Commercial Director (Interim)

ZipRecruiter; London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading charity organization seeks an Interim Commercial Director to provide strategic leadership, manage e-commerce operations, and cultivate partnerships. This role offers a unique opportunity to drive social impact while leading a dynamic team. The position is based in Central London with a competitive salary and benefits.

Benefits

Interest-free travel loan

Volunteering days

28 days holiday each year

Generous pension scheme

Qualifications

• Experience in a strategic and operational role.
• Demonstrable sales and business development experience.
• Strong commercial acumen and analytical skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Commercial Partnerships team to achieve targets.
• Manage relationships with major commercial partners.
• Oversee IKD's e-commerce platform to deliver revenue targets.

Skills

Commercial acumen

Sales and business development

Analytical skills

Negotiating skills

Communication skills

Relationship-building skills

Customer focus

E-commerce experience

Job description

Job DescriptionLocation: Central London/Hybrid
Salary: £90,000k per annum – negotiable depending on experience.
Job Type: Full time
Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract

About In Kind Direct

For nearly 30 years, In Kind Direct has been at the forefront of product redistribution in the UK, ensuring that no one misses out on life’s essentials. Founded by HM The King, we partner with leading brands and retailers to channel everyday goods—hygiene items, household products, toys, clothing and more—to over 6,000 community groups. Every week, we help more than half a million people in need. Yet, poverty and exclusion remain as key challenges within the UK, and we’re on a mission to reach even more people with more products.

Our values

We work with kindness, togetherness and integrity, driving innovation.

The Opportunity

We’re seeking an energetic, commercially savvy Interim Commercial Director to join us for approximately nine months. You’ll provide strategic leadership to our Commercial Team, manage our thriving e-commerce operation (equivalent to a £30m etail business) and cultivate and deepen long-term partnerships with our FMCG and retail supporters, both new and those who have worked with us for many years. This is a unique chance to shape mutually beneficial relationships that fuel social impact across the UK.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership

• Lead, coach and motivate the Commercial Partnerships team to deliver outstanding results, including achieving 2025 targets and deliverables
• As a key member of IKD’s senior Leadership Team, contribute to the operational and strategic direction of the organisation, and attend regular meetings of IKD’s Board of Trustees
• Provide dynamic day-to-day leadership presence, role-modelling IKD’s values and promoting a culture of entrepreneurship and results-focus

Strategic Commercial Relations

• Accountable for IKD’s relationships with its major commercial partners, ensuring successful collaboration and delivery of mutually-agreed targets and plans.
• Work with the Heads of New Business and Partnerships to develop and implement Commercial Team plans, enabling the delivery of all commercial targets and success criteria
• Maintain a close watch on the needs of our charitable network, and identify a pipeline of current and new donated products in response
• Lead the Head of Partnerships and Head of New Business in building account plans for current and future product donors. Develop and drive trading strategy, including delivery of partnerships with affiliate schemes
• Ensure excellent customer service to maximise the potential for product donations, including the development of bespoke proposals, high-quality impact/progress reports and any other engagement collateral required
• Attend networking and other events relevant to IKD, building relationships with influencers and those able to support IKD

E-Commerce

• Accountable for delivering revenue targets through IKD’s e-commerce platform
• Work with the Operations Director and E-Commerce & Digital Marketing Manager to oversee the customer journey, aiming to increase conversion, retention and renewal
• Support the E-Commerce Manager to develop and deliver the workplan for all corporate sites
• Work with leadership team to deliver data-led analysis of our performance, both on commercial performance as well as marketing and business development

Marketing

• Support and guide the Marketing team, to ensure successful delivery of IKD’s calendar of high-impact marketing and advertising campaigns, including social media
• Oversee the internal and external use of branding guidelines – ensuring consistency in the look and feel of all collateral materials, events and campaigns – protecting IKD’s corporate and positioning
• Monitor the effectiveness of all marketing initiatives and activities, providing ROI and engagement measurements
• Lead the marketing team in developing ambitious plans to celebrate IKD’s 30th anniversary in 2026

Skills/experience you will bring:

• Ability to work at both a strategic and operational level, being able to see the bigger picture while also being comfortable with detail and data, and ‘getting things done’
• Demonstrable sales and business development experience, having held a lead role in growing commercial revenue
• Strong commercial acumen, with excellent numeracy, analytical and negotiating skills
• A passion for social impact - a storyteller, able to sell an inspiring vision
• Excellent ambassadorial, communication and relationship-building skills
• A very clear customer focus
• E-commerce experience
• Ideal: (It would be great if you have this, but we are open to candidates who may not)
• E-commerce experience in a charity or e-retailer
• Strong day-to-day marketing experience in particular planning, executing and measuring the success of campaigns

Working at In Kind Direct

Our team receives excellent training and development, and team benefits include an interest-free travel loan, volunteering days, 28 days holiday each year (including 3 days between Christmas and New Year, excluding public holidays) and a generous pension scheme entitlement.We are an equal opportunity employer and support our team to succeed in their roles through training, adaptations, flexibility in working, access to our Employee Assistance Platform, and a range of policies to support people in their personal, family and care responsibilities.

We are an accredited Great Place to Work – and have additionally been recognised as a Great Place to Work amongst small Charities and a Great Place to work for Women.

We seek to challenge discrimination and are committed to our values of kindness, togetherness, integrity, and innovation. We are on an organisational journey to achieving our EDI vision and welcome any questions about our progress and aspirations. We especially welcome applications from anyone with lived experience of being on a low income or working with smaller charitable organisations. We will meet all reasonable expenses and will support anyone invited to interview to be able to participate.

How to apply

The deadline for applying for this role is Friday, June 6th. For details of how your data as an applicant will be used and stored, please read our Privacy Policy. We ask all applicants to complete an Equal Opportunities Monitoring form, either through our website or our online application process.

To apply, please submit your CV and a brief supporting statement (max. 500 words) through our online application portal. Applications submitted without a supporting statement may not be considered.

Provisional interview dates:

Initial screening calls (15 mins) - W/C 9th June
First interviews likely to be W/C 16th June,
Second interviews likely to be W/C 23rd June.

REF-221662