{"id":55341,"title":"Senior Search Engineer - Search and Browse Core (All genders)","company":"Zalando","city":"Berlin","region":"Berlin","location":"Berlin, Berlin","work_model":"unknown","employment_type":"unknown","employment":["full_time"],"visa":"not_mentioned","relocation":"offered","posted_at":"2026-11-03T18:09:14.414000+00:00","tools":["LLM","Elasticsearch","Apache Kafka","Apache Flink","OpenSearch","Java","Kotlin","Scala"],"seniority":"senior","years_experience_min":null,"german_requirement":"not_mentioned","german_level":"unspecified","english_requirement":"not_mentioned","english_level":"unspecified","team_language":"unknown","confidence":0.4,"method":"rules+llm","language_badge":"Not stated","language_evidence":null,"requirements_snippet":"Extensive experience building large-scale search engines (e-commerce preferred), Kafka/Flink or similar stream-processing experience, strong JVM backend skills (Java, Kotlin or Scala), distributed systems knowledge, and good …","url":"https://jobs.zalando.com/en/jobs/2724315-Senior-Search-Engineer---Search-and-Browse-Core-(A","source":"careersite","description_text":"THE ROLE & THE TEAM\nJoin the Search Retrieval Team, the engine driving product and content discovery for 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 content has ~4-10 embeddings that power our semantic understanding. We also integrate with LLMs models to power our query understanding and lexical search.\nOur mission is to deliver a world-class, intelligent, scalable, and reliable Search Platform.\n\nWHAT YOU’LL DO\nAs a Senior Search Engineer, you will be at the heart of our mission, tackling complex distributed systems problems at hyperscale. You will:\n• 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.\n• Build for Hyperscale: Modernize and scale our real-time data ingestion systems using technologies like Kafka and Flink to handle millions of updates.\n• Drive Platform Innovation: Develop core platform capabilities that enable teams across Zalando to build rich, personalized discovery experiences for our customers.\n• 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.\n\nWE’D LOVE TO MEET YOU IF:\n• 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.\n• Real-Time Data Pipeline Experience: Proven ability to design and build high-throughput data ingestion pipelines using Kafka and/or Flink or equivalent stream-processing frameworks.\n• 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.\n• 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.\n\nINCLUSIVE BY DESIGN\nAt 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. ​\nWe 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.\ndo.BETTER - our diversity & inclusion strategy: https://corporate.zalando.com/en/our-impact/dobetter-our-diversity-and-inclusion-strategy\nOur employee resource groups: https://corporate.zalando.com/en/our-impact/our-employee-resource-groups\n\nOUR OFFER\nZalando 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.\n• Employee shares program\n• 40% off fashion and beauty products sold and shipped by Zalando, 30% off Zalando Lounge, discounts from external partners\n• 2 paid volunteering days a year\n• 27 days of vacation a year (for Zalando SE)\n• Relocation assistance available (subject to prior agreement)\n• Family services, including counseling and support\n• Health and wellbeing options (including Gympass)\n• Mental health support and coaching available\n\nLearn all about Zalando and our values here: https://jobs.zalando.com/en/?gh_src=22377bdd1us\n\nPlease note that all applications from this job page must be completed using the online form - we do not accept applications via e-mail. Once reviewed, our recruiters will contact applicants via an official Zalando email address (@zalando.de).\nIn some cases we also work with a selection of headhunters and agencies to fill specific roles. Please note that neither Zalando nor our recruiting partners will ask for any kind of payment to apply for a job or attend an interview.\nIf you have any questions about our recruitment process, please take a look at our FAQ page.\n\nSoftware Engineering\nOur Software Engineering teams deploy software extensively, managing a broad set of applications and conducting thousands of deployments per week. The Software Engineering team enables Zalando as Europe’s number one multi-brand, digital platform for fashion, beauty, and lifestyle for our partners and customers. As a Zalando Software Engineer, you’ll be part of a community of thousands of colleagues across Europe.