Senior search for the commercial, digital and trading leaders driving modern retail.

Hanson Search’s Retail and Ecommerce Recruitment practice, part of Hanson Corporate, helps retailers and consumer brands hire the leaders who own how they sell. We place senior commercial, ecommerce and trading leaders who turn customer demand, channels and margin into growth a board can rely on.

We advise global retailers, direct-to-consumer brands, online marketplaces, omnichannel businesses and the private equity investors behind them on Chief Commercial Officer, Chief Digital Officer and Head of Ecommerce appointments where the right hire resets the trajectory of the business.

Senior Retail and Ecommerce Roles We Recruit

Our Retail and Ecommerce Recruitment practice covers the senior end of the commercial and digital function. We place Chief Commercial Officers, Chief Digital Officers, Directors and VPs of Ecommerce, Heads of Ecommerce and Trading Directors.

We also lead senior appointments in retail media, omnichannel, merchandising and buying, customer experience and conversion across both pure-play and store-led businesses.

Whatever the title, the brief is the same. Clients want a leader who can build a credible commercial plan, lead the team that delivers it and stand behind the numbers in front of the board.

Why Retail and Ecommerce Recruitment Has Become Harder

The brief has changed faster than the talent market can supply, and three shifts explain why.

The role has broadened. The ecommerce leader once owned a single channel. Today the same person is expected to own trading, retail media, customer experience and often the wider digital P&L, and far fewer leaders have run all of it.

Technology has redrawn the function. More than twenty leading ecommerce businesses changed their senior leadership during 2025, many bringing in leaders fluent in AI, data and modern commerce platforms. As a result, technical and commercial credibility now have to sit in the same person.

The senior pool is thin and rarely looking. The strongest retail and ecommerce leaders are busy scaling brands, not browsing job boards, so they have to be approached directly. For this reason, demand for proven operators continues to outstrip supply.

Why Retail and Ecommerce Businesses Choose Hanson Search

Every Retail and Ecommerce Recruitment search we run is led personally by a senior consultant, from first briefing to signed offer. We do not pass mandates down a chain or lean on databases that go stale within months in a market this competitive.

The best leader for your business is rarely the obvious one. They might be the deputy at a larger retailer, the lead at a faster-growing brand or sitting one stage ahead of where you are now. So we map widely across retailers, consumer brands and the wider commerce community, and we assess every candidate on commercial credibility, digital fluency and the leadership presence to operate at board level.

Diverse and inclusive shortlists are prioritised on every mandate. As a B Corp with more than twenty years behind us, responsible search is built into how we work.

Partner with Hanson Search for Retail and Ecommerce Recruitment

If you are appointing a Chief Commercial Officer, Chief Digital Officer or Head of Ecommerce, we would welcome a confidential conversation. We advise organisations across London, Europe, the USA and the Middle East, from global retailers to high-growth consumer brands. Get in touch with our team to start the conversation.