Find the perfect E-Commerce Directors in Germany from 15,000 CVs with the power of AI
Bring in senior e-commerce leadership for marketplace growth, webshop performance, CRO, and channel strategy. Ideal when you need a Head of E-Commerce, Ecommerce Director, or online sales lead who can align trading, merchandising, UX, and operations. Get fast, precise matching with vetted, available freelancers.
About the role
What they run An E-Commerce Director owns the commercial side of the online shop. The role connects strategy, trading, content, pricing, promotions, and operations so the store grows in a controlled way.
Typical deliverables include:
- e-commerce strategy and channel roadmap
- trading and merchandising plans
- KPI setup for revenue, conversion, AOV, and margin
- coordination with UX, CRM, paid media, and fulfillment
- decision support for platforms, tools, and agencies
Core strengths A strong E-Commerce Director combines commercial judgment with hands-on execution. They read shop data, spot funnel leaks, and turn findings into actions the team can ship.
They usually work well across:
- Shopify, Magento, SAP Commerce, Shopware, or headless setups
- GA4, Looker Studio, and other analytics tools
- A/B testing, CRO, merchandising, and campaign planning
- coordination with product, IT, logistics, and customer service
They should also understand how content, search, promotion, and stock availability affect sales day to day.
When companies bring one in Companies hire an E-Commerce Director on a freelance basis when growth has stalled, a launch is urgent, or the internal team needs senior leadership fast. This is common for replatforming projects, international expansion, peak-season planning, or turnaround work.
In Germany, it is especially useful for retailers, consumer brands, D2C companies, and B2B businesses that need clear ownership but do not want to wait for a permanent hire. A freelance Head of E-Commerce can step in, stabilize priorities, and work with in-house teams or agencies on-site or remotely.
What good looks like The best professionals do more than report numbers. They make decisions, set priorities, and hold teams accountable.
Look for someone who can:
- connect strategy with daily trading actions
- work with marketing, IT, and logistics without friction
- balance growth, margin, and customer experience
- lead platform migrations and process changes
- communicate clearly with stakeholders and suppliers
Typical engagements Freelance e-commerce leadership often covers interim cover, project leadership, or specialist advice. An Ecommerce Director may be asked to lead a webshop relaunch, improve conversion, rebuild the product structure, or prepare the business for new markets.
The best results come when scope is clear from the start. Define who owns commercial decisions, which teams the director leads, and which outcomes matter most.
Search terms and fit Searchers often use different labels for the same work, such as E-Commerce Director, Head of E-Commerce, or Ecommerce Director. The exact title matters less than the ability to run the online business with commercial discipline.
For Germany-based projects, language skills, local market knowledge, and experience with international teams can matter. The right person should fit the company setup, whether that means close collaboration in the office or a fully remote working rhythm.
Meet FRATCH E-Commerce Directors
Gudrun Aydt
Retail & E-Commerce Transformation | Omnichannel Growth | Program & PMO Leadership
Last position:
Project: Consulting & design of programmatic print / donor communication at Kindernothilfe e.V.
Project: Consulting & design of programmatic print / donor communication Activities:
- Analyzing existing print marketing materials and donor communication
- Developing a new thank-you letter and dialogue marketing concept
- Advising on emotional and target-group-appropriate donor messaging
- Designing an omnichannel marketing mix for online and offline
- Aligning print, email, and CRM communication as part of new marketing processes
- Supporting the introduction of new communication workflows around the future email software
- Creating briefing materials and campaign approaches for different target groups
- Researching, selecting, and managing suitable printing and production service providers
- Advising on personalization and automation options in programmatic print
Technical implementation:
- Aligning print and digital processes
- Managing external service providers and printing partners
- Supporting integration of new marketing and communication processes
Reporting:
- Analyzing existing response mechanisms
- Assessing optimization potentials in donor communication
- Making recommendations to improve effectiveness, personalization, and efficiency Markets: Germany [link]
Darius Malekzadeh
Global Head of E-Commerce
Last position:
Global Head of E-Commerce at Believe SA
- Global P&L responsibility for direct-to-fan, e-commerce and merchandise, including onboarding regional markets and steering budget and resource allocation
- Managed an international team of more than 40 FTEs running all e-commerce activities for the company's various brands
- Implemented a global technology overhaul, replacing legacy systems and building and improving a Magento-based technology infrastructure
