Principal Account Development Manager - ZEOS (all genders)

Role: Principal Account Development Manager for ZEOS, the business unit that operates Zalando's best-in-class fulfilment solutions to partners, unlocking the full potential of the European market. Our teams combine passion for logistics, tech, and solving relevant industry challenges. Responsibilities: - Drive Market Creation & Strategic Acquisition: You are a builder, not a maintainer. Drive complex enterprise business cases from planning to steering and evaluation. Open new geographic or industry markets, establish profitable verticals, and create long-term agreements that guarantee growth and profitability. - Master Complex Stakeholder Navigation: Navigate internal stakeholder networks across tech, product, and finance to clear roadblocks. Act as a fierce advocate for the partner’s deal while protecting ZEOS’s operational setup and financial margins. - Architect High-Impact, Scalable Solutions: Connect commercial, financial, and operational insights to design enterprise strategies that are impactful and scalable across the ZEOS network. - Build Economic C−Suite Partnerships: Develop deep, trusted partnerships up to C-level by mapping ZEOS solutions onto enterprise balance sheets; handle group dynamics and win over skeptical executives with data-backed business cases. - Own Cross-Functional Complexity & Execution: Act as the bridge between business, logistics, operations, and tech. Resolve supply-chain or inventory bottlenecks, protect operational trust, and deliver results across all units. - Drive Continuous Optimization & Process Innovation: Challenge, disrupt, and optimize current sales and operational processes, and develop strategic measures that elevate organization-wide output. - Act as an Organizational Force Multiplier: Ensure learnings and success cases are systematically shared; mentor junior colleagues and design playbooks that accelerate team ramp-up. Qualifications & Experience: - 8+ years of B2B enterprise sales or strategic consulting, with a track record of launching new verticals or scaling portfolios from zero. - Uncompromising startup grit and persistence in a fast-paced, high-velocity, agile unit within a global matrix. - Strategic autonomy, comfortable creating roadmaps and metrics where none exist. - Deep understanding of contract/digital logistics, e-commerce infrastructure, wholesale, or physical supply chain operations. - Excellent at selling on numbers, economics, and logic: interpret complex KPIs, predict market trends, construct airtight commercial cases. - Operationally credible and diplomatic; build internal trust and never “dump and run” a deal. - Mentoring and teaching mindset – share success models and build frameworks for the wider team. - Graduate degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, or an operationally rigorous field; non-traditional background valued. Fluent in English; German or other languages an asset. What We Offer: - 27 days of holiday a year (+1 day per year up to 30), 2 paid volunteering days, employee shares programme, 40% off fashion, 30% off Lounge by Zalando, relocation assistance, family services, health and wellbeing options (including Wellhub), mental health support, training platform, and biannual peer reviews.