Ecommerce Strategist

This position plays a pivotal role in driving growth and success across the dropship and marketplace brand portfolio. The key responsibilities include establishing and nurturing strong relationships with brand partners, vendors, and internal stakeholders to ensure seamless onboarding, operational excellence, and commercial performance.

The primary focus of this role is to accelerate marketplace growth by onboarding new vendors that expand the assortment and align with the brand positioning. This involves developing and growing existing vendors by managing their performance, enhancing promotional programs, increasing media exposure, and negotiating favourable commercial terms to maximise sales and profitability.

This role is central to strengthening brand and vendor partnerships, acting as a trusted point of contact and advocate for their success. Working closely with internal teams across Digital, Merchandise, and Marketing, this individual will help deliver cohesive trade plans, optimise vendor visibility, and drive category performance.

By collaborating with Ecommerce Operations and Technology, this role will ensure operational excellence, from efficient vendor integrations and stock accuracy to fulfilment SLAs. Through these efforts, this role will deliver a seamless, scalable vendor experience that drives customer satisfaction, incremental revenue, and sustainable marketplace growth.

• Lead the acquisition of new vendors that align with the brand's positioning and marketplace strategy.
• Oversee the work of the Onboarding Specialist to ensure smooth vendor assessment, ranging, and trading term negotiations.
• Define commercial opportunities with Merchandise and Marketing to accelerate category expansion.
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with key brand partners, positioning the company as a premium marketplace destination.
• Partner with the Integrations Specialist to manage end-to-end vendor onboarding, ensuring compliance with technical, operational, and service requirements.
• Validate integration milestones and resolve onboarding issues in collaboration with third-party partners.
• Drive operational excellence through continuous review of fulfilment SLAs, stock accuracy, and order flow.
• Develop best-practice playbooks and vendor training resources to support scalable growth.
• Lead the Business Development Specialist in delivering strategies to nurture and grow vendor performance.
• Collaborate with Marketing and Trade teams to build promotional plans, marketing campaigns, and cross-category offers.
• Improve product discoverability through optimised content, category positioning, and merchandising.
• Negotiate commercial terms to improve profitability and unlock greater vendor participation in campaigns.
• Define and execute the 2-3 year marketplace and dropship growth roadmap in alignment with the company's digital strategy.
• Identify emerging vendor opportunities and new category expansions that support sustainable growth.
• Partner with Finance and Technology teams to evaluate investment cases for marketplace enhancements.
• Monitor marketplace performance, providing regular reporting and insights to senior leadership.
• Contribute to the design and development of the future technology platform to deliver a world-class vendor and customer experience.
• Provide vendor-centric input into feature prioritisation, integrations, and platform scalability.
• Partner with Digital Operations and Technology teams to streamline vendor workflows and reduce complexity.
• Ensure marketplace solutions support long-term operational efficiency and vendor satisfaction.

• Lead and manage the brand and dropship team to deliver marketplace sales targets and category growth, ensuring clear priorities, strong vendor management, and alignment with the company's commercial objectives.
• Drive the acquisition of new vendors that align with the company's premium positioning, overseeing onboarding activities to ensure technical readiness, operational compliance, and a seamless transition to live trading.
• Maintain and strengthen relationships with brand partners by providing regular performance reviews, clear communication, and proactive support to position the company as a marketplace of choice.
• Monitor vendor performance and operational excellence by reviewing fulfilment SLAs, stock accuracy, and order flow, implementing data-driven improvements to enhance customer experience and minimise service disruptions.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Trade, and Merchandise teams to deliver promotional campaigns, optimise product discoverability, and develop joint strategies that drive incremental sales and customer engagement.
• Review and develop operational efficiencies by creating best-practice playbooks, vendor training resources, and streamlined processes to reduce manual effort and improve scalability across the marketplace function.
• Define and execute the marketplace growth roadmap by identifying new category opportunities, building business cases for investment, and ensuring alignment with the company's digital transformation strategy.
• Contribute to the evolution of marketplace technology and workflows by partnering with Digital Operations and Technology teams to influence platform development, improve vendor tools, and deliver a world-class customer and vendor experience.

• Understanding of dropship and marketplace programs, including vendor onboarding, fulfilment models, and operational dependencies that impact sales and customer experience.
• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to analyse sales performance, drive profitability, and develop business cases for marketplace growth initiatives.
• Proven capability in brand negotiation and trading, including experience securing favourable terms, improving margin outcomes, and unlocking vendor participation in key campaigns.
• Demonstrated expertise in vendor management, ensuring service levels are upheld, operational issues are resolved, and long-term partnerships are strengthened.
• Exceptional stakeholder and vendor-facing communication skills, with the ability to influence, build trust, and establish the company as a premium retail partner of choice.
• A strategic and hands-on leadership style, combining the ability to define marketplace growth plans with the willingness to work alongside the team to deliver operational and commercial results.