Head of Business Development - eCommerce

Role Overview

This is a senior commercial role for someone who can lead new business through informed, consultative conversation. BAO is not a hard-sales agency. Our approach is thoughtful, considered and built around understanding whether we are the right partner for a client before recommending a way forward.

This is not a generalist sales role. The right person will need meaningful experience in eCommerce, Shopify, digital delivery or brand-side commerce. You should be able to speak confidently about eCommerce platforms, UX/UI, Shopify, data, technology stacks, integrations, product architecture, internationalisation, AI and the operational realities of ambitious online brands.

The role sits within the Commercial Team and reports directly into the Commercial Director. You will work closely with the Commercial Director, Managing Director and wider internal team, including Design, Development, Strategy, Project Management, Account Management and Solutions.

The ambition for this role is that you become a senior owner of BAO’s new business process: leading discovery conversations, diagnosing requirements, shaping technical and commercial recommendations, creating proposals and pitch decks, managing opportunity information, and helping BAO win the right projects and retainers.

We have Solutions Architect capability within the Commercial Team, particularly for very complex technical solutions, custom private apps or unusually detailed integration architecture. However, this role is not a messenger role. We need someone who can consult diagnostically, think clearly in the room, and create detailed written proposals and decks themselves. That ability to understand, challenge, recommend and shape a solution during the sales process is a major part of how BAO demonstrates care, expertise and value upfront.

This role would suit someone who combines commercial confidence with technical curiosity, strong writing, good judgement and excellent interpersonal skills. You will need to be credible with owner-founders, senior eCommerce teams and enterprise-grade stakeholders, while also understanding that every recommendation must respect brand, design, taste level and the commercial realities of delivery.
Core Responsibilities
New business ownership

You will own and manage BAO’s new business opportunities, ensuring that enquiries and proactive conversations are reviewed, qualified and progressed with clarity and consideration. You will be responsible for understanding which opportunities are right for BAO, which require further discovery, which should be prioritised and which should be politely declined.
Diagnostic eCommerce consultancy

You should be able to ask intelligent questions, identify technical and commercial considerations, and guide the conversation in a way that is confident, useful and collaborative. This means being able to discuss areas such as Shopify Plus, replatforming, internationalisation, UX/UI, frontend technology, product and collection architecture, URL structure, data, analytics, back-office integrations, app ecosystems, AI and wider eCommerce operations.

Technical scoping and solution development

This could include shaping replatforming approaches, proposing technology stack features, mapping back-office integration considerations, recommending URL structures, outlining product architecture, framing UX/UI priorities and explaining how BAO would approach a project or retainer.

For very complex requirements, custom private apps or detailed technical architecture, you will work with BAO’s Solutions Architects and wider technical team. However, candidates should be comfortable doing a significant amount of solution thinking themselves. We are looking for someone who can contribute meaningfully to scope, not simply relay requirements from a client to a technical specialist.
Proposal, deck and RFP development

This will involve working closely with internal specialists across Development, Design, Strategy, S