field or equivalent (preferably PhD).
• Strong experience in Demand Forecasting science.
• Strong problem-solving skills for Data Science in general.
• Experience in demand forecasting science-related projects (e.g., full lifecycle of deep learning forecasting).
• Experience in translating research into application with a good balance between scientific rigor and sustained relevance.
• Ability to motivate highly skilled data scientists, mentor, and enable them for growth.
• Strong experience with Python in an applied context - experience with ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, etc.) applied for forecasting problems.
• Fluent business English.
• Self-driven, intrinsic motivation for result implementation (action orientation).