Head of Buying Beauty

**THE ROLE & THE TEAM**:
At Zalando, we want to create a unique online customer experience that helps us connect more deeply with our customers shopping across Fashion and Beauty products in one-stop-shop destination. Beauty is a key customer proposition for Zalando.

Our Beauty Category was established in 2018 by a team of colleagues across Business Development, Buying, and Merchandise Planning. Since then the team has grown significantly, making impressive inroads into the Beauty online market, and delivering exponential growth. Our assortment has grown to more than 600 brands across make-up, skincare, fragrances, haircare, and beauty accessories and now includes iconic names like MAC, Estee Lauder, Clinique, Charlotte Tilbury and Urban Decay.

Looking forward, we set our sights on scaling the business and building the foundations for online Beauty leadership in the future.

As Beauty Head of Buying you will take full ownership of the Beauty assortment, you will define Beauty commercial strategy and will be responsible for the partner relationships. Together with other Beauty proposition leaders you will be working on boosting the Beauty customer experience on Zalando. You will elevate and create the best in class assortment, you will plan and steer the budget for this business area alongside your Head of Merchandise Planning counterpart. Your focus will be to deliver commercial targets as well as customer impact and leading a large and senior buying team.

**INCLUSIVE BY DESIGN**

**WHY YOU SHOULD BE INTERESTED**:

- Assortment creation: you are passionate about Beauty and Beauty trends in general and show deep knowledge specifically about trends to build the best in class assortment. You are proficient in both assortment hunting and nurturing for continuous growth.
- Commercial steering: you will plan the budget and steer the commercial and customer KPI targets to drive profitable growth.
- Negotiation and Supplier management: You will build trustful long term partnerships with top Beauty suppliers and will set up joint strategies using your profound negotiation skills and experience to negotiate terms and conditions on a high level.
- Strategic Execution: you will develop, steer and execute an overarching Beauty portfolio with a clear road map and timelines. You coordinate Beauty focused initiatives across relevant functions within and beyond Customer Propositions.
- Stakeholder Management: you ensure transparency across stakeholders to facilitate project progress and build a strong network within the organisation and enable structured relationship management and fast execution.
- Leadership: you will lead a team of highly talented leaders and steer them through our vision and work together on their professional development.

**WE'D LOVE TO MEET YOU IF**:

- Minimum 10 years of commercial and/or buying experience with deep Beauty industry knowledge and experience; Beauty e-commerce background is a plus.
- Overall knowledge of the Beauty industry and in-depth understanding of Beauty sub-categories, Beauty customer trends, up and coming brands and assortment.
- Experience of managing a large team across multiple business levels. You are a dynamic leader with the ability to ensure your team remains motivated and engaged with the structure you provide in a very dynamic and fast-paced environment.
- You are strategic and are able to manage multiple stakeholders effectively. You understand and are motivated by the challenges of the Beauty e-com business. You pride yourself in your leadership skills with relevant experience leading a team.
- Excellent analytical skills, knowledge in MS Office and combining the passion for numbers with Beauty and trends.
- Negotiation is in your blood, and you are always a compelling figure when communicating with suppliers and other stakeholders.

**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 Zalando Lounge, 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
- Family services, including counselling and support
- Health and wellbeing options (including Gympass)
- Mental health support and coaching available