\nLearn More\nSoftware Engineering\n\nAbout Zalando\nIt’s the perfect time to join Zalando on our journey to build the leading pan-European ecosystem for fashion and lifestyle e-commerce. Help us offer an inspiring and quality multi-brand shopping experience for fashion and lifestyle products to about 50 million active customers in 25 markets. Or be part of our logistic infrastructure, software or service capabilities to help brands and retailers run and scale their entire e-commerce business, on or off Zalando. Join our Zalando ecosystem, to enable positive change for the fashion and lifestyle industry.\nLearn more about our culture","responsibilities_text":"As a Senior Search Engineer, you will be at the heart of our mission, tackling complex distributed systems problems at hyperscale. You will:\n• 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.\n• Build for Hyperscale: Modernize and scale our real-time data ingestion systems using technologies like Kafka and Flink to handle millions of updates.\n• Drive Platform Innovation: Develop core platform capabilities that enable teams across Zalando to build rich, personalized discovery experiences for our customers.\n• 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.\nWE’D LOVE TO MEET YOU IF:\n• 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.\n• Real-Time Data Pipeline Experience: Proven ability to design and build high-throughput data ingestion pipelines using Kafka and/or Flink or equivalent stream-processing frameworks.\n• 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.\n• 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.\nINCLUSIVE BY DESIGN\nAt 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. ​\nWe 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.\ndo.BETTER - our diversity & inclusion strategy: https://corporate.zalando.com/en/our-impact/dobetter-our-diversity-and-inclusion-strategy\nOur employee resource groups: https://corporate.zalando.com/en/our-impact/our-employee-resource-groups\nOUR OFFER\nZalando 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.\n• Employee shares program\n• 40% off fashion and beauty products sold and shipped by Zalando, 30% off Zalando Lounge, discounts from external partners\n• 2 paid volunteering days a year\n• 27 days of vacation a year (for Zalando SE)\n• Relocation assistance available (subject to prior agreement)\n• Family services, including counseling and support\n• Health and wellbeing options (including Gympass)\n• Mental health support and coaching available\nLearn all about Zalando and our values here: https://jobs.zalando.com/en/?gh_src=22377bdd1us\nPlease note that all applications from this job page must be completed using the online form - we do not accept applications via e-mail. Once reviewed, our recruiters will contact applicants via an official Zalando email address (@zalando.de).\nIn some cases we also work with a selection of headhunters and agencies to fill specific roles. Please note that neither Zalando nor our recruiting partners will ask for any kind of payment to apply for a job or attend an interview.\nIf you have any questions about our recruitment process, please take a look at our FAQ page.\nSoftware Engineering\nOur Software Engineering teams deploy software extensively, managing a broad set of applications and conducting thousands of deployments per week. The Software Engineering team enables Zalando as Europe’s number one multi-brand, digital platform for fashion, beauty, and lifestyle for our partners and customers. As a Zalando Software Engineer, you’ll be part of a community of thousands of colleagues across Europe.\nLearn More\nSoftware Engineering","requirements_text":null,"status":"open","duplicate_of":null,"first_seen":"2026-11-02T15:49:35.456075+00:00","responsibilities_summary":"Lead design of an AI-driven search engine on Elasticsearch with neural search, scale real-time ingestion pipelines (Kafka, Flink), build reusable platform capabilities, and drive infrastructure projects such as index consolidation and migrations.","requirements_summary":"Extensive experience building large-scale search engines (e-commerce preferred), Kafka/Flink or similar stream-processing experience, strong JVM backend skills (Java, Kotlin or Scala), distributed systems knowledge, and good cross-functional communication.","all_tools":["LLM","Elasticsearch","Apache Kafka","Apache Flink","OpenSearch","Java","Kotlin","Scala"],"posting_language":"en","evidence":[],"years_experience_max":null,"mobility_evidence":[{"kind":"relocation","quote":"Relocation assistance available (subject to prior agreement)","value":"offered"}],"model_version":"claude-haiku-5-5","english_badge":"English not stated","company_id":181}