Principal Software Engineer Core Platform & Growth / Lounge by Zalando (all genders)

Zalando
Berlin
Workplace: HybridFull timeFunction: Software EngineeringSkills: ["Mentoring","Cross-functional leadership","Architectural decision-making","Communication","Technical collaboration"]

Lead the Core Platform & Growth engineering for Lounge by Zalando, shaping scalable backend architecture for event-driven microservices, high-throughput pipelines, lifecycle messaging, and modern AI infrastructure. Drive cross-team engineering initiatives, mentor senior engineers, and improve engineering craft through architecture reviews and guidelines. Bring GenAI from prototype to production with strong observability, evaluation, and reliability. Partner with project management to deliver complex product and business initiatives across the Lounge organization.

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Zalando
Zalando
1 day ago

Principal Software Engineer Core Platform & Growth / Lounge by Zalando (all genders)

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Source: Company careers pageValidated by: Fursa AI
Last checked: 18 hours agoStatus: Live

Job Summary

Lead the Core Platform & Growth engineering for Lounge by Zalando, shaping scalable backend architecture for event-driven microservices, high-throughput pipelines, lifecycle messaging, and modern AI infrastructure. Drive cross-team engineering initiatives, mentor senior engineers, and improve engineering craft through architecture reviews and guidelines. Bring GenAI from prototype to production with strong observability, evaluation, and reliability. Partner with project management to deliver complex product and business initiatives across the Lounge organization.
Location: Berlin
Workplace: Hybrid
Employment Type: Full time
Job Function: Software Engineering
Seniority: Mid level

Key Responsibilities

  • •Architect scalable core growth, data, and AI infrastructure, guiding the evolution of event-driven microservices and high-throughput pipelines.
  • •Lead Lounge-wide technical initiatives by enabling other teams to make better technical decisions and align on a cohesive architectural vision.
  • •Support the transition of GenAI initiatives from prototype to production-ready platforms, including secure use of AI coding assistants and evaluation tooling.
  • •Multiply engineering impact by mentoring and coaching senior engineers through architecture reviews, pair programming, and clear architectural guidelines.
  • •Contribute to the Principal Engineering community by writing architecture decision records (ADRs) and partnering with project management to deliver complex initiatives.

Pay and Benefits

Perks:EquityRemote WorkPaid LeaveRelocationGym Membership

Key Requirements

  • •Strong experience designing, building, and operating distributed, highly available backend systems at scale.
  • •Hands-on expertise with Kotlin and the JVM ecosystem, plus broad architectural skills and adaptability.
  • •Experience in cloud-native environments such as AWS and Kubernetes, with knowledge of data infrastructure and streaming pipelines like Kafka.
  • •Ability to bring machine learning or GenAI solutions into production with observability, evaluation, and reliable scaling for real users.
  • •Proven skill leading cross-functional work without formal authority, driving technical alignment across multiple domains.
Skills:MentoringCross-functional leadershipArchitectural decision-makingCommunicationTechnical collaboration
Tech Stack:KotlinJVMAWSKubernetesKafkaMicroservicesEvent-driven architectureGenAIAI coding assistantsObservabilityMachine learning

Company Brief

Zalando
Zalando operates a leading European online marketplace for fashion and lifestyle products, offering clothing, shoes and accessories from international brands and local labels, plus logistics and marketing services to partner brands and retailers.
Industry: Online Marketplaces
Company Size: Enterprise (1,001+ employees)
Revenue: USD 1B+
Growth: Public Company
Valuation: Public Company (Market Cap in USD)
Funding: IPO / Publicly Listed
Headquarters: Berlin, Germany
Founded: 2008
WebsiteLinkedIn