About this role

THE ROLE AND THE TEAM

The Customer Experience team acts as a vital bridge between Customer Support Stakeholders (e.g. Customer Care (CuCa)) and Zalando Payments, ensuring smooth Payments Operations and resolving complex payment-related issues that directly impact customer satisfaction.

As a Junior Manager Operational Excellence, you'll be the pivotal expert driving continuous process improvements across two operational teams, maximizing efficiency and enhancing the end-to-end payment journey for Zalando's customers. You'll be a hands-on supporter, tackling complex operational topics and partnering with leads and stakeholders on new payment methods, markets, and processes.

At ZPS, our mission is to provide a seamless, secure, and efficient payment experience that maximizes customer satisfaction and drives business success. We are committed to championing our customers while maintaining operational excellence across all ZPS payment processes. By ensuring frictionless transactions and improving conversion rates, we strengthen the payment journey and serve as a vital link between Zalando Customer Care, Zalando SE Finance and Zalando Payments.

INCLUSIVE BY DESIGN

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!

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)

You’ll lead and manage small to mid size projects with a defined scope to drive continuous process improvement initiatives within operational teams, coordinating with internal and external stakeholders to set up milestones and deliver desired outcomes, including supporting the implementation of new payment methods, markets, and process changes.
You’ll act as a domain expert on all operational processes, diving deep into daily tasks and providing hands‑on support to maintain service and quality.
You’ll mentor and empower team members, supporting their journey in driving operational excellence initiatives and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
You’ll analyze and interpret KPIs and data to evaluate team performance, derive conclusions, and provide actionable recommendations to Leads.
You’ll proactively challenge processes, bring up alternatives and improvements, ensuring smooth collaboration with stakeholders and peers to set up new projects, define milestones, and deliver desired outcomes.
You’ll independently identify complex operational problems, analyze them, and develop ideas for their solutions, seeing them through to completion.

WE’D LOVE TO MEET YOU IF

You have a proven track record in driving project management and process improvements, with a background in customer service being a plus.
You possess strong communication and people skills, with a proven ability to build stakeholder relationships and deliver training/coaching sessions.
You have a clear analytical focus, capable of interpreting data, drawing conclusions, and providing actionable recommendations.
You demonstrate expertise in process landscapes and systems, understanding dependencies and their business impact.
You are proficient in project and time management.
You are independent, hands‑on, and thrive in a collaborative team environment.

OUR OFFER

27 days of holiday a year to start for full‑time employees
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