At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead ecommerce strategy, boost revenue, and optimise customer journeys across digital and physical channels.
- Company: Join Oak Furnitureland, a dynamic omnichannel retailer focused on innovation.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive salary, hybrid working, generous holiday, and amazing employee discounts.
- Other info: Collaborative culture with opportunities for personal and professional growth.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in a fast-paced environment while shaping the future of ecommerce.
- Qualifications: Proven experience in ecommerce leadership and strong analytical skills required.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
As the Head of Ecommerce, you will own the full online and telesales P&L, taking direct accountability for accelerating revenue, conversion and average order value (AOV). In this role, you will steward our digital modernisation programme while maintaining a sharp focus on daily trading performance and the evolving needs of our customers. You will work in close partnership with Commercial, IT and Marketing to ensure the right products are merchandised effectively, presented to the right customer segments and converted through a frictionless path to purchase.
Oak Furnitureland is a thoroughly omnichannel retailer. Recognising that customer journeys are highly fluid, you will focus heavily on the bidirectional relationship between our digital channels and physical showrooms. The website must serve as an inspiring digital gateway that drives online researchers into our showrooms, while simultaneously supporting customers who choose to move from a showroom back to the website to complete their purchase.
You will lead and develop the department across two core functions. One focus is on driving daily trading performance and managing the telesales team to capture live demand. The second function is dedicated to ongoing digital optimisation and experience, covering product ownership, user experience design and conversion testing. Your focus will be on coaching and building the capability of the team across these areas, ensuring clear alignment between daily trading activities, user experience improvements and customer insights.
You will not have direct management responsibility for the developer team. Instead, you will work closely with IT and our development partners to deploy our established modernisation roadmap. Your primary objective is to use data to identify growth opportunities, understand what our customers want, and establish a continuous, insight-driven testing and web redesign programme.
Core Responsibilities
- Commercial performance: Own the daily, weekly and seasonal ecommerce and telesales trading plans to deliver business revenue, conversion and AOV targets.
- Omnichannel alignment: Champion an end-to-end customer journey mindset across web, telesales and showrooms, actively optimising for the dual-flow traffic between online browsing and physical store visits.
- Modernisation programme deployment: Deliver the agreed digital modernisation programme in close partnership with IT, driving the implementation of the website redesign, architecture and functionality upgrades to support future growth.
- Team leadership and development: Manage, coach and mentor the team, including the Ecommerce and Telesales Manager, Product Owner, UX Designer, Optimisation Specialist and the telesales team.
- Trading calendar execution: Guide the trading team to build and execute a data-driven trading calendar aligned to key range launches, promotions and marketing campaigns, adapting in real time to maximise demand.
- Commercial and buying integration: Partner with Commercial and Buying to shape the online product assortment, pricing and merchandising strategy, using website analytics to provide detailed performance insights that influence commercial decisions.
- Marketing collaboration: Collaborate with the Digital Marketing, CRM, and broader marketing teams to ensure high-quality traffic is driven to the website, surfacing the right products to align spend with efficiency targets.
- Telesales customer feedback loops: Oversee the telesales team, developing scripts and processes to convert calls, while establishing a regular feedback loop to capture customer insights on why they call or drop out of the online journey.
- Conversion and web optimisation: Lead the conversion rate optimisation, onsite search and personalisation programmes, using robust data analysis to build a continuous test-and-learn roadmap.
- Performance reporting and analytics: Interrogate web performance metrics and establish clear dashboards to understand what is working on the website, driving accountability across the entire team.
- Future-proofing for AI search: Ensure the website content and metadata structures are optimised for the changing search landscape, keeping the platform highly visible across modern conversational and generative AI search engines.
Skills and Experience
- Proven commercial leader with a strong track record of delivering online revenue, conversion and AOV targets within an omnichannel retail environment.
- Deep understanding of retail trading, web merchandising and customer behaviour for high‑SKU consumer businesses.
- Demonstrated success managing multi‑disciplinary teams, with experience leading digital product, user experience and trading specialists alongside customer‑facing sales teams.
- Collaborative partner capable of working alongside technical IT departments and development teams to land established digital roadmaps or major redesigns without needing to manage developers directly.
