Department : Fashion Store / Supply / Fashion
Reports to : GM Core Fashion
Team Size : ~3 direct reports, managing a team of ≈35 in total, and collaborating with the wider Zalando organisation.
ABOUT THE TEAM
The Young Fashion team was formed at the beginning of 2023 after an organisational change to bring a higher level of customer focus to the Core Fashion proposition. While we have been partnering with Young Fashion brands since the inception of Zalando, having this new team focused on the Young Fashion target customer helps us to develop our assortment strategy and brand partnerships, identifying opportunities and risks with more precision.
The Young Fashion assortment has ~400 brands covering Women’s and Men’s Apparel, Footwear and Accessories, with brands operating in all channels - Wholesale, Partner Program (both drop ship and Fulfilment by Zalando) and multi-channel through ZEOS. We work with a diverse range of brands including global market leaders in this space, such as the Inditex Group, the Bestseller Group, Mango, Levi’s, Dr Martens, Vagabond, to name a few.
The Young Fashion team work closely with these brand partners to deliver an outstanding curation of the latest fashion trends combining affordability with fashionability to inspire and excite our customers. As the second largest Assortment area in Zalando, Young Fashion serves 25 million active customers, which means 1 in 2 Zalando customers purchase from this portfolio.
The Young Fashion team environment is inclusive, entrepreneurial and high-energy.
ABOUT THE ROLE
As Commercial Director Young Fashion, reporting directly to the Vice President / GM of Core Fashion, you will own the customer & partner centric agenda of the business, using your commercial expertise to drive revenue growth and market share. With your exceptional stakeholder management skills, you will collaborate with other teams in the Zalando platform ecosystem, and create mutually beneficial trust-based relationships with our most important suppliers - bringing the best of Zalando to our partnerships.
You will be responsible for leading the Buying team. Working in close collaboration with Merchandise Planning, Strategic Partner Management and Partner Go To Market, you will define the commercial ambition and supply vision for the category, as well as set the targets for the Young Fashion platform business. You will lead trading, and own negotiations with key partners to deliver strong commercial and strategic impact. You will furthermore play a leading role in cross-departmental projects and partner-focused initiatives designed to further elevate the role of Young Fashion at Zalando.
WHERE YOUR EXPERTISE IS NEEDED
Commercial acumen: You will lead executive level negotiations with Young fashion partners, leveraging solid industry insights and experience to drive win-win-win outcomes for Zalando, our partners and our customers. You will support your team to set and deliver on commercial targets, integrating Zalando platform services into your plans and steering the business to achieve financial targets.
Stakeholder Management: You will maintain a strong network with partners' organisations and enable structured and trust-based relationship management. Furthermore you will collaborate internally with multiple functions including Markets GMs, Business Finance, Marketing, Studios, ZEOS, and Platform Services to deliver cross-functional impact for the business
Strategic capability: You will create and deliver the commercial strategy, linking the Young Fashion vision and project landscape with the Zalando Group Strategy, and our partners’ financial and strategic plans. You will furthermore lead strategic projects with a high commercial impact.
Inspirational Leadership: You will foster a high-performing, entrepreneurial environment and inspire and support others on the journey to deliver our strategy and their career goals.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Authentic and inspiring commercial leader with a clear vision, decisive approach, and commitment to build, empower and coach a high-performing commercial team
Relentless drive and commitment to deliver ambitious targets in a dynamic, high-growth environment
Strong understanding of Fashion e-commerce fundamentals
Adept negotiator who is commercially ambitious and focused on creating win-win situations
Highly strategic and analytical thinker
Outstanding stakeholder management, communication and influencing skills
10+ years experience working in Fashion Retail, eCommerce, Consumer Goods, or similar in a commercial leadership capacity
* The salary benchmark is based on the target salaries of market leaders in their relevant sectors. It is intended to serve as a guide to help Premium Members assess open positions and to help in salary negotiations. The salary benchmark is not provided directly by the company, which could be significantly higher or lower.