Castore
Group Head of Marketplaces
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Head of Marketplaces
Castore Group is seeking an entrepreneurially driven Head of Marketplaces to build and lead our third-party marketplace channel across both Group brands, Castore, Belstaff & Grenson. This is a newly created role with group-wide accountability, sitting within the Trading function. Responsible for turning marketplaces (Amazon, Zalando, ASOS Marketplace, Decathlon and equivalent platforms in key territories) into a scaled, profitable route to the Group's growth ambitions.
The role requires someone who is a “player manager” - who can operate as a strategic architect of the channel and a hands-on trading operator — equally comfortable presenting a three-year marketplace roadmap to the Executive team and personally interrogating a P&L line or a platform's content compliance report. Given the distinct brand positioning of Castore (performance sportswear) and Belstaff (British heritage lifestyle), the successful candidate will need to tailor channel and platform strategy by brand while maintaining one commercial operating model across the Group.
Roles & Responsibilities
Early Wins – Ready Fire Aim
- Identify lowest-hanging fruit and get the quick wins on the board to activate the marketplaces channel ahead of the key Q4 trading season
Strategy & Channel Development
- Define and own the Group's marketplace strategy — platform prioritisation, market sequencing, and brand-specific positioning for Castore and Belstaff respectively.
- Build the multi-year business case and roadmap for marketplace expansion, including new platform and territory launches, presented to the Chief Trading Officer and Executive Committee.
- Assess and recommend the right operating model per platform/market (direct, hybrid, or via reseller/agency partners) to balance control, margin and speed to market.
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Commercial Performance & Trading
- Own the P&L for the marketplace channel across both brands — revenue, gross margin, marketing spend and net contribution — reporting into the Group's trading cadence.
- Set and deliver quarterly and annual sales targets by platform and market, with full accountability for forecasting accuracy and in-season trading decisions.
- Lead day-to-day trading: pricing strategy, promotional planning, inventory allocation and stock health across all live marketplace accounts.
- Negotiate commercial terms with platform partners, including fee structures, co-op marketing investment and preferred-seller/partner status.
Cross-Functional Delivery
- Partner with Merchandising and Buying to ensure the right product, sizing and availability is allocated to marketplace channels without conflicting with wholesale and DTC strategy.
- Work with Brand and Creative teams to ensure content, imagery and tone of voice on every platform meet brand standards for both Castore and Belstaff.
- Collaborate with Supply Chain and Operations to ensure fulfilment, returns and platform SLAs (e.g. Amazon Seller/Vendor performance metrics) are consistently met.
- Work with Finance on reconciliation, chargebacks, and accurate revenue/margin reporting by platform.
- Align with Digital/E-commerce leadership so marketplace activity complements, rather than cannibalises, owned D2C channels.
Platform & Operational Management
- Own the end-to-end relationship with each marketplace partner — from onboarding and account health through to escalation management.
- Ensure full compliance with each platform's content, listing and operational requirements (product data, imagery, A+ content, keyword and SEO optimisation).
- Monitor competitor and category presence on each platform, feeding insight back into pricing, assortment and marketing strategy.
- Put in place the reporting infrastructure and KPI dashboards needed to track channel performance in real time.
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Team & Governance
- Build and lead a marketplace trading team as the channel scales, setting clear objectives and a strong performance culture.
- Represent the marketplace channel at Group trading reviews, providing clear, data-led commentary on performance, risks and opportunities.
Skills & Experience
- Proven track record leading marketplace trading at scale for a fashion, sportswear or lifestyle brand — Amazon and Zalando experience essential; other platforms (ASOS Marketplace, Decathlon, etc.) advantageous.
- Strong commercial and P&L ownership experience, with the ability to move fluently between strategic planning and hands-on in-season trading.
- Experience operating cross-functionally with Merchandising, Brand, Supply Chain and Finance in a matrixed organisation.
- Comfortable managing multiple distinct brand identities within a single operating model.
- Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
- Data-literate, with fluency in marketplace analytics, retail/BI tooling and platform-specific seller dashboards.
What We Offer
- Competitive salary
- Discretionary bonus scheme
- 25 days annual leave (plus bank holidays)
- Modern city centre offices in Manchester and London
- An opportunity to work with global sporting partners
- A chance to build a career with a fast paced, high growth brand
- Employee assistance programme
- Generous staff discount
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