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

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‑to‑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

We believe that diverse teams fuel innovation and creativity, and we actively seek talent from all backgrounds. We actively seek to reduce bias in our hiring and employment processes, focusing on your qualifications, skills, and contributions. We 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. Please let us know if you require any accommodations to support you throughout the hiring process.

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

• Horizontal Experience Stewardship: Oversee the end‑to‑end digital partner journey; identify friction points across team boundaries and coordinate cross‑functional efforts to drive a cohesive, high‑performance experience for our brands.

• AI Platform Strategy & Orchestration: Define the vision and strategy for the central AI Platform powering our digital partner ecosystem, including building internal infrastructure—such as LLM orchestration, agentic frameworks, and RAG patterns—to empower product teams to deploy intelligent automation for partners.

• Ecosystem‑Led Infrastructure: Drive platform evolution, ensuring modular, extensible infrastructure ready to integrate deeply with external partner systems via APIs and autonomous agents.

• Central Infrastructure Ownership: Directly oversee the roadmap for key central products, including the Partner Design System and foundational technical infrastructure for partner‑facing digital applications.

• Executive Communication & Influence: Bridge Engineering and leadership, translating technical trade‑offs into compelling business narratives that align with long‑term ecosystem goals.

• Leadership & Mentorship: Coach and mentor junior product colleagues and contribute to the product craft leadership team in Partner Tech.

WE’ D LOVE TO MEET YOU IF

• Systemic Platform Thinking: 10+ years of experience in high‑scale platforms, SaaS, or marketplaces; expertise in APIs‑as‑products, developer experience (DX), and building distributed platform services.

• AI‑Fluent Product Craft: Technical fluency in the Generative AI stack with deep understanding of LLM orchestration, agentic workflows, and moving from experimentation to production‑grade automation.

• Mastery of Influence: Expert at driving alignment across complex organizations and managing high‑stakes change without direct line‑management authority.

• Technical Authority: Capable of sparring with Principal Engineers on architecture and system design, and pivoting to commercial leadership meetings to discuss partner performance and scalability.

• Customer & UX Excellence: Advocate for intuitive enterprise software, high‑quality digital experiences, and strategic differentiation for our ecosystem.

OUR OFFER

Zalando provides a range of benefits, including

• 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 varies by team

• 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

• Training platform and biannual peer‑to‑peer review for professional development