US E-Commerce Trading Lead in Burton upon Trent

Riviera Travel is a private equity owned cruise and escorted tour holiday specialist, operating in the UK, Europe and across the world. The company is based in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Its holidays are aimed at over-55s who want to continue to travel and explore the world with confidence. Riviera Travel is the UK’s leading River Cruise specialist. The company has been operating since 1984 and is a Which? recommended provider. Riviera is undertaking a significant expansion in North America, the largest river cruise market globally. This expansion requires Riviera to upgrade its digital estate to make it suitable for the North American market and support its in-country team to hit required sales and lead generation.

Role Purpose

Riviera Travel have a fantastic opportunity for a highly skilled and motivated E-Commerce Lead to drive commercial growth and be the champion of Ecommerce for our North American market. As the US Ecommerce Lead you will grow the online commercial performance of the North American business by optimising the customer booking journey, driving digital revenue, and improving conversion, while balancing customer experience, brand, and operational needs. The team sits as part of the wider global Marketing department based in Burton on Trent. The team will receive a strategic steer for US growth from the US senior leadership but benefit from being sat as part of a broader global marketing department. The team reports into the Global Head of Digital & Ecommerce and will collaborate with the global digital leads to develop their digital marketing strategies and optimize activity in line with best practice.

Key Responsibilities

• Commercial Requirements
• Deliver the US eCommerce strategy aligned to overall business and revenue goals.
• Drive online revenue growth, conversion rate, AOV, and direct bookings and leads.
• Deliver the eCommerce roadmap, prioritising initiatives based on commercial impact.
• Plan and deliver digital merchandising to maximise the opportunity of new product launches and offer led campaigns.
• Have a strong understanding of the US travel market and target audience.
• Have experience of managing peak trading periods and promotional calendars (launches, sales, early booking offers).
• Performance & Analytics
• Ability to analyse and interpret data from tools such as: Google Analytics / GA4, Heatmapping & session tools (Hotjar, Contentsquare, FullStory).
• Define and track KPIs (conversion rate, funnel drop-off, abandonment, revenue per visitor).
• Use data to identify friction points in the booking journey and prioritise fixes.
• Deliver clear performance reporting and insights to senior stakeholders.
• Merchandising and Content management
• Develop and deploy Merchandising plans in line with the US product / trading calendar.
• Understand merchandising performance and work with the UK ecommerce team to share learnings.
• As the US and UK websites are on shared infrastructure it’s key that US content plans are developed in line with the joint UK/US content requirements.
• Deploy and manage content using Drupal CMS.
• Work with the Brand team and SEO Lead to inform and deliver new content requirements.
• Build, maintain and update US specific landing and product pages.
• Customer Experience & CRO
• Understanding of UX, CRO, and usability best practices.
• Work with the CRO Lead to deliver: A/B and multivariate testing, Checkout and payment optimisation.
• Experience improving booking journeys (e.g. flights, cabins, excursions, extras).
• Strong customer-first mindset with experience incorporating: Review platforms (e.g. Trustpilot).
• Hands-on experience with eCommerce platforms and CMS (e.g. bespoke platforms, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Magento).
• Ability to write clear technical briefs for change proposals.
• Confident working with product, UX, engineering and third-party vendors.

Skills, Experience & Qualifications

• Hands on experience in e-commerce trading and merchandising.
• Understanding of digital marketing principles and best practices.
• Proficiency in web analytics tools such as Google Analytics or similar platforms.
• Excellent analytical skills and the ability to interpret data to inform decision-making and strategy.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment and adapting quickly to changing tactical priorities.
• Understanding of SEO and the impact of AI.
• Experience in the US travel industry would be advantageous and is desirable.

We operate hybrid working with 2-3 days per week in the office.