Chief Commercial Officer

People Marketing Fashion Recruitment; Greater London; On-site; GBP 260,000 - 360,000; Full time

Job summary

People Marketing Fashion Recruitment is seeking a Chief Commercial Officer to lead the next growth phase across Europe. The CCO will own the European commercial agenda across wholesale, strategic accounts, distributors, agents, and business development.

This executive will drive sustainable revenue growth, strengthen brand presence with key retail partners, and build a high-performance commercial organisation capable of delivering profitability, margin improvement, and cash generation.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of senior commercial leadership in sporting goods, athletic footwear, apparel or lifestyle brands.
• Proven success leading European wholesale businesses and distributor networks.
• Established network of senior decision-makers across Europe’s leading retailers.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute Europe-wide commercial strategy across wholesale, accounts, distributors and agents.
• Drive profitable revenue growth with gross margin and cash generation focus.
• Lead strategic partnerships with top retailers and accelerate distribution and digital visibility.
• Build and develop a high-performance commercial organisation with succession planning.

Skills

Senior leadership

European wholesale

Distributor networks

Strategic partnerships

Deal making

Profit growth

Job description

My client is seeking an exceptional Chief Commercial Officer to lead the next phase of growth across Europe.

The CCO will own the entire European commercial agenda across wholesale, strategic accounts, distributors, agents, and business development. This executive will be responsible for delivering sustainable and profitable growth across Europe, strengthening the brand’s presence with key retail partners, identifying high-quality distribution opportunities, and building long-term value for the business.

The CCO will balance growth ambitions with disciplined commercial execution, ensuring that revenue expansion, gross margin improvement, customer profitability and healthy cash generation remain central to all commercial decisions.

Chief Commercial Officer- The Role:

Lead The Brands' European Commercial Strategy

• Develop and execute the commercial strategy across Europe; drive sustainable and profitable growth; identify and prioritize growth opportunities by market, channel and category; build annual and long-range plans; ensure excellence in distribution and execution.

Deliver Profitable Growth

• Drive sustainable profitable growth; ensure revenue growth is accompanied by gross margin, operating profit and cash generation; maintain discipline around pricing, trade investment and customer profitability; evaluate all opportunities through both growth and profitability lenses.

Manage Strategic Retail Partnerships

• Personally lead strategic relationships with Deichmann, Decathlon, Intersport, Sports Direct/Frasers, Foot Locker, Snipes, Courir, Schuh, Office, Sport 2000, Sportisimo. Secure senior-level engagements, negotiate partnerships, expand distribution, increase digital visibility and unlock profitable growth opportunities.

Lead Distributor and Agent Network

• Manage and develop the network of distributors and sales agents in markets where the company does not operate directly; establish profitable growth plans, accountability frameworks and strong brand execution standards.

Build a High-Performance Commercial Organisation

• Lead, develop and recruit top commercial talent; create a culture of accountability, ambition and execution; strengthen organizational capabilities and succession plans.

Key Performance Indicators

• Revenue growth
• Customer profitability
• Growth of priority accounts
• Distributor performance and profitability
• Team engagement and succession development

What Success Looks Like After 24 Months

• Improved gross margins and customer profitability.
• Stronger positions with key European retailers.
• Improved distributor performance across indirect markets.
• A stronger and more capable commercial organisation.

Chief Commercial Officer- The Person:

• Minimum 15 years of senior commercial leadership experience within sporting goods, athletic footwear, apparel or lifestyle brands.
• Proven success leading European wholesale businesses (and, ideally, distributor networks).
• Deep European sporting goods industry experience.
• Established network of senior decision-makers across Europe's leading sporting goods, footwear and lifestyle retailers.
• Candidates should possess an established network of senior relationships across major European sporting goods and footwear retailers, with the credibility and access to engage decision-makers immediately upon joining. This role is not suited to someone who needs time to develop relationships.
• Exceptional deal-making skills and experience negotiating commercial agreements.
• Demonstrated track record of delivering profitable growth, not simply revenue growth.