Ecommerce and Marketplaces Director

We are looking for a new Ecommerce and Marketplaces Director to join our successful, family owned-and-run retail business, Pavers. This role will be based at our head office in York but can include an element of home working, and flexible hours.

Our direct-to-consumer and marketplace channels have quickly grown to more than a third of our £200m+ annual sales and we are looking for a capable team-player experienced in high growth environments to continue this journey. You will be expected to define a strategy, articulate a vision, and engage a rapidly expanding team of over 40 colleagues. We will give you the trust, autonomy, and investment to succeed.  In return we ask you to be friendly, work hard, and act with humility.

You will sit on the operating Board for Pavers and Jones Bootmaker and be responsible for the performance and P&Ls of all Direct-to-Consumer, Marketplace, and Brand activity within the business. You will report directly to the ambitious Managing Director, a 3rd generation member of the family. You will have responsibility for a marketing team that includes Performance Marketing (Ecom Trading/CRO/CRM/Paid Digital/Print/Paid Social/Marketplaces) and Brand Marketing (Creative/Content/Social/PR/Brand liaison), as well as being supported by dedicated Ecom IT resources and a Data & Insight team. Balancing the need to get your hands dirty and disrupt existing ways of working, whilst leading and managing talented colleagues in a supportive, collaborative, and constructive way will be a fundamental requirement of the role.

Pavers has been trading for over 50 years and is a highly profitable and growing family business with a strong balance sheet and a turnover over £200m. We also own the Jones Bootmaker, Herring Shoes, and Padders / Van Dal footwear businesses, remain acquisitive, and employ over 1800 people. We were recently recognised as one of the Top 5 employers in Retail (Best Companies), are Carbon Neutral, have donated more than £2m to charity in the past 5 years, and are imminently undertaking a significant expansion and modernisation of our York head office.

Key responsibilities:

• Develop and lead our long-term ecommerce and marketplace strategy in line with company goals.
• Maximise revenue opportunities, customer loyalty, brand recognition, and market share across all business sales channels (Stores, eCommerce, and Marketplaces)
• Work in collaboration with our IT team to ensure a best-in-class tech stack (web and Mar tech) and fully optimised user journeys, including leading the adoption of AI and new technologies, and managing our CRO program.
• Provide inspirational leadership, support, and guidance to the team , to motivate them to hit project delivery deadlines and communicating progress in the appropriate senior forums
• Drive the elevation of customer experience across all touchpoints.
• Develop the personal and operational relationships necessary to accelerate our 3rd party marketplace offering.
• Set budgets, manage P&Ls, define objectives, monitor workflow, identify and fill resource gaps, and implement and refine processes as required.
• Establish and monitor key metrics, spend, placement and channel mix maximising conversion of shoppers to purchase throughout the funnel.
• Provide relevant and timely reporting to stakeholders on measurement and key metrics, identifying trends and insights, and optimising spend and performance-based analytics
• Advancing our use of automation, personalisation, and customer journeys across all channels
• Bring external best practice into the business and team

Ideal candidate:

• Is a performance and analytics expert with experience leading successful marketing teams
• Has experience operating at pace within a rapid growth environment
• Possesses a deep understanding of all digital communication channels, e-commerce platforms, and database management tools.
• Has a working understanding of print (direct/OTP/inserts/partnerships) and TV / video / social marketing opportunities
• Shares a vision of setting CoS/RoAS budgets based on LTV by channel.
• Is experienced in forming, managing, and optimising marketplace relationships
• Has a relentless focus on driving performance and metrics with a trading mentality and the commercial ability to identify and create growth opportunities for the business
• Can generate customer insights from analytics and translate them into successful brand strategy and executions.
• Has a successful track record of coordinating and directing international expansion
• Drives process and has the confidence to challenge the way things are done.
• Knows when to delegate, and when to get intimately involved in the detail.
• Has experience in brand marketing, delivering impactful and visually attractive campaigns across touchpoints to drive purchase behaviour.
• Has experience in Retail environments, supporting our network of 180+ retail locations through campaigns designed to maximise visibility and customer attention.
• Has experience working in a family business
• Is thoughtful & collaborative with strong communication skills and a passion for learning
• Has the ability to influence others and drive their team’s development by helping them achieve more than they thought possible
• Is gritty, resilient, candid, and operates with honesty, integrity, and a willingness to share learning and knowledge.
• Is a strong advocate for personal and team development
• Adapts quickly to change and juggles conflicting demands calmly when under pressure
• Has a passion for footwear, a sense of humour, and a general drive to just get things done!

Benefits/Package for our Ecommerce and Marketplaces Director:

Salary: £Generous plus LTIP, annual profit related bonus scheme, PMI cover, car allowance, death in service plus:

• Generous Staff Discount
• Holiday Entitlement (Increases with service)
• Company Contribution Pension
• Access to RetailTRUST (Wellbeing Support)
• Access to RetailCURE (Financial Support)
• Access to the Pavers Foundation: an employee-led grant application and charitable giving scheme