- Developed content, marketing and CRM strategies while continuously improving design and usability (UI, UX) with a focus on improving conversion rates
- Contributed to 25% year-over-year growth over two years and played an integral role in the 2021 relaunches
Oscar Schröder
Director E-Commerce / Program Manager
Last position:
Director E-Commerce / Program Manager at GLOBUS Markthallen Holding GmbH & Co. KG
- Advising on and structuring the "Digital Business" program (building program and project structure)
- Assessment of salary structures and market conditions
- Supporting the development of the e-commerce strategy
- Sparring partner in building, optimizing, and monitoring distribution strategies (own webshops, marketplaces, and use of third-party platforms)
Barbara Tobiesen
Interim Head of E-Commerce & Marketing (Freelance)
Last position:
Interim Head of E-Commerce & Marketing (Freelance) at Early-stage organic skincare startup
Led marketing and e-commerce for an early-stage start-up in organic skincare
E-commerce: Web shop relaunch (including tech selection, customer journey mapping, SEO content & UX strategy; new hosting); Amazon launch; automated billing and fulfillment process
Brand strategy: Sharpened the value proposition based on customer needs; managed brand relaunch (packaging, marketing, website)
Marketing strategy: Created business and marketing plan; prioritised marketing channels for customer acquisition (SEO, Meta, PR) and retention (+25% email subscribers); set up performance reporting
Pricing: Conducted benchmarking study and margin analysis leading to change from cost to value-based pricing, introduction of a portfolio price strategy and bundling
Tim Knebel
Online & Performance Marketing
Last position:
Online & Performance Marketing at Argentum Pflege Holding GmbH
- Social media and account management for 40 senior residences
- Cross-functional leadership
- B2B2C content creation
- Editorial and campaign planning
- Employer marketing
- SEO optimizations
Angelina Böhmer
Senior Account-/Project-Management & Art Direction
Last position:
Senior Account Management at huth & wenzel
- Clients: Caravaning Association, Suzuki Motorcycles Germany, Suzuki Press
- Main client responsibility, strategic and operational customer leadership
- UX/UI design, digital campaign implementation, web development and e-commerce (Amazon Brandstores, Otto, etc.)
- Budget management, print and digital media, HTML5 and CSS3 integration, art direction
Alexis Peters
Freelance Team Lead Backend Applications E-Commerce
Last position:
Freelance Team Lead Backend Applications E-Commerce at The Quality Group GmbH
- Building and maintaining an event-driven microservice architecture around Shopify
- Documenting with Confluence and IcePanel (C4)
- Using PHP 8.2, Symfony, Shopify, Bref, AWS, SQS, EventBridge, Cloud, DevOps, Datadog, Docker, Kubernetes, Jira, GitHub, Scrum, Kanban, PHPUnit, Prophecy and Swagger
Heiko Seifert
Head of Ecommerce
Last position:
Head of Ecommerce at Juwelo Deutschland GmbH
Heading up an Ecommerce team of 18 people responsible for six online stores as well as SEO content projects with turnover and budget responsibility of approximately €3.5 M per year, daily business, optimizations and growth.
+78% margin in year 1, +42% margin in year 2
Sales losses far below the industry average after Corona
Active customers more than doubled and new customers more than doubled
Back on growth track in all data in 2023
Marharyta Vitiuk
E-commerce Operations Specialist / Team Lead
Last position:
E-commerce Operations Specialist / Team Lead at KMA.biz
- Built and led a team of 10, creating training materials and structured workflows that improved efficiency and accountability.
- Streamlined processes and introduced weekly reporting, shortening workflows and reducing issue resolution times.
- Coordinated cross-functional projects, including the development of Telegram bots that automated customer interactions and key tasks.
- Launched 100+ new SKUs in Nutra and Cosmetics, contributing to monthly revenue growth to over €1.5M.
Corbinian Schedlbauer
Interim Head of E-Commerce | Expert in E-Commerce Growth Strategies | Digital Marketing
Last position:
Interim Head of E-Commerce | Expert in E-Commerce Growth Strategies | Digital Marketing at Freelancer
- Juwelier Goldkleid: Built and launched a dropshipping store with automated product and inventory updates for approximately 14 000 SKUs.
- Pranosh Food GmbH: Strategic consulting and relaunch of online shop [link]
- Malu Nutrition GmbH: Strategic consulting and further development of online shop [link] to drive growth.
- FUNQ’ Liquids S.L.: Interim Head of E-Commerce; achieved 100 % MoM revenue growth for four consecutive months during a five-month project.
- Plan.Net & Porsche AG: Business consultant for data-driven marketing services; built a data-driven always-on ecosystem in display advertising; awarded the GWA MarTech Award 2023.
- Ecomex GmbH: Teacher/instructor for webshops and e-commerce.
- Honest Catch GmbH: Strategic consulting, webshop relaunch, ERP-system implementation, process optimization, category and price analysis, performance marketing agency controlling, and rebranding support; nominated for the K5 Shop Award in Food & Delivery, Start Up, and Sustainability.
- Snaccidents GmbH: Strategic consulting, webshop relaunch and ongoing development; achieved 600 % YoY revenue growth; nominated for the K5 Shop Award in Food & Delivery.
