Zalando Expands in Romania With New Bucharest Office and Hiring Plans

German online fashion giant Zalando is preparing to open a new office in Bucharest by the end of 2026, expanding its organisational footprint in Europe and creating jobs across several business and technology functions.

According to the company, the decision is aimed at gaining access to a broader pool of highly skilled talent that can support Zalando as it continues to scale its operations.

The Bucharest location will operate as a multifunctional hub, bringing together selected processes, operational activities and services. Zalando plans to recruit employees in areas including human resources, finance, IT and cybersecurity.

The company expects the new office to help simplify operations, encourage innovation and support teams across the group in developing secure, scalable and customer-focused capabilities.

Who will lead Zalando’s operations in Romania?

Responsibility for the Romanian market will remain under Zalando’s General Manager for Central and Eastern Europe, who oversees the company’s overall activity in the country.

The role includes responsibility for local business decisions, market strategy, partnerships and marketing activities.

At the same time, the Bucharest office itself will be managed by a dedicated Site Lead. Zalando uses a similar structure for its technology hubs in cities including Dublin, Zurich and Helsinki.

The Site Lead will serve as a strategic link between the Bucharest operation and Zalando’s headquarters in Berlin, helping coordinate the development of the new site in a competitive and rapidly changing market.

Why did Zalando choose Bucharest?

Zalando, which was founded in Berlin in 2008, said Bucharest was selected because of Romania’s established business services sector, its proximity to universities and its availability of skilled, multilingual professionals.

The company sees particular opportunities in several key areas.

Finance and accounting

Zalando plans to use local expertise to support standardised financial reporting and improve process efficiency.

Human resources

The Bucharest team is expected to handle transactional HR administration and contribute to more consistent processes and workflows across Zalando’s European network.

Enterprise technology and cybersecurity

Local teams will support general platform operations, infrastructure maintenance and cybersecurity monitoring.

By moving some of these responsibilities to dedicated teams, Zalando expects its core engineering organisation to be able to focus more heavily on platform architecture and other strategic technology priorities.

Office launch planned for late 2026

The development of the Bucharest office will take place gradually over the next two years.

Zalando expects the official opening and initial operations to begin toward the end of 2026. The phased approach is intended to give the company enough time to integrate the new teams into its wider European organisation while maintaining continuity across existing business operations.

Zalando reports continued growth in early 2026

The expansion comes as Zalando continues to grow following the integration of online fashion retailer About You and the broader adoption of artificial intelligence across its business.

In the first quarter of 2026, the group’s gross merchandise volume reached €4.3 billion. This represented growth of 6% on a pro forma basis and 21.7% on a reported basis compared with the same period in 2025.

Group revenue increased by 3.4% on a pro forma basis and by 23.8% on a reported basis, reaching €3 billion.

The pro forma figures are calculated as though About You had already been part of the group during the comparison period, helping show the underlying development of the combined business without the accounting impact of the acquisition.

In Zalando’s business-to-consumer segment, its multi-app strategy helped increase the number of active customers to a record 62.3 million. Average spending per customer also rose by 2.9% to €305.

The company is continuing to expand the use of artificial intelligence and automation across its operations. Current initiatives include a wider rollout of its virtual assistant, the deployment of advanced robots within its logistics network and the use of generative AI image technology to speed up the process of listing products on its platforms.

The new Bucharest office represents another step in Zalando’s effort to strengthen its European operating network while building additional capacity in business services, technology and cybersecurity.