Former Uber and Expedia Group executive Zuhairah Washington will be tasked with helping lead growth in the Flex and Enhanced Market segments, according to an announcement on Monday.
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Zillow has tapped former Uber and Expedia Group executive Zuhairah Washington to join its operations team, according to an announcement late Monday. As the vice president of market operations and Flex general manager, Washington will lead efforts to scale Flex agents’ businesses and expand the company’s Super App capabilities to serve more Enhanced Markets.
Zuhairah Washington | Credit: Zillow
“Homeownership is at the heart of the American dream, and for many, that journey begins on Zillow. I’m thrilled to join this dynamic company dedicated to transforming this pivotal milestone into a seamless and integrated experience,” Washington said in a prepared statement. “Together with our Flex partners and Enhanced Markets teams, we will continue to leverage digital innovation to expand our reach and help even more movers across the country get home with confidence and ease.”
Washington has 20 years of leadership experience at multiple multinational companies, including Uber and Expedia Group.
At Uber, Washington was the general manager for the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia markets. During her tenure, Washington dramatically improved the region’s revenue and financial projections through initiatives to increase driver and rider retention, product launches, and more comprehensive rideshare regulations. After leaving Uber in 2018, Washington joined Expedia as the global head of strategic partnerships, leading a team of more than 1,000 and managing $4 billion in strategic partner revenue.
The Harvard Business School and Harvard Law graduate also had roles at MacFarlane Partners, Qype (now Yelp Europe) and fashion marketplace Otrium, and founded the now-defunct Kahnoodle relationship app. She’s also served on the board of directors for Olo and Five Below.
“We are excited Zuhairah has joined Zillow to lead our efforts to scale our Flex and Enhanced Market strategy,” Zillow Chief Operating Officer Jun Choo said in a written statement. “Home shoppers and movers demand and deserve a more seamless transaction experience, and we’re delivering that in partnership with great agents who are growing their businesses by focusing on solving consumer problems with us.”
Washington’s hiring follows an unspecified round of layoffs among the company’s software and advertising teams. Zillow declined to share the specific number of employees; however, a spokesperson told Inman the layoffs are part of efforts to reprioritize the company’s tech investments.
“As part of our ongoing commitment to working with our agent customers to offer a digitized and integrated experience to more movers in more markets, we are focused on the long-term growth of the products and business solutions we offer to agents,” they said in an emailed statement. “We feel as confident as ever about this strategy, and we continue to prioritize investment in the areas that will most benefit our agent customers.”
“This week we’ve made some changes to the organizational structure of several agent software and advertising teams, resulting in the elimination of certain roles,” they added. “We are grateful to the impacted employees for their contributions to Zillow and are ensuring their transition is as smooth as possible. While decisions like these are never easy and never our first choice, we believe responsibly managing our resources has positioned our teams well to deliver for consumers, agent customers and the broader real estate industry in 2025.”