SVP eCommerce

Follett Higher Education•Westchester, IL

About The Position

Follett Higher Education is a leading educational service provider and omnichannel retailer, providing students, faculty, staff, parents, and fans with the course materials, learning tools, and retail services needed to successfully support the collegiate journey. Follett Higher Education supports over 6 million students through its 1,100 physical and 1,750 eCommerce campus stores across North America. The Senior Vice President of eCommerce will lead the strategy, performance, and evolution of our digital commerce business, including 1000+ unique campus websites. This role will own the full eCommerce P&L, drive revenue and margin growth across core eCommerce and Follett Media Network, organic user acquisition, SEO/GEO, harness agentic commerce capabilities, and oversee the end-to-end customer experience across our online platforms. While maintaining the current legacy eCommerce platform, this leader will play a significant role in implementing the new Shopify platform, as well as identifying future opportunities within the Shopify ecosystem to grow Follett's eCommerce revenue. The SVP will partner closely with Marketing, Merchandising & Planning, Product, and Technology to deliver a best-in-class shopping experience and accelerate digital growth.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent.
10+ years of leadership experience in eCommerce, digital product, or digital merchandising.
Proven ownership of large‑scale eCommerce P&L and digital growth strategies.
Deep experience in UX, site optimization, SEO, GEO, and eCommerce platform management (Shopify preferred).
Strong operational, analytical, and financial acumen.
Experience leading cross‑functional teams and large transformational initiatives.
Advanced computer skills.
Technically strong, highly operational, experienced in running a website with millions of SKUs and 1000 unique sites, with P&L experience.

Responsibilities

Own all eCommerce business metrics, including revenue, margin, conversion, AOV/basket, and visitor performance.
Lead organic user acquisition through SEO, site experience, and content optimization (paid acquisition remains with Marketing).
Oversee budget planning, including OpEx/CapEx and management of eCommerce-related SaaS tools.
Lead site design, UI/UX, navigation, search, product detail presentation, cart, tender types, and checkout optimization.
Oversee template customization for diverse school experiences, with emphasis on Athletics.
Manage core eCommerce operations, ensuring continuous improvement in shopping and checkout performance.
Drive best practices to acquire customers digitally.
Leverage SEO and GEO best practices.
Harness the power of agentic commerce to increase Follett eCommerce sales.
Lead digital advertising programs, including sponsored products, programmatic ads, email ads, and in-store digital towers.
Partner cross-functionally to optimize monetization opportunities such as BNPL impact, gift cards, and payment processing.
Drive direct sales of retail media capabilities to brands, both endemic and non-endemic, to Follett.
Oversee site configuration, product loading, images, descriptions, taxonomy, and product recommendations.
Lead catalog management and online execution of the merchandising strategy across General Merchandise and Course Materials.
Manage integrations with PIM, CMS, and other eCommerce systems.
Lead Hot Market site execution and other high-velocity merchandising initiatives.
Drive key initiatives, including loyalty program development, catalog expansion, Shop by ID, adoption collection, financial aid processes, and marketplace/DSV growth.
Manage Shopify migration and long‑term platform strategy.
Identify and drive future revenue opportunities within the Shopify ecosystem, including new advertising and payment capabilities.
Manage the current eFollett eCommerce experience and operations until full migration is complete.
Managing P&L associated with the resource pool of internal FTE, external contract resources, and application service providers for the delivery of roadmap items.