Building the Digital Transformation Leadership Team at a €1.3B Revenue European Consumer Retail Group

The challenge

The company, a member of one of Europe's largest retail and e-commerce groups with ~€15B in consolidated revenue, was navigating a critical inflexion point. As e-commerce competition intensified and consumer behaviour shifted, the business needed to modernise how it operated, how it used data, and how it reached its customers digitally.

Three transformation pillars required leadership simultaneously:

• Modernise the infrastructure: rebuild the technology foundation to support a digitally-led retail business at scale
• Activate data and AI: turn data from a passive asset into a competitive advantage, powering commercial decisions
• Scale digital marketing: build a product-led digital marketing function capable of driving growth across channels and customer segments

Three Division Manager roles. Three months. One search partner.

They turned to The Big Search.

Overview of the three executive searches

Between November 2024 and June 2025, The Big Search was engaged to build three of the most critical leadership roles in a retail company's digital transformation agenda – all opened within nine weeks of each other and all closed with a perfect NPS of 10.

This wasn't three separate searches: it was a single, coordinated leadership investment designed to modernise three foundational pillars of the business simultaneously. The Big Search delivered all three.

Phase 1 - Rebuilding the Technology Backbone: Division Manager, Infrastructure & Operations

• November 2024 → April 2025
• Digital Transformation: Technology Foundation Phase

The company is a consumer retail group and a wholly owned member of one of the world's largest retail and e-commerce organisations. Specialising in fashion and lifestyle for a 50+ audience across multiple brands, the business operates as both a direct-to-consumer retailer and a digital commerce platform – serving millions of customers across Europe through catalogue, online, and multi-channel touchpoints.

By late 2024, the group was executing a broad digital transformation programme – part of the wider strategic push into AI, technology modernisation, and e-commerce optimisation. The first and most urgent leadership gap: an Infrastructure & Operations Division Manager to own and rebuild the group's core technology backbone.

The mandate was to hire a seasoned infrastructure and operations leader with experience managing large-scale global IT environments – someone capable of modernising legacy infrastructure, driving cloud and data centre transformation, and operating as a credible partner to senior business and technology leadership.

Executive Search Across German Corporate Technology & Industrial Infrastructure

The hunting strategy targeted Head of Infrastructure, IT Director, and Division Manager-level profiles from large German-headquartered corporate and industrial technology environments – specifically those with the following:

• Global IT Infrastructure & Operations leadership experience
• Data centre, cloud, and hybrid infrastructure transformation track records
• Deputy CIO / IT Director-level seniority in complex, multi-site organisations
• Strong DACH market presence and experience managing German-language technology teams
• Exposure to retail, consumer goods, or industrial-scale digital transformation programmes

Target company archetypes included German industrial groups, retail technology organisations, global manufacturing businesses, and DACH-headquartered IT services companies.

First shortlist

30 days from kick-off

The tight funnel on this search reflects the genuine scarcity of the profile – a global-scale IT infrastructure leader with deep DACH roots, deputy CIO-level experience, and the credibility to drive a transformation programme inside a major German retail group. The search required going beyond obvious candidates and identifying profiles from adjacent industrial environments who brought transferable scale and operational rigour.

Client NPS

10/10

The Placed Candidate: A DACH-Native Technology Leader Who Has Already Done This, Twice

The placed Division Manager for Infrastructure and Operations is a seasoned IT infrastructure leader with 25+ years of experience managing global IT infrastructure and operations environments across industrial, retail, and technology sectors.

• Semiconductor and technology scale — led global Infrastructure & Operations teams at a major international semiconductor and technology group, including data centre and cloud infrastructure across international sites
• Retail technology depth — prior Head of I&O at one of Europe's largest consumer electronics retail technology organisations, where he was directly responsible for store infrastructure at scale
• Most recent industrial mandate — most recently Global Head of IT Infrastructure & Operations at a major German industrial grou Cultural fit: entire career built in Germany, with deep fluency in German corporate and operational culture
• Executive credibility — held senior IT Director-level infrastructure leadership at global scale, giving him the standing to operate as a genuine executive partner to the business

Phase 2 - Modernising the Customer Engine: Division Manager Digital Marketing & Product

• December 2024 → June 2025
• Digital Transformation: Commercial & Customer Growth Phase

With the infrastructure search underway, the retail company returned to The Big Search within weeks to address the second transformation pillar: digital marketing and product. The mandate reflected the group's ambition to shift from a catalogue-first retailer to a digitally-led consumer brand – building product-led marketing capabilities, CRM sophistication, and customer loyalty mechanics at scale across its core customer segment.

The search was to hire a digitally native marketing and product leader with deep CRM, loyalty, and customer retention expertise – someone who had built sophisticated digital marketing functions inside large-scale consumer businesses and could translate that experience into a product-led approach for the retail business's 50+ audience. Hands-on knowledge of omnichannel customer strategy and the ability to manage cross-functional teams across marketing and product were essential.

