MD / President, Global DTC

SUMWON STUDIOS; Dubai; On-site; AED 350,000 - 540,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days annual leave

30% employee discount across SUMWON BR

Learning & development opportunities

Company social events

High-performing team at global scale

Job summary

SUMWON STUDIOS is seeking a General Manager to own the full DTC P&L across global markets, combining trading, marketing, digital product and creator commerce. You will build and lead a high-impact team, and drive international expansion with an AI-first operating model.

The role targets a bold growth trajectory from current ~$50M to $250M+ in owned DTC revenue, demanding hands-on leadership, data-driven decision making, and a strong brand-sense for premium fashion and lifestyle brands.

Qualifications

• Has personally owned a DTC or e-commerce P&L with revenue, contribution and investment.
• Demonstrates current AI-enabled workflows and hands-on experience.
• Proven ability to scale a digital-first consumer business.
• Built capability from scratch with lean operation principles.
• Experience in fashion, sportswear or premium consumer categories is a plus.
• Based in Dubai or committed to relocating.

Responsibilities

• Total webshop P&L ownership and weekly trading rhythm.
• Drive growth plan, investment allocation and major commercial decisions.
• Lead international expansion and direct ownership of global DTC P&L.
• Align agencies and internal teams behind a single commercial agenda.
• Build and lead the DTC leadership team and performance analytics.

Skills

P&L ownership

AI fluency

Builder at scale

Lean operator

Category fit

Location Dubai-based

Job description

SUMWON STUDIOS is a global brand house building, scaling and reimagining culturally relevant fashion, lifestyle and consumer brands. Our portfolio includes MISSGUIDED, SUMWON, BALR, Baby Phat, Playboy, AiiRZ, KiZN, KSTM & 11SKNDS.

In just a few years, we have grown from start-up to one of the fastest-scaling brand platforms in theindustry. Combining creativity, data, technology and an agile supply chain, we build brands designed to win in today's digital-first world.

We operate at the intersection of culture, commerce and innovation. Whether launching new brands, acquiring established ones, or unlocking growth opportunities across our portfolio, we move quickly, think globally and challenge conventional ways of working.

The Role

The mandate is full P&L ownership — trading, marketing, digital product, customer economics and international expansion — not a marketing function. We need a general manager with deep digital commerce and brand-building capability. Candidates who present as CMOs but have genuinely run a DTC P&L are in scope; candidates who have only run marketing are not.

Owned DTC is scaling from approximately $50m today to $250m+, and that's the beginning of our owned-customer strategy, not the end state. This is a build, not a caretaking role: you will own the global DTC P&L end to end and build it into a billion-dollar channel, combining one accountable commercial leader with a proprietary Growth Content & Creator Commerce Engine, international expansion, disciplined trading and specialist external execution. You will build and lead the DTC leadership team, hold trading, content, creator, growth and retention to a single commercial agenda, drive international expansion directly, and run the business on an AI-first operating model.

Key Responsibilities

• Total webshop P&L and weekly commercial decision-making.
• The growth plan, investment allocation and major commercial decisions.
• International expansion — owned directly by you until enough markets are live to justify a dedicated lead.
• Commercial accountability for external agencies: objectives, budgets, performance expectations and escalations.
• Alignment of Trading, Content, Creator, Paid, CRM and Digital Product behind one agenda.
• Customer acquisition and retention economics: CAC, first-order contribution, repeat rate, LTV.
• Coordination with Product, Technology, Operations and Supply Chain.
• Building the team: landing the VP/Director, Growth Content & Creator Commerce, appointing the Growth Manager, and strengthening the wider layer.

First-Year Priorities

• Take full command of the P&L and establish a weekly trading and performance rhythm.
• Install strong internal briefs, scrutiny and commercial ownership over the paid media and CRM agencies — the single biggest structural risk today is agencies effectively managing themselves.
• Stand up the Growth Content & Creator Commerce Engine with the incoming VP/Director — content, creators, affiliates and organic social as one integrated capability.
• Sequence and launch the first wave of international markets with clear country economics.
• Embed AI-first workflows across every function and agency relationship.

The Team You’ll Build and Run

• Trading Director (existing): webshop revenue, onsite merchandising, pricing and promotions, conversion, AOV, product margin, country and category performance.
• VP/Director, Growth Content & Creator Commerce (priority hire): your most important direct report — builds the proprietary content, creator and affiliate engine.
• Growth Manager (new): day-to-day ownership of the paid media and CRM/retention agency relationships.
• Digital Product / CRO Lead: conversion, UX, merchandising, checkout and experimentation, with central Technology.
• Commercial Analyst / Finance BP: one consolidated commercial view of trading, marketing and customer economics for you.

Our AI Operating Model

You won’t be asked to build an AI strategy. You’ll be asked to run a business where AI-enabled leverage is the default assumption behind every headcount, budget and process decision. Sumwon is AI-native operationally, not as positioning. Content production, commercial analysis and forecasting, and day-to-day operations are all built on AI-enabled workflows as standard. This is a hard hiring filter: candidates must be able to walk through real, current AI-enabled workflows they have personally built or run — not describe AI strategy, awareness or enthusiasm. Candidates whose AI exposure is strategic, supervisory or aspirational rather than hands-on will not progress, regardless of track record.

What we’re looking for

• P&L ownership: has personally owned a DTC or e-commerce P&L — revenue, contribution and investment — not a marketing budget.
• AI fluency: evidenced, specific and current. You should be able to walk through real AI-enabled workflows you’ve built or run yourself; we probe this in every interview as a distinct section.
• Builder at scale: has scaled a digital-first consumer business through a comparable growth phase — ideally from tens of millions to well beyond — and can show what they built to do it.
• Lean operator: has operated lean, constructing capability from scratch rather than inheriting large teams, budgets and infrastructure.
• Category fit: fashion, sportswear or adjacent premium consumer categories, with a genuine feel for brand, product and culture-led demand — creator and influencer-led commerce experience is ideal.
• Location: Dubai-based, or unambiguously committed to relocating.

Our process

In addition to the standard process, expect a commercial case built specifically on how you would run Sumwon's P&L, manage the agencies and sequence international expansion.

• Structured, scored interviews against an explicit rubric, including a dedicated AI-fluency section with specific workflow evidence
• A commercial case built on our real numbers and structure
• Reference checks focused on what the candidate personally built, versus what they inherited

What we’ll bring

• 25 days annual leave, increasing to 30 days after your first year
• 30% employee discount across SUMWON STUDIOS brands
• Ongoing learning and development opportunities
• Company social events
• The opportunity to work with a high-performing team building brands at global scale

Why Join Us?

This is an opportunity to join a business in growth mode. You’ll have the chance to make a visible impact, take ownership, move quickly and help shape the future of a multi-brand platform operating across global markets.