- Strong analytical capability, comfortable interrogating data suites such as GA4, Contentsquare, Google Data Studio and Tableau or Looker to extract customer insights, evaluate website performance and inform trading decisions.
- Hands‑on experience overseeing conversion rate optimisation, A/B testing, onsite search and personalisation initiatives.
- Exceptional stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across Commercial, Buying, Marketing and Showroom operations, and upwards to Board‑level colleagues.
- Forward‑thinking awareness of digital search trends, including an understanding of how to structure platforms to remain searchable as consumer behaviour adapts to AI search ecosystems.
- Ability to stay informed and educated on a fast‑changing e‑commerce environment, bringing new ideas and opportunities for growth into the business, engaging stakeholders on such potential initiatives, and owning implementation to ensure these ideas turn into performance‑increasing deliverables.
Benefits
- Car allowance
- Employee discount: amazing discounts available on all Oak Furnitureland products after successful completion of probation
- Life assurance: free cover of a minimum of two times your annual salary up to the age of 65
- 25 days holiday per year plus bank holidays
- Birthday: an additional day off for you to celebrate your birthday
- Hybrid working
- Pension: 5% basic salary employer contribution with 4% employee contribution
- Employee Assistance Programme: gives all employees access to both telephone and face‑to‑face counselling services
- My Rewards Programme: offers discounts on everything from restaurants and supermarkets, to entertainment and holidays
- Free on‑site parking
Head of Ecommerce in Swindon employer: Oak Furnitureland
At Oak Furnitureland, we pride ourselves on being an exceptional employer that fosters a dynamic and inclusive work culture. As the Head of Ecommerce, you will benefit from a supportive environment that prioritises employee growth through coaching and development opportunities, alongside competitive perks such as a car allowance, generous discounts, and a hybrid working model. Our commitment to innovation and collaboration ensures that you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our omnichannel retail strategy while enjoying a fulfilling career in a thriving sector.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Head of Ecommerce in Swindon
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the ecommerce space, attend industry events, and don’t be shy about asking for introductions. We all know that sometimes it’s not just what you know, but who you know that can land you that dream job.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! Create a personal website or portfolio that highlights your achievements in ecommerce, especially around revenue growth and conversion optimisation. This is your chance to demonstrate how you can drive results, just like we do at StudySmarter.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for interviews by diving deep into the company’s online presence. Understand their customer journey, identify areas for improvement, and come armed with ideas on how you can enhance their ecommerce strategy. We love seeing candidates who are proactive and passionate!
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re genuinely interested in being part of our team and contributing to our ecommerce success.
We think you need these skills to ace Head of Ecommerce in Swindon
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV:Make sure your CV is tailored to the Head of Ecommerce role. Highlight your experience in driving online revenue and conversion rates, and don’t forget to mention any relevant skills in digital optimisation and team leadership.
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter:Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to explain why you’re the perfect fit for this role. Talk about your passion for ecommerce and how your previous experiences align with the responsibilities outlined in the job description.
Showcase Your Analytical Skills:Since data is key in this role, make sure to showcase your analytical skills. Mention specific tools you've used, like GA4 or Tableau, and provide examples of how you've used data to drive decisions and improve performance.
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to apply through our website for a smoother application process. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you don’t miss out on any important updates!
How to prepare for a job interview at Oak Furnitureland
✨Know Your Numbers
As the Head of Ecommerce, you'll need to demonstrate a strong grasp of key performance metrics. Brush up on your knowledge of revenue, conversion rates, and average order value (AOV) before the interview. Be ready to discuss how you've driven these metrics in previous roles.
✨Showcase Your Omnichannel Expertise
This role requires a solid understanding of the omnichannel retail landscape. Prepare examples of how you've successfully integrated online and offline customer journeys. Highlight any strategies you've implemented that improved the flow between digital channels and physical showrooms.
✨Data-Driven Decision Making
You'll be expected to use data to identify growth opportunities. Familiarise yourself with tools like Google Analytics and Tableau, and be prepared to discuss how you've used data analysis to inform trading decisions and optimise web performance in the past.
✨Team Leadership Skills
As a leader, you'll need to coach and develop your team effectively. Think about your leadership style and prepare to share specific examples of how you've mentored team members or led cross-functional teams to achieve common goals. Emphasise your collaborative approach and stakeholder management skills.
