Head of Online Trade

Head of Online Trade

Reports to: Director (with regular Board-level reporting)
Location: North Hertfordshire Hybrid working (minimum 3 days per week in the office)
Salary: £45,000 £70,000 depending on experience
Function: Marketing / Digital / E-commerce

The Opportunity

This is a senior leadership role responsible for accelerating online revenue and shaping the future of digital trading. You ll take full ownership of how online channels perform from marketing effectiveness to on-site conversion and new channel growth.

You ll sit at the centre of digital decision-making, leading internal talent and specialist agency partners while providing commercially focused insight to senior leadership and the Board.

What You ll Be Responsible For

Digital Revenue Growth

• Develop and lead the overall online trading roadmap to increase revenue and margin
• Use data, customer behaviour, and market trends to identify growth opportunities
• Expand the digital footprint through new platforms, partnerships, and marketplaces

Trading & Performance Optimisation

• Oversee the online trading calendar, ensuring campaigns and promotions drive both sales and profitability
• Continuously improve conversion rates, basket value, and customer engagement
• Turn performance insights into actionable trading decisions

Digital Marketing Leadership

• Set the direction for online customer acquisition and retention activity
• Oversee performance channels including paid media, organic search, affiliates, PR, and owned platforms
• Ensure marketing activity aligns closely with trading priorities and commercial targets

Website & Customer Journey Improvement

• Take ownership of the end-to-end online customer experience
• Lead testing programmes to refine user journeys, landing pages, and checkout performance
• Work closely with optimisation partners to deliver structured testing plans with measurable impact

Budget Ownership

• Manage digital trading and marketing budgets with a strong focus on return on investment
• Lead forecasting and reforecasting cycles based on performance trends
• Make informed decisions on where investment will drive the greatest return

Agency & Partner Management

• Lead relationships with external agencies across paid media, SEO, CRO, PR, and affiliate marketing
• Set clear objectives and performance measures for all partners
• Ensure agencies work together cohesively rather than in silos

Data, Insight & Reporting

• Champion a data-led approach to decision-making across digital channels
• Deliver clear, commercially relevant performance updates to senior leadership and Board stakeholders
• Highlight risks, opportunities, and areas for testing or innovation

Team Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and develop the digital and trading team
• Create a high-performance culture built around accountability and results
• Build strong working relationships with commercial, product, technical, and operational teams

What You ll Bring

Experience & Knowledge

• Senior-level experience in e-commerce, digital trading, or performance marketing
• A proven history of growing online revenue in a measurable, sustainable way
• Strong knowledge of website optimisation, testing methodologies, and digital merchandising
• Experience managing agency ecosystems and sizeable digital budgets
• Confidence presenting insights and strategy at senior or board level
• Demonstrated success leading and developing teams

Nice to Have

• Experience launching new digital sales channels or online marketplaces
• Background in retail, direct-to-consumer, or fast-paced e-commerce environments
• Brand development or brand marketing exposure
• Advanced familiarity with analytics and experimentation tools

Personal Style

• Commercially sharp and target-focused
• Comfortable balancing big-picture strategy with hands-on delivery
• Naturally analytical and confident working with performance data
• Strong communicator who can influence at senior levels
• Collaborative, proactive, and solutions-oriented

Role Details

• Newly created senior position
• Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00am 5:30pm (1 hour lunch)
• Holiday: 25 days plus Bank Holidays
• Free on-site parking
• Rural location not served by public transport access to a car is essential

Thank you for your interest in this vacancy, which is being advertised by Smart10 Recruitment Group, who are acting as an employment agency / business. Your application will be considered in competition with others and we will contact you within 3 working days if you have been shortlisted. Smart10 is a multi-award-winning specialist recruitment consultancy focused on the supply of temporary, contract and permanent placements across a select group of business sectors. In order to keep up to date and search for all our active jobs, please visit our website, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram or LinkedIn. Please refer to Smart10's Privacy Policy as to how we hold your data.