Vice President of eCommerce & Technology

CandleScience is seeking a visionary and strategic Vice President of eCommerce & Technology to lead and execute a comprehensive, data-driven eCommerce strategy. This role will be integral to driving growth and innovation across all digital touchpoints, ensuring seamless customer experiences, and optimizing performance. Reporting directly to the CEO, this position will have broad oversight over eCommerce development, cloud infrastructure, and cybersecurity, managing key relationships with global consultants and cross-functional teams. The ideal candidate will possess a strong understanding of both eCommerce platforms and technologies, offering high-level leadership to ensure operational excellence and scalability in our digital ecosystem.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership & Innovation:

• Define and execute a comprehensive eCommerce strategy aligned with CandleScience's long-term business objectives.
• Lead efforts to identify and capitalize on emerging trends, technologies, and market opportunities to drive innovation and enhance the online shopping experience.
• Analyze market dynamics, customer behavior, and sales data to inform strategic direction, ensuring continual growth and competitive advantage.
• Champion a culture of data-driven decision-making to optimize eCommerce performance and customer satisfaction.

Technical Leadership & Oversight:

• Oversee the development, maintenance, and continuous improvement of the company’s eCommerce platform, ensuring robust integrations with other internal systems.
• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of developers, IT specialists, and cybersecurity professionals, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and high performance.
• Provide technical guidance on architecture, integrations, cybersecurity protocols, and data security measures.
• Stay ahead of emerging eCommerce technologies and tech best practices, ensuring the company remains at the forefront of digital commerce.

Project Management & Execution:

• Lead the execution of complex, cross-functional projects to enhance eCommerce capabilities, meeting key milestones and business goals within budget and timeline.
• Prioritize initiatives based on strategic business needs, ensuring resources are effectively allocated and projects are executed with quality and efficiency.
• Monitor and address project progress, identifying and mitigating risks or roadblocks that could impede timely delivery.
• Ensure projects and initiatives adhere to agreed timelines, budgets, and KPIs.

Customer Experience & Conversion Optimization:

• Spearhead initiatives to enhance the customer experience through data-driven insights, user behavior analysis, and continuous improvement of site navigation, design, and usability.
• Work closely with UX/UI teams to design and optimize the digital shopping journey, focusing on reducing friction and maximizing conversion rates.
• Optimize checkout processes and payment gateways, ensuring a seamless, secure, and efficient transaction flow.
• Leverage A/B testing and other performance optimization strategies to drive measurable improvements in conversion rates and user engagement.

Sales & Performance Monitoring:

• Define and track critical eCommerce metrics (conversion rates, average order value, customer acquisition cost, etc.) to gauge performance and guide decision-making.
• Analyze sales data to identify key trends, growth opportunities, and potential areas of optimization.
• Provide leadership and strategic direction to achieve aggressive sales and growth targets, ensuring profitability through effective digital commerce operations.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement:

• Collaborate with the marketing team to develop and execute impactful online campaigns that drive traffic, engagement, and sales.
• Coordinate with logistics and fulfillment teams to ensure that order fulfillment processes meet customer expectations and operational standards.
• Foster a culture of communication and collaboration across departments, ensuring alignment on key initiatives, goals, and priorities.

Consultant & Vendor Management:

• Manage and nurture relationships with global consultants, agencies, and third-party vendors, ensuring successful partnerships that deliver on the company’s strategic objectives.
• Lead negotiations and drive performance expectations to maximize value and ROI from external engagements.
• Oversee the contract lifecycle and performance reviews for all third-party engagements related to eCommerce and cybersecurity initiatives.

Required Skills and Experience:

• 8-10 years of proven experience as a senior leader in eCommerce or digital strategy, with a strong trace record of successfully leading platform development and optimization initiatives.  
• Strong understanding of eCommerce platforms, integrations, and associated technologies.
• Solid understanding of IT and cybersecurity principles, with the ability to provide leadership and strategic guidance to IT teams.
• Expertise in project management methodologies, ensuring efficient and effective delivery of complex digital projects.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze data, interpret performance metrics, and make strategic decisions to drive business growth.
• Exceptional leadership and people management skills, with experience building and leading high-performing teams.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage and influence stakeholders at all levels.
• Proven success in managing relationships with global consultants, agencies, and vendors.
• Ability to think strategically while being hands-on and operationally focused when needed.

Preferred Qualifications:

• A background in both eCommerce and technology leadership, with experience managing large-scale projects and digital transformation initiatives.
• Experience working with global teams and consultants in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment.
• Solid technical acumen, including familiarity with cloud computing, APIs, and modern development practices (e.g., Agile, DevOps).
• Solid understanding or experience with Solidus eCommerce and Alchemy CMS (preferred not a must)
• Local to Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill (preferred not a must)

Why CandleScience:
At CandleScience, we are passionate about creating high-quality products that enrich lives, and we are equally committed to developing a digital experience that reflects the excellence we stand for. As a leader in the company, you will have the opportunity to shape the future of eCommerce, lead innovative initiatives, and drive meaningful growth for the company and its customers.

If you’re a forward-thinking leader with the vision, expertise, and drive to elevate our digital commerce strategy to the next level, we’d love to hear from you!

To Apply: Please submit your resume along with a short Cover Letter telling us why you would be a good fit for this position. 

Benefits:

Big company benefits with small company culture! We provide comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with low deductibles. All employees receive employer match for retirement contributions of up to 3% of annual earnings. We have liberal vacation policies and offer additional benefits including technology stipends, gym memberships, and company-paid life insurance.

• Employee assistance program
• Paid time off
• Referral program
• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Medical insurance
• Vision insurance
• Life insurance
• Tuition reimbursement

About Us:

CandleScience develops and sells candle and soap making supplies. Our customers vary in size from candle and soap entrepreneurs to seasonal hobbyists. We began in 2003 as a two-person startup, and have become the market leader in the industry.

We work hard to develop natural and safe products that push the boundaries of candle and soap making. Our success is a result of our focus on web development, product development, and operations.

For More About Us:

www.candlescience.com/about

Igniting Growth with CandleScience | https://partners.wsj.com/ups/igniting-growth-candl...

First Candles, Now Soap. Durham’s CandleScience Expands in DIY Market | https://wraltechwire.com/2016/06/02/durham-candles...

CandleScience and the Science of Candle Making | https://www.avery.com/blog/customer-spotlight-candlescience/

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/candlescience

TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@candlescience

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/candlescience