Zalando top manager resigns

Barbara Daliri-Freyduni's position was to be split into two, but now the top manager has handed in her notice to the fashion group.

Movement at Zalando's management level: Barbara Daliri-Freyduni, Senior Vice President of Demand, is leaving the company. According to Gründerszene, she has handed in her notice. This seems like a bad omen for the "Here to stay" campaign, for which she was responsible and which advocates more diversity and inclusion in the company. There has been criticism of the lack of women in Zalanda's management team for some time. Just last week, Astrid Arndt was appointed the first woman on the Management Board as Head of Human Resources.

Even before her dismissal, Daliri-Freyduni's position was to be split into the Marketing and Markets divisions and filled by two women and one man. Daliri-Freydunis would have seen this as a demotion, as Gründerszene and Business Insider claim to have learned. Zalando itself wanted to leave one of the positions to her. Now all three positions have to be filled, although one has already been decided: Bruno Vanhoorickx, who was previously Senior Vice President Corporate Development, will be responsible for the markets.

Before her role at Zalando, Daliri-Freydunis had held management positions at Google and Netflix, among others, and her position at the fashion group was created especially for her. She only joined Zalando a year and a half ago.