VP, Global Commerce

Propelis; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Propelis, through its Marks Commerce practice, seeks a VP, Global Commerce to lead the practice that turns strategy and content into measurable commerce assets at scale. This role requires vision and hands‑on execution across production, measurement, and AI‑enabled content.

Hybrid work from Chicago, New York, or Toronto, with global scope and growth mindset. The leader will own the commerce POV, build and scale a cross‑functional team, and partner with clients to drive sell‑through across major

Qualifications

• 10+ years in digital commerce / eCommerce with operating depth.
• 6+ years leading teams; experience building or scaling a commerce capability inside an agency, retailer, or brand.
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree a plus. Modern commerce-agency or commerce-platform background strongly preferred over a generalist brand-digital profile.

Responsibilities

• Build the bench: recruit, mentor, and scale the team; define operating model and the specialist craft beneath the leader.
• Grow the offering: convert capability into new business and expanded scope with existing clients; evolve to global.
• Own the commerce POV: digital shelf, retail media adjacency, content supply chain, and path from strategy to assets to sell-through.
• Engage as a peer: sit across from client Commerce/eCommerce leaders as a subject-matter peer; convert ambiguity into fundable pilots.
• Lead production end-to-end: PDP and A+ content, retailer feed syndication, metadata discipline, and channel adaptation at portfolio scale.
• Hold the operating numbers: quality, throughput, and margin on the practice.
• Own the proof loop: connect brief → creative → shelf → outcome to show impact.

Skills

Digital commerce leadership

Team management

Client advisory

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Advanced degree preferred

Job description

Reports to: SVP, Chief Innovation Officer

Position title: VP, Global Commerce

Practice: Marks Commerce

Location: (hybrid) Chicago · New York · Toronto

The role

Marks is building the connective tissue between strategy, creative & production and commercial outcomes — the system that ties a brief to the creative it produces, the shelf it lands on, and the business result it drives. The VP, Global Commerce leads the practice that owns the commerce end of that system: turning brand and content into performant, spec-compliant, measurable commerce assets at scale across the world’s largest CPG portfolios as well as a more holistic approach to mid-market & retail brand owners.

We need a builder. This role combines vision & operations. Marks is building a fully connected practice to compete with SME agencies. Today, the Practice runs live commerce content production and is accountable for the measurement spine that proves it worked. We need a leader who has both the vision to build and also the day-to-day drive to run digital shelf at scale. Someone who can sit with a client’s commerce organization as a consultative peer.

What you’ll own

Practice leadership & growth

• Build the bench. Recruit, mentor, and scale the team; define the operating model and the specialist craft beneath the leader.
• Grow the offering. Convert capability into new business and expanded scope with existing clients. Evolve from a North America centric business to global.

Commerce strategy & client advisory

• Own the commerce POV Marks brings to its largest CPG & Retail clients — digital shelf, retail media adjacency, content supply chain, and the path from strategy and creative to assets to sell-through.
• Engage as a peer. Sit across from client Commerce and eCommerce leaders as a subject-matter peer; convert ambiguity into instrumented, fundable pilots rather than decks.

Digital shelf & commerce content operations

• Lead production end-to-end. PDP and A+ content, variant generation, retailer feed syndication, metadata discipline, and channel adaptation at portfolio scale. Marks has a fully global and embedded content solutions team to support the needs of the Commerce practice.
• Hold the operating numbers. Quality, throughput, and margin on the practice

Measurement & performance.

• Own the proof loop. Connect brief → creative → shelf → outcome so the practice can show what its work moved, not just what it shipped.
• Operate the intelligence layer. Stand up and run measurement and attribution (retailer data and clean rooms, performance signals, asset-level intelligence) as the differentiating capability — not a reporting function.

AI-enabled production

• Build-Partner-Buy. Marks partners with Propelis’ in-house technology company, 5Flow to build and deploy AI tools as well as build the integrations with 3 rd party tools.

What you bring

• Marks is a global $300M agency that operates with a One P&L mindset which requires a strong sense of teamwork and matrix management.
• Digital shelf at scale. Demonstrated operating experience running eCommerce / digital shelf content for large CPG or retail brands — Amazon, Walmart, retailer .coms — and the syndication ecosystem
• Commerce measurement fluency. Retail media data, retailer clean rooms, performance analytics, and connecting content to sell-through.
• Content supply-chain craft. Hands-on credibility with DAM, PIM, syndication, and variant / version management.
• Practical AI literacy. Evaluative fluency with AI-enabled content production and its quality and compliance limits.
• Client-grade commerce credibility. A track record advising CPG commerce clients as a subject-matter peer.
• Practice / P&L leadership. Running a delivery team for throughput, quality, and margin.

Experience & qualifications

• 10+ years in digital commerce / eCommerce / digital shelf, with meaningful operating depth — not purely strategy or brand-digital.
• 6+ years leading teams; experience building or scaling a commerce capability inside an agency, retailer, or brand.
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree a plus. Modern commerce-agency or commerce-platform background strongly preferred over a generalist brand-digital profile.

About Marks, part of Propelis.

Marks is a global creative platform working seamlessly at the intersection of brand design, content, commerce, and experience. We craft brands the way people feel them: as a meaningful constellation of memorable experiences. Because from IRL to URL, idea to execution, and everything in between, the future belongs to those that leverage the latest tech and talent to orchestrate connected impact across channels, mediums, and geographies.

About Propelis: Propelis is a portfolio of global marketing services and technology companies with a combined legacy of 150+ years, 2,000+ clients, 9,000 employees, and operations across 30 countries. Propelis provides the scale and support of a global organization while preserving the unique culture and identity of each company in its portfolio.

For more information visit: www.Propelis.com

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Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several U.S. geographic markets, and we pay differently based on those defined markets. The U.S. pay range for this position is $200,000 - $240,000 USD annually. Ultimately, in determining pay, we will consider the successful candidate’s location, experience, and other job-related factors.
Group benefits currently include a selection of health care plans with prescription drug coverage, dental plan, vision plan, basic and supplemental life insurance, a flexible spending account for medical and dependent care expenses or a health savings account based on plan selection, short/long term disability and 401(k) Savings Plan.

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