Executive Search Across German Consumer Digital Marketing, CRM & Loyalty

The hunting strategy targeted Head of Digital Marketing, Head of CRM, and Marketing Director-level profiles from DACH consumer, retail, and loyalty-driven businesses – specifically those with the following:

• CRM strategy, customer retention, and loyalty programme expertise
• Product management experience within digital or e-commerce environments
• Omnichannel marketing leadership in consumer-facing businesses
• Experience operating inside large German corporate or retail groups
• Track record of managing cross-functional marketing and product teams

Target company archetypes included German consumer retail groups, loyalty and rewards platforms, DACH e-commerce businesses, and direct-to-consumer digital brands.

First shortlist

27 days from kick-off

The breadth of the search – 232 profiles – reflected the scope of the target landscape for this profile: a digitally native marketing and product leader with deep CRM and loyalty expertise, comfortable operating inside a large German corporate environment, and capable of driving genuine transformation rather than maintaining the status quo. With a mandate this central to the digital transformation agenda, getting it right mattered more than getting it done fast.

The hiring manager's response at close said it all:

"I want to take the opportunity to sincerely thank you for the great work. Really impressive what options you brought in for us. The collaboration was perfect and a lot of fun."

Client NPS

10/10

The Placed Candidate: A Digital-Native Marketer With Proven Loyalty & CRM Experience

The placed Division Manager for Digital Marketing & Product built her career inside two of Germany's most recognised consumer loyalty and retail organisations, developing expertise in CRM strategy, analytics, and multi-channel customer retention at massive scale.

• Fintech product credibility — held the Head of Product role at a European fintech scale-up, demonstrating product management credibility outside of traditional retail
• Retail loyalty at scale — led loyalty, retention, and omnichannel strategy at one of Europe's largest consumer electronics retail groups
• Founder mindset — founded and led her own consumer tech startup, bringing a founder's commercial instinct and product-first mindset
• CRM and analytics depth — built and scaled CRM strategy and analytics functions across multiple senior roles before moving into loyalty and retention leadership
• Cross-functional range — proven ability to operate across product, marketing, and CRM functions inside large, complex retail organisations

Phase 3 - Activating Data as a Competitive Advantage: Division Manager Data, Analytics & AI

• January 2025 → April 2025
• Digital Transformation: Data Intelligence & AI Activation Phase

The third and final pillar of the retail company's transformation agenda – and the fastest to close. With infrastructure and digital marketing leadership being secured in parallel, the group needed a Data, Analytics & AI Division Manager to lead the most strategically forward-looking function in the business: transforming how the retail business generates, governs, and activates data as a commercial asset.

The mandate was to hire a senior data and analytics leader who combined strategic data governance expertise with hands-on AI and analytics activation experience – someone who had built and run data organisations inside large, complex consumer or industrial businesses and could establish the consumer retail company's data function as a source of competitive advantage.

Executive Search Across German Consumer, Industrial & Global Data Leadership

The hunting strategy targeted VP Data, Head of Data & Analytics, and Senior Director Data-level profiles from large DACH and global corporate environments – specifically those with the following:

• Data management, data governance, and analytics platform leadership
• AI and advanced analytics activation in commercial business contexts
• Track record of building data organisations inside large, structured enterprises
• Experience in consumer retail, industrial, or global data-intensive businesses
• Strategic seniority with the ability to operate as a business partner to senior leadership

Target company archetypes included global consumer brands, German industrial groups, optical and medical technology companies, and data-driven retail and e-commerce businesses.

We undertook an exhaustive mapping exercise across DACH, identifying 165 candidates.

First shortlist

13 days from kick-off

This was the fastest of the three mandates – 78 days from opening to close – and arguably the most precise. With a highly specific target profile and a focused search, the right candidate was identified quickly and progressed through a streamlined process. A testament to the value of a well-calibrated brief and disciplined targeting from day one.

Client NPS

10/10

The Placed Candidate: A Global Data & AI Leader Built for the Era of Intelligent Business

The placed Division Manager for Data, Analytics & AI spent nearly a decade as a senior data and analytics leader at one of the world's most recognisable global consumer brands, managing one of the most complex data environments in the European consumer business.

• Global consumer brand depth — spent close to eight years building and scaling data management and governance functions at a top-tier global consumer brand
• Cross-sector range — career spans consumer brands, renewable energy, precision optics and medical technology, and management consulting
• Long data management track record — 15+ years of experience building and scaling data management functions inside structured, complex organisations with an international remit
• International scope — experience spanning Germany, the US, China, Japan, India, and Saudi Arabia across his data management roles
• Structured foundation — grounded in a business and technical education from a German university of applied sciences

Digital transformation programmes don't fail because of technology. They fail because the leadership layer isn't ready to execute.

The consumer retail company got this right: three mandates, three transformation pillars, three hires that moved the business forward simultaneously. Not sequentially. Not slowly. All three closed with a perfect NPS of 10, and all three were in place within seven months.

The lesson isn't that transformation is easy. It's that the right search partner – with the right market knowledge and the right sense of urgency – makes the difference between a digital transformation that lands and one that stalls.

If you're running a similar programme and your leadership team isn't ready for what's coming, let's talk.