Product Design Manager - Partner Tech (all genders) parental leave cover
On-siteBerlin, State of Berlin, Germany
Berlin, State of Berlin, GermanyOn-siteFull TimeSenior LevelEnterprise
Full TimeSenior LevelEnterprise
Job Summary
Lead product discovery and research strategy for Zalando's Partner Tech, translating qualitative and quantitative insights into structural UX concepts and interaction models. Manage and grow a team of six designers while co-creating strategic prioritization frameworks with Product Management to influence the long-term roadmap. Drive field research to uncover partner motivations, materialize CX vision through journey mapping and JTBD, and enable commercial growth by connecting user pain points to core metrics. Define research principles, implement operational improvements, and support designer career progression within a temporary six-month contract covering parental leave.
Required Qualifications
- Advanced mastery of qualitative and quantitative user research
- Ability to navigate ambiguity
- Advanced mastery of systemic design thinking
- Ability to translate insights into structural user experience concepts, interaction models, and tangible product experiences
- Ability to co-create strategic prioritization frameworks
- Ability to ensure qualitative user benchmarks directly influence the long-term product roadmap
- Ability to discover, build, and synthesize insights to unlock commercial growth and operational efficiency
- Ability to define and run cohesive research and discovery strategies across the product development lifecycle
- Ability to guide Product Managers and designers through ambiguous problem spaces
- Ability to assess whether a problem is worth solving
- Ability to materialize product strategy and shape concepts hands-on
- Ability to leverage methods like customer journey mapping, JTBD, structural documentation, and design direction
- Ability to bring the overarching CX vision to life
- Ability to discover intangible partner attitudes, behaviors, and core motivations through rigorous field research
- Ability to ensure deep customer understanding is embedded at an organizational level
- Ability to translate complex insights into compelling narratives, storyboards, and qualitative benchmarks
- Ability to secure executive buy-in
- Ability to inspire teams to put significant resources behind solutions
- Ability to enable a product-led organization to mature
- Ability to actively model user-centered design practices
- Ability to define research principles
- Ability to spearhead research operations initiatives
- Ability to partner with senior Product Management
- Ability to co-create strategic prioritization frameworks
- Ability to ensure qualitative user benchmarks directly influence the long-term product roadmap
- Ability to translate customer insights into explicit business cases
- Ability to connect user pain points to core commercial metrics (e.g. like retention, acquisition, or operational efficiency)
- Ability to manage and grow a team of 6+ product designers
- Ability to work well together to get better outcomes across a suite of products
- Ability to enable our partners to efficiently manage their assortment digitally
- Ability to work with Product Management, Engineering and Operations leadership on design planning
- Ability to work with Head of Product Design Partner Tech and the one other design managers to define team needs (process, tools, best practices, etc.)
- Ability to recommend improvements
- Ability to implement changes
- Ability to communicate solutions to the team to work smoothly and efficiently
- Ability to help product designers craft their career progression
- Ability to support them on reaching their goals
- Ability to work with the interdisciplinary leadership at Partner Tech
- Ability to work with the community across Zalando
- Ability to drive the future of design for enterprise software
- Ability to deliver a delightful Zalando Partner experience
- Ability to ensure business compliance
Desired Qualifications
- Ability to define and run cohesive research and discovery strategies across the product development lifecycle
- Ability to guide Product Managers and designers through ambiguous problem spaces to confidently assess whether a problem is worth solving
- Ability to materialize product strategy and shape concepts hands-on, leveraging methods like customer journey mapping, JTBD, structural documentation, and design direction to bring the overarching CX vision to life
- Ability to discover intangible partner attitudes, behaviors, and core motivations through rigorous field research, ensuring deep customer understanding is embedded at an organizational level
- Ability to translate complex insights into compelling narratives, storyboards, and qualitative benchmarks that secure executive buy-in and inspire teams to put significant resources behind your solutions
- Ability to enable a product-led organization to mature by actively modeling user-centered design practices, defining research principles, and spearheading research operations initiatives
- Ability to partner with senior Product Management to co-create strategic prioritization frameworks, ensuring qualitative user benchmarks directly influence the long-term product roadmap
- Ability to translate customer insights not just into structural concepts, but into explicit business cases that connect user pain points to core commercial metrics (e.g. like retention, acquisition, or operational efficiency)
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