Zalando creates COO role for David Schröder and names Sandra Dembeck as CFO

As part of the management restructuring, which would come into effect from March 1, 2022, Zalando SE has announced that current CFO David Schröder will assume the newly created role of chief operating officer (COO), while Dr Sandra Dembeck will step into his position as new chief financial officer (CFO).

Commenting on the management changes, Cristina Stenbeck, chairperson of the Zalando supervisory board, said in a statement: “The announced setup will give Zalando additional leverage to drive the business towards its vision of being the starting point for fashion. The supervisory board is very much looking forward to continuing to work with David Schröder in his new role as COO, after his tremendous contribution as CFO. We are also proud to welcome Dr Sandra Dembeck as CFO.”

Zalando creates COO position, appoints new CFO

Zalando’s new COO will be responsible for scaling the company’s European logistics network, driving innovation of Zalando’s proprietary Buy Now Pay Later solution and unlocking new growth opportunities for the company by empowering the direct-to-consumer business of partners across a variety of channels. Schröder, the company added, has served on the management board since 2019 and will assume this newly created role due to his highly relevant expertise and successful track record in building and scaling Zalando’s operations since he joined the company in 2010.

Dembeck joins Zalando from Compass Group Plc, where she has previously been corporate finance director. Throughout her career, the company further said, she has been responsible for all aspects of financial performance management and reporting for private and listed companies and has taken an active role in driving commercial and operational business performance. She has extensive experience from various leadership roles in the international services, retail and fashion industries.

The company said that these changes align the setup to the future needs of Zalando in further advancing its strategic agenda of being the starting point for fashion and to grow the business to more than 30 billion euros in gross merchandise volume by 2025, as laid out at its Capital Market Days in 2019 and 2021.