General Manager (CEO Designate)

Greenford, Middlesex
Executive Recruit

General Manager (CEO Designate)

Location: Ealing (Onsite) with UK travel as required

Salary: £85,000 – £115,000 (negotiable) Car allowance, Healthcare, Performance Bonus, and Significant Annual Executive Bonus

The Opportunity

• This is not a caretaker role. It is a launchpad. An established, high-velocity B2B eCommerce and wholesale business is preparing for its next chapter. With the current CEO planning retirement, we are seeking a board-ready leader to join as General Manager with a clear and accelerated path to UK CEO.
• We need someone who has already operated at GM level in a UK eCommerce business, with direct P&L responsibility for a turnover of £150M in a large-scale, multi-site environment.
• You will not shadow. You will take full ownership of UK operations from day one-learning the mechanics of the business, earning the trust of the team, and proving you have the strategic grip and commercial instinct to take the helm.

The Role

• As General Manager (CEO Designate), you will be based at our Ealing head office and oversee a multi-site UK operation. Your mandate is twofold: deliver exceptional commercial and operational performance now, while systematically preparing to assume the CEO role within two years.
• You will balance rigour with vision, optimising costs, driving growth, building culture, and positioning the business for its next stage of scaling.
• Strategic Leadership & Succession Pathway – Work alongside the outgoing CEO to absorb full strategic, operational, and governance responsibilities over a defined 12-24-month transition.
• Act as the senior decision-maker for legal defence, crisis management, and UK regulatory compliance.
• Review and execute key service contracts, protecting the business commercially and legally.
• Lead the annual budget process in collaboration with HQ and the CEO, translating group-level financial goals into measurable monthly business objectives.
• Own full P&L performance, including quarterly bonus assessments and ongoing refinement of incentive structures to retain and motivate top talent.
• Drive sustainable growth by balancing revenue generation with cost discipline.
• Lead high-stakes negotiations across the supply chain cost base: platform fees, courier charges, labour outsourcing, customs clearance, and trucking.
• Oversee warehouse standards and logistics performance across all UK sites.
• Manage third-party marketplace performance, ensuring maximum channel efficiency and brand reach.
• Own quarterly workforce planning, ensuring resource aligns with demand.
• Lead senior hiring and support ongoing leadership development.
• Champion a high-performance, inclusive culture-visible, hands-on, and motivating across warehouse floor to boardroom.
• Provide strategic oversight for office and warehouse infrastructure, plus critical IT developments to support scaling.
• Lead ad-hoc projects from HQ or Group GM, ensuring alignment with broader group strategy.

Experience

• Experience: 10 years’ professional experience, with 5 years at senior management / GM level in a UK-based eCommerce business.
• Scale: Proven track record managing a turnover of £100M in a large-scale, multi-site environment.
• Sector: Consumer products retailing, ideally B2B eCommerce or wholesale.
• Commercial toolkit: Working knowledge of marketing, accounting, and HR principles.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s/MBA strongly preferred.
• Successor mindset: You aren’t looking for a job. You’re looking for a legacy. You intend to be CEO within two years.
• Hands-on and strategic: Comfortable digging into detail when needed, but always with an eye on the horizon.
• Resilient: Thrives under pressure in a fast-paced, multi-site environment.
• Exceptional communicator: Able to influence from warehouse team to board level.

As a specialist boutique executive search firm, Executive Recruit partners with organisations to secure the calibre of leadership that drives meaningful change. Our bespoke methodology ensures clients access exceptional executives who combine strategic vision with proven execution, ultimately strengthening leadership depth and board performance.