System Engineering Manager - Lead SAP Analytics (all genders)

As the SAP Analytics Team Lead, you will be the strategic orchestrator behind Zalando’s financial and operational insights. You will lead a highly stable and talented team of 10 SAP Analytics Consultants who form the intelligence backbone of our ERP landscape.

In this role, you will take ownership of the end-to-end SAP Analytics lifecycle, ensuring the delivery of reliable, scalable, and audit-ready data products that empower our senior business stakeholders. You will drive the architectural vision and strategy across SAP BW/4HANA, SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC), and SAP Datasphere, while establishing and maintaining a mature, service-oriented operating model. As a leader, your focus will be on mentoring your team, optimizing platform performance and governance, and bridging the gap between complex engineering capabilities and strategic business value in a modern, multi-cloud environment.

If you think you have what it takes, we encourage you to apply even if you don't meet every single requirement. You may just be the right candidate for this or other roles!
At Zalando, our vision is to be the leading pan-European ecosystem for fashion and lifestyle e-commerce – one that thrives on diversity and is truly inclusive by design. We believe that diverse teams fuel innovation and creativity, and we actively seek out talent from all backgrounds.
We actively seek to reduce bias in our hiring and employment processes, focusing on your qualifications, skills, and contributions. To support this, we kindly ask that you refrain from including personal details such as your photo, age, or marital status in your CV, ensuring a fair and equitable evaluation based solely on your abilities and potential.

We are committed to providing an exceptional and accessible candidate experience for everyone. If you require any accommodations to support you throughout the hiring process, please let us know – we are here to assist you.

Discover more about our commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace: http://jobs.zalando.com/en/our-culture/diversity-and-inclusion

• Drive the Cloud Analytics Strategy: Lead the migration of our SAP Analytics landscape to the SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC). Accelerate the enterprise-wide adoption of SAP Datasphere and SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC).

• Transform Tech into Service: Evolve the Analytics team into a mature, resilient service organization. Implement rigorous capacity management and clear service interfaces to ensure high-quality, predictable delivery.

• Ensure Governance & Efficiency: Optimize platform total cost of ownership (TCO) via tiered storage and HANA licensing models. Enforce robust data security (DACs, Row-Level Security) to guarantee strict audit readiness (e.g., BaFin, CSRD).

• Lead & Elevate Talent: Mentor, coach, and empower a high-performing engineering team. Champion aggressive upskilling for the multi-cloud era while fostering a culture of continuous learning and ownership.

• Bridge Tech and Business: Act as a strategic partner to senior stakeholders across Finance, HR, and Operations. Translate complex technical data architectures into clear business value.

• You possess a proven track record (5+ years) in driving enterprise-scale data strategies, with deep architectural expertise in SAP BW/4HANA, SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC), and SAP Datasphere/Business Data Cloud.

• You bring at least 3-4 years of experience as a passionate people leader, adept at mentoring technical talent, structuring roles, and cultivating a high-performing, psychologically safe environment.

• You have successfully guided engineering teams through significant operational shifts, transforming traditional delivery models into structured, resilient Service Organizations (leveraging capacity management, SLAs, or ITIL/KMM principles).

• You are experienced in orchestrating complex cloud migrations and driving platform efficiency, including implementing tiered storage and optimizing HANA database licensing.

• You have a strong command of enterprise data governance, ensuring strict audit readiness and implementing robust security frameworks (e.g., Row-Level Security, Data Access Controls) to meet financial and regulatory compliance (like BaFin or CSRD).

• You are an exceptional communicator and strategic thinker who can seamlessly bridge the gap between deep technical implementation and senior business stakeholder requirements (across Finance, HR, etc.), translating complex logic into compelling, actionable narratives.

• Nice to have: Experience architecting hybrid data environments (e.g., integrating SAP with Snowflake or Databricks) and familiarity with Agile/Scrum methodologies in an SAP context.

If you think you have what it takes, we encourage you to apply even if you don't meet every single requirement. You may just be the right candidate for this or other roles!

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.

• 27 days of holiday a year to start for full-time employees

• 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

• Employee shares program

• 40% off fashion and beauty products sold and shipped by Zalando, 30% off Lounge by Zalando, discounts from external partners

• 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