- Planet Plant-Based GmbH: Strategic consulting, webshop relaunch and ongoing development; achieved 59 % YoY revenue growth.
- Blackeight GmbH: Strategic consulting for newsletter marketing and KPI tracking.
- Pumpkin Organics GmbH: Development and implementation of e-commerce strategy, building and development of digital sales and marketing channels; achieved 47 % YoY revenue growth.
- Pangu GmbH: Strategic consulting for performance marketing, newsletter marketing and KPI tracking.
Discover over 15,000 top freelancers
E-Commerce Directors statistics
Aggregated from the professional profiles of matched freelancers.
Experience
20 years
Position duration
2.5 years
Positions per freelancer
12
Top business areas
Marketing, Product Development, Information Technology
Top industries
Retail, Food and Beverage, Professional Services
Certification focus areas
Information Technology, Legal, Marketing
Bachelor's degree or higher
80%
Master's degree or higher
30%
Doctorate
10%
Certifications per freelancer
2
Most common languages
German, English, Spanish
Speak two or more languages
100%
Daily Rate Distribution
The chart shows how the daily rates of freelancers in this role are distributed, based on recent contracts on our platform. Each bar covers a rate range — its height shows how many freelancers charge within that range. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
Average rates for E-Commerce Directors & Seniority distribution
Rates are based on recent contracts and do not include FRATCH margin.
The average daily rate is the mean of all daily rates from recent contracts of comparable freelancers on our platform.
The median daily rate is the middle value of all daily rates — half of comparable freelancers charge less, half charge more. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by outliers.
Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions in mind? Get key insights about FRATCH
A E-Commerce Director sets the commercial direction for the online business and turns it into execution. That usually includes trading, merchandising, conversion, promotion planning, and alignment with IT, marketing, and operations. In a freelance setup, the focus is often on a defined business problem rather than broad internal administration.
A freelancer makes sense when you need senior e-commerce leadership quickly, for a launch, migration, turnaround, or interim cover. It is also a strong option when the team needs outside perspective before a permanent search is complete. This keeps the business moving without waiting for a long hiring process.
A strong E-Commerce Director combines commercial thinking with hands-on knowledge of online shop operations. They should understand analytics, CRO, merchandising, platform management, and cross-functional coordination. Just as important is the ability to make clear decisions and keep priorities focused.
The titles often overlap, but the scope is usually different. A Head of E-Commerce or Ecommerce Director typically owns broader strategy and commercial leadership, while a manager may focus more on day-to-day execution. Always check whether the person has led roadmap decisions, stakeholder management, and cross-team delivery.
Most E-Commerce Directors need to work comfortably with shop platforms, analytics, and reporting tools. Common examples are Shopify, Magento, SAP Commerce, Shopware, GA4, and dashboard tools used for trading reviews. Tool experience matters, but it should support decision-making rather than replace it.
Both models work, depending on the scope and the team setup. For strategy, trading reviews, and dashboard work, remote collaboration is often enough. If the role touches a relaunch, change management, or close coordination with German-speaking stakeholders, some on-site time can help.
Ask for a clear scope, a prioritised roadmap, and the key commercial KPIs they will own. A good E-Commerce Director should also define cadence for trading reviews, stakeholder updates, and issue resolution. This makes the engagement easier to manage and easier to evaluate.
Look for evidence of outcomes in similar online businesses, not just long title history. A strong E-Commerce Director can explain what changed, why it changed, and how they worked with teams to deliver it. Clear thinking, structured communication, and practical experience with shop operations are better signs than polished claims.
The average hourly rate for E-Commerce Directors in Germany is 104 €, which corresponds to a daily rate of about 830 € based on an 8-hour working day.
Of the freelancers working as E-Commerce Directors in Germany, 80% hold at least a Bachelor's degree, 30% hold at least a Master's degree, and 10% hold a doctorate.
On average, freelancers working as E-Commerce Directors in Germany have 20 years of professional experience, with a single engagement typically lasting around 2.5 years.
The most common languages among freelancers working as E-Commerce Directors in Germany are German (100%), English (100%), and Spanish (30%).
The most common industries among freelancers working as E-Commerce Directors in Germany are Retail (100%), Food and Beverage (60%), and Professional Services (60%).
The most common business areas among freelancers working as E-Commerce Directors in Germany are Marketing (90%), Product Development (90%), and Information Technology (80%).
FRATCH E-Commerce Directors main locations
Our freelancers and interim experts are at home across the DACH region — available on-site in the major business hubs or fully remote. Choose a location to discover matched specialists, local market insights and up-to-date availability.
Berlin Hamburg Munich Cologne Frankfurt Stuttgart Dusseldorf Leipzig Dortmund Essen Bremen Dresden Hanover Nuremberg Request a Free Demo
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Philipp Thomaschewski
FRATCH CEO
