Senior Business Development Manager (I&E Brand Partnerships)

Zalando’s newly formed Inspiration and Entertainment (I&E) venture is redefining how customers engage with content and commerce. We’re looking for a hands-on, strategic and entrepreneurial Business Development Manager – I&E Brand Partnerships to play a central role in building our partner ecosystem and shaping a new, content-first commerce experience.

This high-impact role sits at the intersection of brand collaboration, content innovation, and customer engagement. You’ll work on bold, strategic projects, collaborate across functions, and take full ownership of your workstream — from partner strategy to flawless delivery. As part of a fast-moving, cross-functional team, you’ll help evolve the future of entertainment-driven retail and co-create value for both our partners and customers.

What we'd love you to do (and love doing)

• Co-own and grow a portfolio of strategic brand partners, sourcing content assets, leading end-to-end relationships, and identifying opportunities for content collaboration, innovation, and performance optimization.
• Develop and execute scalable content format strategies aligned with KPIs to capture the full marketing funnel and deliver partner value — unlocking future revenue potential for ZMS through monetization models, creator collaborations, and storytelling-driven activations that engage the upper funnel.
• Contribute to I&E content experiments that test key hypotheses and accelerate content–market fit, working closely with cross-functional teams across Product, Engineering, and Data Science.
• Create performance reports by leveraging data insights and brand partner feedback to continuously optimize success metrics around retention and user engagement, in close collaboration with the Data Science team.
• Communicate the I&E strategy and content formats with clarity and purpose to ensure alignment, drive excitement, and enable execution across both internal and external partners.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with ownership, working seamlessly with the Content Lab team (Originals & Creator), Product, Product Marketing, and Data Science to deliver impactful results.
• Proactively drive workstreams forward — leading meetings, capturing notes, following up on action items, and ensuring accountability across stakeholders.

We'd love to meet you if

• You bring 5+ years of experience in partner management, business development, brand marketing, content strategy, or social commerce—ideally with a media or platform angle.
• You are a clear and proactive communicator, who can structure complex information in a way that’s actionable, digestible, and tailored to the audience.
• You thrive in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment, and are confident aligning diverse stakeholders around a shared goal. You are equipped to handle a dynamic environment with uncertainties and changing priorities.
• You approach challenges with a curious, solution-first mindset and are energized by turning ambiguity into action — focusing on execution instead of overthinking blocks.
• You’re proficient in Excel (or Google Sheets) for progress tracking and Google Slides (or PowerPoint) for creating compelling, partner-facing presentations and internal decks.
• You demonstrate a high standard of delivery around project management tasks: you follow up on feedback, close gaps others miss, and bring precision to everything you touch.
• You’re self-motivated and accountable: you take ownership of your work, proactively offer support where needed, and drive results independently.
• You understand the power of storytelling, social commerce, and short-form content, and know how to turn it into real business impact.
• Previous experience with partnership management, branded content, or entertainment formats is a strong plus.

Our offer

Zalando provides a range of benefits, here’s 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