5 types of Heads of Ecommerce (and why hires go wrong)

The Head of Ecommerce role is one of the most misunderstood jobs in the direct-to-consumer sector. As such a broad, all-encompassing role, it can be easy to confuse the type of hire you need in your business. In fact, specialist recruiter, Laura McManus, is seeing a trend of hires going wrong, as brands do not completely understand the job description. 

In this article, we reveal the different types of profiles you can engage for the Head of Ecommerce job and the business challenges each solve. 

Jump to:

1. Trading and revenue
2. CRO and website
3. Website and digital marketing
4. All-rounder or operator
5. Website and marketplaces

Why do so many Head of Ecommerce hires go wrong?

Alignment is key when approaching Head of Ecommerce recruitment. In our Annual Pay & Hiring Report, 30% of hiring managers reported recruitment stalling due to difficulty identifying qualified candidates. This happens when the:

• brief is too broad
• expectations are unclear
• business doesn’t actually know what problem it’s trying to solve

To help you clarify what you need in a Head of Ecommerce hire, we break down the different types of candidates you could engage.

The biggest mistake in ecommerce recruitment

Trying to hire all five roles in one person means a typical brief includes:

• Trading ownership
• Improvement of CRO
• Scaling paid media
• Managing marketplaces
• Overseeing operations

That’s an entire team. The key question to ask is 'What problem are we trying to solve?' That determines the profile you need.

#1 Trading and revenue focus

A Head of Ecommerce with a trading and revenue focus will:

• Own revenue, AOV and conversion
• Own the trading calendar (including promotions, launches, campaigns)
• Be heavily involved in pricing, merchandising and onsite execution
• Work cross-functionally but be commercially accountable
• Report on site performance weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly

When you need this profile

This role usually exists in an established DTC brand where traffic already exists. They are engaged to improve monetisation and drive commercial performance.

#2 CRO and website experience

The Head of Ecommerce with website experience will:

• Own UX, CRO, experimentation and customer journey design/layout
• Be obsessed with funnel performance and customer behaviour
• Be focused less on traffic and more on efficiency and experience (is the traffic converting, where is traffic falling out of the journey, what can we optimise to improve conversion)
• Run A/B tests and deliver heatmaps
• Own the customer journey end-to-end (homepage through to checkout)

When you need this profile

This role usually exists in brands that drive high traffic to the website, but see underperforming conversion rates. They tend to have a strong brand and/or product and heavily invest in the customer experience.

This is a very sought after role in the market at the moment. It is often also referred to as a Head of Conversion or Head of Customer Experience.

#3 Website and digital marketing focus

This Head of Ecommerce role is a blend of ecom and marketing skills. They will:

• Own both the website and acquisition channels (e.g. paid media, CRM, SEO, affiliates)
• Be responsible for CAC, ROAS, CRM and retention
• Often manage agencies and budgets directly (less hands on in the platforms and instead lead strategically)
• Focus on understanding how to scale traffic profitably and convert it efficiently

When you need this profile

This role will usually exist when there is a small team and the business is in growth stage. At this point, there is usually no separation between ecommerce and marketing. The role is sometimes called a Head of Growth. 

#4 All-rounder, Operator

Found in start-ups or scale-ups, all-rounder Heads of Ecommerce will:

• Own everything around the online business (website, marketing, operations, customer service and sometimes even warehouse/logistics)
• Work closely with sales, marketing and operations teams
• Collaborate with stock, CX and logistsics
• Act as second-in-command to the MD

When you need this profile

This role is found in early-stage startups, with lean teams and no clear functions. At this stage, brands hire one person to do everything instead of 3-4 specialists. As such, these professionals are usually known as "mini" Managing Directors.

#5 Website and marketplace

A Head of Ecommerce with marketplace focus will:

• Own website DTC and Amazon/marketplaces (including eBay and TikTok Shop)
• Balance brand and channels
• Manage pricing conflicts and channel strategy
• Build strategies for where the brand should sell, and how they win across channels without cannibalisation

When you need this profile

This role usually exists if marketplaces are generating meaningful revenue and the brand is multi-channel not pure DTC.

Need support understanding which Head of Ecommerce you need?

If you’re hiring a Head of Ecommerce and unsure which direction to take, our specialist recruiters can help. With our unique Advise, Attract, Develop model, we'll help you:

• Define what the role should look like
• Align the brief with the commercial problem
• Ensure you hire someone set up to succeed

Get in touch to learn more about our bespoke hiring solutions.