Roles we hunt
eCommerce Director Recruitment
An eCommerce Director owns a channel with its own revenue target, margin and trading calendar. AI now runs through most of that operation: product content, onsite search, pricing tests and service chat. The hire is about running a P&L with software doing more of the work.
How is AI changing the eCommerce Director role?
Tools now handle range copy, campaign variants and order queries. What’s left is judgement: what to automate, what to keep human, and how to spot a cheaper process quietly hurting conversion. Plenty of briefs we see just add “AI experience” to a marketing template, and that screens for the wrong things.
Who makes a good eCommerce Director now?
- Has owned a channel P&L and can say what they changed when a quarter missed target.
- Can name something they automated and what it did to margin, good or bad.
- Has run at least one full peak period (Black Friday, EOFY, Christmas).
When does a business need an eCommerce Director?
When ecommerce has its own P&L and has outgrown being one task inside a marketing role. It also comes up when an online business finds its lead was hired for the pre-AI version of the job, or an overseas retailer needs someone to run its Australian store. More in our eCommerce Director hiring guide.
How do you hire an eCommerce Director?
Define the profile above, then approach people who fit. We headhunt rather than recruit, with no keyword screening, because operators who’ve rebuilt a trading team around AI rarely use the words a filter scans for. See how it works, or compare a CMO or Head of Digital hire.
How does Headhuntly run a eCommerce Director search?
Like every Headhuntly executive search, it’s exclusive: one client, one role, complete focus. Before we approach anyone, we define three profiles, your company, the role and the person. If the brief isn’t settled yet, we help you set the KPIs and a 30, 60, 90 day framework first.
Then we go after people who aren’t looking. Based on the Gold Coast, hunting Australia-wide. Overseas too, when the right person is there. A typical search takes 3 to 6 weeks.
We charge 15% of the placed candidate's base salary plus super, plus an engagement fee, the placement fee on signed employment contract, the engagement fee upfront, which we walk you through on the first call. If the placement doesn’t work out during probation, we start the hunt again. The detail is on how it works.
Hiring across marketing more broadly? Our marketing recruitment agency page covers every marketing and digital role we hunt.
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Questions, answered
Is an eCommerce Director the same as a Head of eCommerce?
Not necessarily. At some companies Director implies a broader scope, but nobody has standardised the title, or the seat. What matters is whether the person has actually run a trading P&L, and used AI inside it.
Who should an eCommerce Director report to?
It depends how much of the business's revenue runs through the channel. Where ecommerce is the majority of revenue, a direct line to the CEO is common. Where it's one channel among several, reporting into a CMO or Head of Digital is more usual.
How much does an eCommerce Director earn in Australia?
There's no national benchmark yet for this exact title. The closest public signals and a fuller breakdown are on our senior salaries guide.
How do you tell whether an eCommerce Director is genuinely AI-fluent?
Ask what they handed to AI tools in the trading operation, what it did to margin and conversion, and where it went wrong. Real experience comes with numbers. A list of platforms usually means they haven't run it.
Why does this need a headhunt rather than a job ad?
People who've genuinely run an ecommerce P&L well are rarely job hunting, and a generic "eCommerce Director" job ad rarely matches how they'd describe their own job. You reach them by going to them directly.
Hiring a eCommerce Director?
Tell us about the role. We’ll tell you straight whether it needs a headhunt, and what the search would look like.