Director Brand Initiatives and Communications

at  Zalando

ABOUT ZALANDO

Zalando is a multi-brand fashion destination in Europe connecting 50 million customers per year to thousands of fashion and lifestyle brands, spanning over 25 markets. The Marketing function holds the responsibility of creating a holistic and customer engaging view of Zalando by delivering brand fundamentals and marketing strategies. We are together as a team accountable for delivering the marketing mix in a customer centric way that benefits Zalando brand and empowers both Markets and Propositions.
We are seeking a highly experienced and strategic leader to join our Marketing Leadership Team (MLT) as the Director of Brand Initiatives and Communications. This pivotal role reports directly to the Vice President of Marketing and requires a seasoned professional capable of navigating a complex marketing organization. Given the challenging environment and increasing competition Zalando, this role is a key driver to stay efficient, exciting, relevant and consistent as a brand towards our customers.
The ideal candidate will have strong business acumen, senior leadership capabilities, and a deep understanding of translating brand direction into conceptual outputs. This role requires a senior leader who can manage everything from ideation and creation to concept development, while effectively collaborating with media experts and leveraging data-driven insights.

QUALIFICATIONS & REQUIREMENTS:

• Business Acumen: A deep understanding of market dynamics, customer insights, and commercial strategy to drive business growth.
• Strong Leadership Skills: Proven experience in leading and empowering large, diverse teams across multiple markets.
• You have proven experience in leading 360 integrated marketing initiatives in complex setups. While we are open to all backgrounds, leading global A-brands is a plus.
• In-House or/and External Agency Management Experience: Extensive experience managing marketing functions both within corporate environments and external agencies, understanding the nuances of both.
• Very Strong Communication Skills: Ability to effectively communicate complex ideas and strategies to both internal and external stakeholders, coupled with strong drive and assertiveness.
• Drive/Assertiveness: A proactive and results-driven mindset with the ability to navigate and influence within a complex marketing organization.
• Proven track record of managing large-scale marketing budgets.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment.
• Experience in collaborating with media experts and utilizing data-driven insights to inform marketing strategies.
• Experience in working with creative teams and collaborating with them

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

This role offers the opportunity to be a key driver of Zalando’s market-facing marketing strategies by leading one of the core teams within the function. The mission for Brand Initiatives & Communication is to define and execute the communication and messaging strategy for our brand, that establishes a consistent brand narrative across campaigns, always-on content, and channels. This is delivered by:

• Leading from ideation to orchestration of channels, execution and distribution of all global campaigns and initiatives.
• Leading the consumer journey strategy and improvement campaign by campaign.
• Defining the Brand Marketing message strategy, direction and execution. Plus ensuring the whole organization is behind it.
• Defining the Talent & Partnership strategy to support our brand messages across Zalando organization.
• Ensuring that campaigns and always-on-content are created on-brand; executed efficiently Full-Funnel and Omni-Channel.
• Leading agency roaster selection, relationship and pitches for global campaigns and initiatives.

Zalando provides a range of benefits, here’s an overview of what you can expect. Learn all about Zalando and our values here: https://jobs.zalando.com/en/our-culture

• 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 60% (or more) 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
• Relocation assistance available
• Family services, including counseling and support
• Health and wellbeing options (including Wellhub “Gympass")
• Mental health support and coaching available
• Company Car or Bahncard10