Head of Global Trading

Job Description

Company Description

We're ASOS, the online retailer for fashion lovers all around the world.

We exist to give our customers the confidence to be whoever they want to be, and that goes for our people too. At ASOS, you're free to be your true self without judgement, and channel your creativity into a platform used by millions.

Everyone needs some help showing up as their best self. We're Disability Confident Committed - let our Talent team know if you need any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

Job Description

The Head of Global Trading (excluding US) is one of the most important commercial leadership roles at ASOS. This role leads a team of c.25 across Market Trading, Digital Trading, and Onsite Content & Marketing, with accountability for driving a step change in trading performance and supporting the acceleration of topline revenue. It is a transformation role, requiring a leader who can combine strong commercial instinct with operational grip, move at pace, and simplify how the organisation works.

You will be responsible for setting the global trading direction, creating a high-performance operating rhythm, and ensuring ASOS shows up in a way that is commercially sharp, locally relevant and relentlessly focused on the customer. You will work across Commercial, Buying, Merchandising, Marketing, Finance, Product, Data and Operations to unlock growth, improve execution and raise standards.

This is not a role for someone who simply reports performance. It is for someone who can diagnose issues quickly, make clear calls, align teams behind the right actions, and build a more scalable trading model for the future. A key part of the remit will be reducing duplication, embedding smarter ways of working, and leaning into automation and AI to free up capacity for higher-value commercial work.

This is an opportunity to lead one of the most critical commercial agendas in the business at a defining moment. You will have the chance to shape the future of Global Trading at ASOS, lead a broad and high-impact team, and play a central role in improving performance, modernising how we work and creating a stronger platform for growth. You will join a business with global reach, distinctive brand relevance and meaningful headroom for improvement, where strong leadership, pace and fresh thinking can make a visible difference.

Leading the global trading agenda

• Define and lead the global trading strategy, translating company goals into a clear commercial plan that improves revenue performance, customer relevance and trading effectiveness.
• Own the trading agenda across markets, digital execution, and onsite content & marketing, ensuring these areas operate as one joined-up function rather than in silos.
• Set clear priorities and make high-quality trade-off decisions at pace, balancing customer, topline, margin, and brand considerations.
• Act as a senior commercial voice within the organisation, bringing clarity, challenge and momentum to business-critical decisions.

Driving topline acceleration

• Lead the trading response to improve revenue trajectory, identifying the biggest value pools and mobilising teams quickly behind the actions that matter most.
• Build and execute a clear plan to improve trade performance through stronger commercial planning, sharper in-season management, better onsite execution and tighter performance governance.
• Create a culture of accountability around performance, ensuring opportunities are acted on decisively and underperformance is addressed quickly.
• Use customer, market and competitor insight to shape actions that improve both short-term trading output and longer-term customer value.

Building commercial rigour at scale

• Establish a best-in-class trading rhythm across weekly, monthly and seasonal cadences, with clear KPIs, strong decision forums and faster follow-through.
• Improve the quality and consistency of trading decisions through stronger performance visibility, sharper prioritisation and disciplined execution.
• Ensure plans are grounded in commercial logic, supported by data and linked clearly to financial outcomes.
• Raise the bar on forecasting, target setting, trade reviews and action tracking so the function operates with greater control and fewer surprises.

Leading cross-functionally

• Partner closely with Buying, Merchandising, Marketing, Finance, Product, Data and Operations to ensure trading priorities are reflected across the end-to-end customer journey.
• Influence senior stakeholders effectively, using insight, judgement and conviction to align teams and move decisions forward.
• Challenge constructively where needed, bringing backbone and commercial perspective to conversations on priorities, investment, ways of working and execution quality.
• Define Geo-Strategies and ensure local market insight is brought into global decision making in a way that is practical, timely and commercially useful.

Transforming how Trading works

• Simplify processes, remove low-value activity and redesign ways of working to improve speed, focus and scalability.
• Identify where automation, tooling and AI can reduce repetitive manual work, improve decision quality and create capacity for more strategic, customer-facing activity.
• Build a culture of curiosity and continuous improvement, encouraging the team to test, learn and evolve how trading is done.
• Partner with Product, Data and Technology teams to embed scalable solutions rather than short-term workarounds.

Leading and developing a high-performing team

• Lead, coach and develop a large, multi-layered team through a period of change, creating clarity, pace and high standards.
• Build an organisation with strong talent density, clear accountability and roles designed for future-fit trading.
• Foster a culture that is customer-first, commercially curious, resilient and action-oriented.
• Support the team through transformation with clear communication, visible leadership and a strong focus on growth and development.

We believe being together in person helps us move faster, connect more deeply, and achieve more as a team. That’s why our approach to working together includes spending at least 3 days a week in the office. It’s a rhythm that speeds up decision-making, helps ASOSers learn from each other more quickly, and builds the kind of culture where people can grow, create, and succeed.

Qualifications

• Significant senior ecommerce or digital retail leadership experience, ideally within a scaled, fast-paced consumer business.
• A strong track record of leading trading, commercial or digital performance teams with accountability for meaningful revenue outcomes.
• Experience leading through transformation, including simplifying structures, redesigning processes and raising execution standards.
• Deep commercial instinct combined with strong analytical judgement; able to move comfortably between strategic direction and operational detail.
• Proven ability to operate with commercial rigour at scale, bringing pace, control and clarity to complex trading environments.
• Strong backbone and judgement; willing to make difficult calls, challenge constructively and hold a high bar on execution.
• Exceptional cross-functional influencing skills, with experience aligning multiple senior stakeholders behind shared outcomes.
• A customer-first mindset, with the ability to translate customer insight into practical commercial action.
• A strong interest in innovation, automation and AI, with a clear point of view on how technology can reduce duplication and improve performance.
• Experience building, leading and developing high-performing teams through periods of change.
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to distil complex performance stories into clear recommendations for senior and executive audiences.

Additional Information

BeneFITS'

• Employee discount (hello ASOS discount!)
• Employee sample sales
• 25 days paid annual leave + an extra celebration day for a special moment
• Performance related bonus
• Private medical care scheme
• Opportunity for personalised learning and in-the-moment experiences that enable you to thrive and excel in your role.