Commercial Lead - New Ventures & Brand Expansion in City of London

Location: London (Hybrid)

Package: Highly competitive base salary plus bonus and benefits

We’re partnering with a profitable, category-defining scale-up to hire a senior commercial operator to own the full new-ventures pipeline - from spotting standout opportunities, through deal-making, to hands-on execution. This is a rare role for someone who wants real autonomy and impact, not a narrow functional remit.

The opportunity:

• You’ll sit at the center of growth, responsible for identifying high-quality opportunities, shaping commercial partnerships, and turning early traction into repeatable success. The focus is on judgement, selectivity and long-term value, not stacking volume or chasing vanity deals.
• You’ll work closely with founders and senior leadership, with genuine authority to say yes, no, or not yet.

What you’ll actually be doing:

• Sourcing and evaluating new opportunities using a mix of data, instinct and pattern recognition
• Leading commercial conversations end to end - structuring deals, negotiating terms, and aligning incentives
• Building clear, repeatable playbooks from early wins
• Overseeing launches and early performance, staying close to execution vs handing off
• Acting as the internal owner for new initiatives - commercially sharp, operationally grounded

Who this is for:

This will suit someone who:

• Has 6–12 years’ experience in fast-moving, high-bar environments
• Has operated in commercial, strategy, expansion, partnerships, GTM or new-ventures roles
• Is comfortable with ambiguity and enjoys making decisions with imperfect information
• Combines analytical rigour with human judgement - you can read a spreadsheet and a room
• Is an operator at heart: pragmatic, sleeves-rolled-up, not overly corporate or performative

You don’t need a finance pedigree but you do need credibility, commercial instinct, and the confidence to run this lane independently.

Why it’s compelling:

• Real ownership of a critical growth lever
• Exposure to senior leadership and founders
• A business that has scaled fast and sustainably
• Competitive base with meaningful upside linked to performance

If you’re excited by building things properly and want a role where discernment and judgement genuinely matter, we’d love to hear from you.

This is a targeted search for a very specific profile. Please apply only if you meet the core criteria. While I’d genuinely love to respond to everyone, I’ll need to prioritise those whose experience is most closely aligned to the brief.

JD&Co is passionate about championing diversity and challenging unconscious bias. Every application is reviewed with care. Please follow our LinkedIn page for updates.