Senior Principal Product Manager – Partner Experience & AI Platform (all genders)

Zalando SE; Berlin; Hybrid; EUR 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Employee shares program

2 volunteering days/year

Relocation assistance

Wellbeing options

Wellness & mental health support

Job summary

Zalando SE is seeking a Senior Principal Product Manager (Head-level IC) to steward the end-to-end digital partner journey across the Partner Tech ecosystem. You will align backend capabilities, data products, and partner experiences while architecting an AI platform that automates and augments workflows.

You will bridge engineering and leadership, guide cross-functional teams, and mentor peers as part of the product craft leadership within Partner Tech.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in high-scale platforms, SaaS, or marketplaces.
• Fluent in APIs-as-products, DX, and distributed platform services.
• Able to translate complex trade-offs into business narratives.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the end-to-end digital partner journey across teams to reduce friction and improve partner experience.
• Define the vision and strategy for the central AI platform powering the ecosystem, including LLM orchestration and autonomous agents.
• Drive a modular, extensible infrastructure that integrates with partner systems via APIs and agents.
• Own the roadmap for central products, including the Partner Design System and foundational infra for partner-facing apps.
• Bridge Engineering and leadership, communicating trade-offs in business terms to guides decisions.
• Mentor junior product colleagues and contribute to the Partner Tech product craft leadership.

Skills

Systemic platform thinking

AI-fluent product craft

Mastery of influence

Technical authority

Customer & UX excellence

Job description

THE ROLE & THE TEAM

Zalando is on a mission to become a pan-European fashion and lifestyle ecosystem. Partner Tech acts as a key gateway to Zalando's brand ecosystem. We build the infrastructure, digital interfaces, foundational data services and AI-driven intelligence that enable thousands of brand partners—from global fashion powerhouses to local boutiques to operate and thrive within our B2C marketplace. By solving complex challenges along the full partner journey - from partner onboarding, article lifecycle and order management to assortment planning and commercial steering - we are on a mission to transform Zalando into the preferred platform for fashion and lifestyle across Europe. As Senior Principal Product Manager (Head-level IC), you will act as the horizontal steward of our end-2-end digital partner journey. You will bridge the gap between complex backend capabilities, data products and high-performing partner experiences, while architecting a next-generation AI platform that transforms static tools into intelligent, automated and agent supported workflows.

Inclusive by Design

At Zalando, our vision is to be the leading pan-European ecosystem for fashion and lifestyle e-commerce - one that thrives on diversity and is truly inclusive by design. We believe that diverse teams fuel innovation and creativity, and we actively seek out talent from all backgrounds. We actively seek to reduce bias in our hiring and employment processes, focusing on your qualifications, skills, and contributions. To support this, we kindly ask that you refrain from including personal details such as your photo, age, or marital status in your CV, ensuring a fair and equitable evaluation based solely on your abilities and potential. We are committed to providing an exceptional and accessible candidate experience for everyone. If you require any accommodations to support you throughout the hiring process, please let us know - we are here to assist you. Discover more about our commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace: https://jobs.zalando.com/en/our-culture/diversity-and-inclusion

WHAT WE’D LOVE YOU TO DO (AND LOVE DOING)

• Horizontal Experience Stewardship: You will oversee the end-to-end digital partner journey. You look beyond individual team boundaries to identify friction points in the ecosystem, coordinating cross-functional efforts to drive a cohesive, high-performance experience for our brands.


• AI Platform Strategy & Orchestration: You will define the vision and strategy for our central AI Platform powering our digital partner ecosystem. This includes building internal infrastructure - such as LLM orchestration, agentic frameworks, and RAG patterns that empower our product teams to deploy intelligent automation for partners.


• Ecosystem-Led Infrastructure: You will be a key driver of our platform evolution, ensuring our infrastructure is modular, extensible, and ready to integrate deeply with relevant external systems of our partners via APIs and autonomous agents.


• Central Infrastructure Ownership: You will directly oversee the roadmap for key central products, including our Partner Design System and the foundational technical infrastructure upon which partner-facing digital applications are built.


• Executive Communication & Influence: You act as a high-bandwidth bridge between Engineering and leadership. You translate complex technical trade-offs into compelling business narratives that align with our long-term ecosystem goals.


• Leadership & Mentorship: While primarily an individual contributor, you will play an active role in leveling up our product craft by coaching and mentoring more junior product colleagues in your product area and become a key member of our product craft leadership team in Partner Tech.

WE’D LOVE TO MEET YOU IF

• Systemic Platform Thinking: You have 10+ years of experience in high-scale platforms, SaaS, or Marketplaces. You understand APIs-as-products, developer experience (DX), and the nuances of building distributed platform services.


• AI-Fluent Product Craft: You are technically firm in the Generative AI stack. You have a deep understanding of LLM orchestration, Agentic workflows, and how to move from AI experimentation to production-grade automation. While you uncover new product opportunities in these new technologies, you always work backwards from a deep understanding of your customer and the value it can bring to the business.


• Mastery of Influence: You are an expert at driving alignment across complex organizations. You know how to manage high-stakes change management and strategic programs without requiring direct line-management authority.


• Technical Authority: You can spar with Principal Engineers on architecture and system design, then pivot to a commercial leadership meeting to discuss partner performance and scalability.


• Customer & UX Excellence: You believe enterprise software should be as intuitive as B2C. You advocate for high-quality, consistent digital experiences as a strategic differentiator for our ecosystem.

OUR OFFER

Zalando provides a range of benefits, here’s an overview of what you can expect.

• 27 days of holiday a year to start for full-time employees (+1 day for every calendar year up to 30 days)


• 2 paid volunteering days a year


• Hybrid working model with up to 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


• Employee shares program


• 40% off fashion and beauty products sold and shipped by Zalando, 30% off Lounge by Zalando, discounts from external partners


• Relocation assistance available (subject to prior agreement)


• Family services, including counseling and support


• Health and wellbeing options (including Wellhub, formerly Gympass)


• Mental health support and coaching available


• Drive your development through our training platform and biannual peer-to-peer review

It’s the perfect time to join Zalando on our journey, from being a pioneer in the world of e-commerce, to the Starting Point for Fashion in Europe. We connect customers, brands, and partners across 25 markets. Help us drive digital and sustainable solutions for fashion, logistics, advertising and research, bringing head-to-toe fashion to 50 million active customers through a team of diverse skill-sets, cultural backgrounds, and interests.

Our values do.More - our sustainability strategy Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/insidezalando