Principal Supplier Management (all genders)

THE ROLE & THE TEAM

Join our dynamic team as a Principal - Supplier Management, contributing to the success of our Supplier Management (Negotiation) team and the broader Business Finance Organization (BFO) Propositions. In this role, you will play a crucial part in cultivating strong, long-term relationships with our suppliers, driving the company's commercial development and sustainable growth across the platform.

As a Principal - Supplier Management, you will be at the forefront of strategic projects aimed at enhancing both top and bottom-line performance. Your responsibilities will include daily collaboration with our main stakeholders - Customer Propositions. You will perform in-depth analysis of our suppliers' portfolio, identify commercial opportunities, perform financial planning and analytics, independently drive cross-functional projects and even actively collaborate in supplier negotiations. As a leader from within, you will work closely with key stakeholders, including those at senior leadership and executive levels across Finance, BFO and Customer Propositions, such as eg. Portfolio leaders and Supplier Captains, and you will have a direct impact on shaping the future of our commercial ventures.

Learn about our Business Unit: https://jobs.zalando.com/en/what-we-do/finance-analytics-and-controlling

WHAT WED LOVE YOU TO DO (AND LOVE DOING)

• Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the fashion industry dynamics and commercial KPIs. Use it to independently perform quantitative analyses to identify opportunities for commercial improvement with our suppliers and partners, and maximize the value of the negotiated agreements.

• Use your curious, analytic mind, paired with financial capabilities, to understand and process financial data and perform advanced analysis of the P&L waterfall and its drivers, cash flows and other financial parameters; build on these findings to drive end-to-end improvements with cross-functional stakeholders.

• Partner with Customer Propositions to support them in defining, shaping, and optimising their negotiation strategies and tactics, providing holistic support and peer-level leadership in developing win-win commercial relationships with suppliers.

• Apply advanced Project Management skills to drive and successfully deliver on cross-functional projects by independently owning specific sub-workstreams, defining requirements, identifying and gathering the needed data, analysing information, and truly owning key projects.

• Skillfully identify process gaps, dataset inconsistencies and broader improvement opportunities and proactively propose and drive solutions to implement these improvements, while demonstrating outstanding problem-solving skills, stakeholder management, collaboration, teamwork and willingness to learn.

• Utilize your seniority and proven leadership skills to be a 3leader from within4 and positively influence and lead team members, stakeholders and peers, including those at senior and executive leadership levels.

WED LOVE TO MEET YOU IF

• You are a seasoned professional with at least 7+ years of relevant working experience in one of the following areas: Finance or Banking, M&A, Consultancy, Planning, Buying/Merchandising, Controlling or similar.

• You have senior experience in the fashion industry and/or marketplace platform business models, and possess an analytical mind and problem-solving capabilities, complemented by the understanding of commercial KPIs and financial parameters such as P&L and Cash Flow drivers.

• You demonstrate outstanding analytical skills and an ability to perform quantitative and qualitative analysis leveraging advanced modelling and data manipulation (i.e. macros, pivots, etc.). Advanced knowledge of Excel and/or Google Sheets is required, while knowledge of SQL and/or Python is an advantage.

• You are able to independently analyze commercial data to derive strategic conclusions and present findings effectively in written and verbal formats (Advanced PPT/Google Slides required).

• You possess seniority, strategic acumen, project and stakeholder management skills at a senior leadership level, and a self-starting, winning mentality, positive attitude, excellent communication, and demonstrated teamwork ability paired with attention to detail.

• You are fluent in English.

*If you think you have what it takes, we encourage you to apply even if you don't meet every single requirement. You may just be the right candidate for this or other roles!

OUR OFFER

Zalando provides a range of benefits, heres 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 Lounge by Zalando, discounts from external partners

• 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

• 27 days of vacation a year to start for full-time employees

• 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

INCLUSIVE BY DESIGN

At Zalando, our vision is to be the leading pan-European ecosystem for fashion and lifestyle e-commerce - 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 only want to know why youre 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 and assist you throughout the hiring process.

do.BETTER - our diversity & inclusion strategy: https://jobs.zalando.com/en/our-culture/diversity-and-inclusion

Recruiter

Viktorija Neshkovska

[email protected]

Please note that all applications from this job page must be completed using the online form - we do not accept applications via e-mail. Once reviewed, our recruiters will contact applicants via an official Zalando email address (@zalando.de).

In some cases we also work with a selection of headhunters and agencies to fill specific roles. Please note that neither Zalando nor our recruiting partners will ask for any kind of payment to apply for a job or attend an interview.

If you have any questions about our recruitment process, please take a look at our FAQ page.