Zalando is evolving beyond e-commerce to become a leading fashion, beauty, and lifestyle ecosystem in Europe. This strategic shift is driven by three core pillars: delivering high-quality e-commerce experiences, expanding beyond fashion and beauty into lifestyle, and creating a seamless blend of inspiration, entertainment, and shopping.
As the Business Development Principal for Inspiration & Entertainment, you will play a pivotal role in a bold experimental initiative to integrate inspiration, entertainment, and high-quality e-commerce. This initiative will pilot in select markets to identify a successful model that can then be expanded to additional markets. You will work closely with my team to develop and execute strategies that ensure the experiment’s success, using insights from these initial markets to define a path forward.
This role centers on crafting innovative, experience-driven products that encourage customers to engage regularly with Zalando, find inspiration, and make purchases within our ecosystem, ultimately driving the growth of our weekly active user base and quality time spent on the platform.
WHAT WE’D LOVE YOU TO DO (AND LOVE DOING):
Market & Competitive Analysis: Deeply understand the European landscape for fashion, beauty, and lifestyle entertainment. Identify trends, competitive dynamics, and unmet needs in the market to inform product-market fit and growth opportunities.
Strategy Development: Lead the strategy for expanding Zalando’s Inspiration & Entertainment offering across Europe, with a focus on driving user engagement, quality time spent, and weekly active user growth.
Pilot Program Execution: Take ownership of the bold experimental initiative by developing and testing the integrated inspiration, entertainment, and e-commerce experience in a few select markets. Analyze results and identify key drivers of success to inform future rollouts.
Product Partnership & Market Entry: Work closely with product teams to guide and support the development and launch of products that combine inspiration, entertainment, and e-commerce in a way that resonates with European audiences.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with teams across Zalando, including Product, Marketing, and Operations, to align on goals, leverage insights, and ensure seamless integration of new initiatives within the broader Zalando platform.
Customer Engagement & Growth: Develop and execute strategies to expand Zalando’s active user base, increase time spent on the platform, and encourage repeat engagement by providing high-quality, inspiring content that drives loyalty.
Stakeholder Management: Serve as a thought leader and trusted advisor to senior leadership on strategies to integrate entertainment and e-commerce in a way that drives value for customers and the company.
Data-Driven Decision Making: Leverage data to understand user behaviour, evaluate the success of new initiatives, and adjust strategies to enhance engagement and user experience.
WE’D LOVE TO MEET YOU IF:
You have 6+ years in business development, strategic partnerships, or similar roles, ideally within the e-commerce, digital media, or entertainment sectors, with a strong focus on audience engagement and product growth.
You have in-depth understanding of the European market and consumer behaviour in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle, with experience in digital transformation or platform ecosystems.
You have strong strategic planning, market analysis, and partnership development skills. Demonstrated ability to drive product-market fit for consumer-focused experiences.
You have a proven track record of working cross-functionally and leading initiatives that require collaboration between product, marketing, and operations teams.
You have a Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or a related field; MBA or relevant advanced degree preferred.
You have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence at all levels and build strong relationships.
You have experience developing or managing products that blend content, entertainment, and e-commerce.
You have familiarity with data analysis and audience insights to drive informed decisions.
You have an established network within the fashion, beauty, or lifestyle sectors in Europe.
This role is ideal for a strategic leader passionate about transforming the customer experience by connecting entertainment and shopping.
If you’re ready to shape the future of e-commerce through bold experimentation and innovative, engagement-driven products, we encourage you to apply!
OUR OFFER
Zalando 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.
Employee shares program
40% off fashion and beauty products sold and shipped by Zalando, 30% off Zalando Lounge, discounts from external partners
2 paid volunteering days a year
Hybrid working model with 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
27 days of vacation a year to start
Relocation assistance available (subject to prior agreement)
Family services, including counselling and support
Health and wellbeing options (including Gympass)
Mental health support and coaching available
Learn all about Zalando and our values here: https://jobs.zalando.com/en/?gh_src=22377bdd1us
INCLUSIVE BY DESIGN
Zalando’s vision is to be the starting point for fashion – 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’re only asking about 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 you throughout the hiring process.
do.BETTER - our diversity & inclusion strategy: https://corporate.zalando.com/en/diversity-inclusion
Our employee resource groups: https://corporate.zalando.com/en/diversity-inclusion/our-employee-resource-groups