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

Zalando; Berlin; Hybrid; EUR 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

27 days of holiday

Volunteer days

Hybrid work model (60% remote)

Work from abroad (30 days) per year

Employee shares program

40% off fashion & beauty products

Relocation assistance

Family services

Wellbeing options

Mental health support

Training & peer review

Job summary

Zalando is building a pan-European fashion and lifestyle ecosystem. As Senior Principal Product Manager you will orchestrate the end-to-end digital partner journey, bridging backend capabilities, data products and partner experiences with a next-generation AI platform.

You will lead cross-functional efforts, shape AI-driven automation and drive architectural decisions across the Partner Tech domain. We value deep customer focus, technical authority, and strong leadership without direct reports,

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in high-scale platforms, SaaS, or marketplaces.
• APIs-as-products and developer experience (DX) are understood deeply.
• Strong grasp of LLM orchestration, agentic workflows, and AI automation.
• Ability to influence across large organizations without direct authority.
• Translate complex trade-offs into business narratives aligned with ecosystem goals.

Responsibilities

• Oversee end-to-end digital partner journey across the ecosystem.
• Define vision for the central AI Platform powering partner experiences.
• Build modular, API-driven infrastructure ready for external integration.
• Own roadmaps for central products like Partner Design System.
• Bridge Engineering and leadership with clear, business-focused communication.
• Mentor junior product colleagues and contribute to the product craft leadership.

Skills

Systemic Platform Thinking

AI-Fluent Product Craft

Influence & Stakeholder Alignment

Technical Architecture & DX

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. If you're ready to redefine how partners interact with and operate on the Zalando ecosystem, then we'd love to speak!

Find out more about our Software engineer team: https://jobs.zalando.com/en/what-we-do/software-engineering

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 empowers 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. Ask your Talent Acquisition Partner to learn more about what we offer.

• 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