Senior Principal Product Manager, Marketplace & Ecosytem

Job Description

Zendesk is a global leader in customer and employee experience software, known for its intuitive, scalable, and intelligent solutions. We help organizations build stronger relationships by powering billions of conversations across email, chat, phone, and more. As we move into an AI-first era, Zendesk is redefining the future of customer service and employee support with innovative, intelligent products.

The Opportunity

We’re seeking a Senior Principal Product Manager to define and drive a zero-to-one strategy at the intersection of platform extensibility, developer ecosystems, and AI-powered applications. This strategic leadership role is critical in evolving our developer platform and marketplace into a modern, scalable engine that enables developers and partners to create transformative AI apps and solutions across customer and employee service (CS & ES).

This is a unique opportunity to lead a cross-functional charter that blends product vision, partner engagement, and technical platform development—empowering developers through next-gen APIs, tools, and a vibrant Marketplace Ecosystem

What You’ll Own

Platform & Product Strategy

• Define and deliver the roadmap for Developer Experience (DevEx) across API platform, SDKs, CLI, and no-code/pro-code workflows

• Partner with internal product teams to bootstrap extensibility primitives: Zendesk App Framework (ZAF), Action Flows, connectors, and AI agent integrations

• Build a composable system that enables creation, testing, and deployment of reusable solutions—templates, AI workflows, industry bundles
   

Marketplace Growth & Enablement

• Drive Marketplace evolution to support monetization, discoverability, and partner-led innovation

• Introduce scalable revenue models, app lifecycle tooling, and enablement programs

• Champion partner success through improved onboarding, developer docs, and training programs
   

Developer & Ecosystem Engagement

• Launch and scale a world-class Developer Portal with a frictionless onboarding experience

• Work closely with internal teams and external developers to foster adoption and feedback loops

• Represent Zendesk in developer forums, events, and advisory boards
   

Customer-Centric Innovation

• Enable customers to discover, adopt, and request AI-driven apps and integrations

• Curate and package customer-centric solution bundles through in-product experiences

• Facilitate a user-contributed app model to expand Zendesk's ecosystem organically
   

Execution & Impact

• Define clear KPIs: developer NPS, API usage, app adoption, GMV of Marketplace, partner CSAT

• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, design, engineering, sales, and marketing

• Translate vision into tangible business outcomes and sustained platform growth

What You Bring

• 12+ years of product management or platform strategy experience in B2B SaaS; prior ownership of Developer Platforms or Ecosystems required

• Deep technical understanding of API ecosystems, AI/ML workflows, integration frameworks, and developer tools

• Demonstrated success in building marketplaces or extensible app frameworks

• Experience in launching 0→1 initiatives in highly dynamic, tech-forward environments

• Proven leadership in engaging and influencing internal/external stakeholders at all levels

• Strong business and customer acumen; ability to translate developer needs into platform success

• Clear, concise communicator with a bias toward action and continuous learning
   

Preferred

• Familiarity with modern AI app builder technology and  ecosystems as well emerging technologies like MCP (Model Context Protocol)

The US annualized base salary range for this position is $187,000.00-$281,000.00. This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.

The intelligent heart of customer experience

Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.

Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.

Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here.

Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to [email protected] with your specific accommodation request.