Head of E-Commerce Trading

Rapha

About Rapha
Rapha is a global cycling lifestyle brand renowned for creating the world’s finest cycling apparel and experiences. With a mission to inspire and empower riders, Rapha combines exceptional craftsmanship with innovative digital experiences to deepen our connection with the global cycling community. We operate e-commerce and retail channels in 20 countries with local currencies and translations.

Role Overview
The Head of E-Commerce Trading will be pivotal in driving Rapha’s online growth and delivering an exceptional shopping experience. This position will lead the trading team to optimise on-site performance, grow revenue, and enhance customer lifetime value, ensuring our digital presence reflects the premium Rapha brand. You will own the global e-commerce P&L, set trading strategies and work cross-functionally to align product, marketing, and operations with commercial goals.

Key Responsibilities

1. Commercial & Trading Strategy
   Develop and execute the global e-commerce trading strategy aligned with Rapha’s business goals. Create and own the Rapha e-commerce strategy. Own the online sales forecast, ensuring accuracy and alignment with overall revenue targets. Identify growth opportunities across markets, categories, and customer segments. Lead seasonal and promotional planning, working with our brand and marketing teams to drive sales while protecting margins. Ensure flawless execution of content on campaigns and products. Responsible for ensuring Rapha complies with pricing, promotional, advertising and trading legislation in each territory we operate in. Drive accessibility standards and ensure pages and content produced are compliant with WCAG 2.1 and upcoming WCAG 2.2 at minimum AA level of compliance.
2. Optimising E-Commerce Performance
   Support the Digital Director on forming the digital strategy and website roadmap, alongside the Product Management team. Work with the Performance Team (Data) to analyse site performance (conversion rates, AOV, basket size) and identify levers to improve KPIs, run tests and implement improvements. Manage pricing and promotions strategy, maximising value but not at the expense of our premium position. Own the site’s SEO strategy, working to improve in all key markets. Oversee the product merchandising strategy to maximise discoverability, sell-through, and cross-sell. Partner with the Digital Product team to deliver a seamless user experience and new feature rollouts. Ensure best usage of our trading and merchandising tools, Algolia, Commerce Layer and Contentful. Establish solid payment acceptance rules and fraud scoring strategy with Adyen so that we accept as many orders as possible but protect the company from bad actors. Deliver an ongoing payment strategy for all markets, ensuring we have the best payment options in each market and working with Finance on currency management, protecting our profitability as currencies fluctuate. Own the sale of delivery services, pricing, and promises so they align with trading activities and are commercially viable, working closely with the logistics team on available options in each market.
3. Leadership & Team Management
   Build, manage, and mentor a high-performing trading team. Champion a data-driven culture within the team, fostering a continuous improvement mindset. Collaborate closely with brand marketing, creative, digital product, logistics, and finance teams.
4. Analytics & Reporting
   Own digital trading reporting from GA4, through to Power BI and Board facing metrics, providing regular updates on performance to stakeholders. Business owner for GA4. Own and run the Monday trading update meetings. Conduct deep dives into trading performance to inform actionable strategies. Track competitor trends and market conditions to stay ahead of the curve. Work closely on business cases for investments with Finance and Product.

We’re looking for someone who

• Is a self-starter and resourceful, thrives in complex environments where not everything is perfect, works effectively with limited resources, and embraces challenges with enthusiasm.
• Able to see the big picture while staying on top of the day-to-day.
• Will go the extra mile and isn’t afraid to get stuck in with the team where needed.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with Contentful or other headless CMS, Search Services like Algolia or Bloomreach.
• Familiarity with tools like Google Analytics and Microsoft Power BI, e-commerce platforms like Commerce Layer, and ERP platforms like Navision and Business Central.
• Startup or small business experience.
• Love for cycling and understanding of the cycling community and market.

Working at Rapha

We are continuously looking into ways to invest in our employees and build a better working culture and environment. Here are just some of the internal benefits we offer:

• Flexible working hours
• Support ad-hoc remote working during the week – Minimum 3 days in office
• Free barista coffee and social drinks in the office
• We offer a flexible riding benefit to allow you to go out riding on a Wednesday morning with colleagues or learn to cycle through our Getting Started Scheme.
• We offer all our employees a 50% apparel discount and a discount for family and friends
• An annual clothing allowance
• Free membership to the Rapha Cycling Club
• Company Pension Scheme
• Enhanced Parental Leave and Pay