Chief Commercial Officer

Chief Commercial Officer. New York City. Hybrid / Occasional Travel to UK. $$ Competitive.

AKT (pronounced “act”) is The Personal Performance Company that may change your life. Founded by West End stars Ed Currie and Andy Coxon, AKT is by and for those who are “Born to Perform” — on the stage, at work, or in life.

In 2020, The Deodorant Balm made its stunning debut to rave reviews and awards from Vogue, GQ, Esquire, and Harper’s BAZAAR. Plastic-free, aluminium-free, and gender-free, The Deodorant Balm instantly resonated with those looking for a natural deodorant that genuinely worked. Five fragrances and over 200,000 happy armpits later, The Deodorant Balm is already becoming a household name.

To this day, every new AKT product is put through its paces by London’s hard-working theatre community to ensure it lives up to the high standards of its founders. As a rule, AKT’s products don’t break character — ever. It’s this effectiveness that has propelled AKT from the backstage to bathroom cabinets, bedside tables, duffel bags, and carry-on luggage worldwide. And the good news is — the performance is just getting started.

About The Role:

As Chief Commercial Officer based in New York and reporting directly into the CEO (based in the UK), you will lead the negotiations with external partners and will be representing AKT externally on a regular basis. Initially, you will have a team of 2 General Managers, these will report directly to you, one based in Europe the other in Australia.  The combination of your peers being located in the UK and your team in other regions means that you will need to be comfortable building strong and effective relationships remotely and managing the variations in timezone accordingly.

As you’d expect you will need to work collaboratively across the business and build a close relationship with the CMO and our Head of Data and Insights. Travel to the UK will be expected in this role, not regularly but from time to time.

Role Responsibilities:

• Strategic Planning: Engage with the executive team to develop long-term strategic plans for the commercial growth of AKT, aligning commercial activities with the broader organisational goals
• Revenue Growth & Profitability: Deliver the agreed plan in order to drive revenue growth and profitability. Wholly accountable for the revenue growth for the wholesale channels focusing on profitability and scalable strategies
• Sales Leadership: Develop and lead the sales strategy, setting clear sales targets, KPI’s and performance standards across the regions
• Stakeholder Relationships: Cultivate and manage relationships with external partners, eg Amazon and other 3rd party market places
• Data Driven Decision Making: Active involvement with data driven analysis to identify market trends, customer preferences and competitive positioning in order to present a range of costed recommendations
• Cross Functional Collaboration: Work proactively with key stakeholders to meet the evolving needs of the business

• Experience in developing long-term strategic plans, aligning business goals and delivering commercial growth
• Substantial experience in senior roles related to commercial strategy, business development and/or sales leadership
• Experience in managing complex stakeholder relationships, including negotiating with third-party platforms like Amazon, and managing external partnerships
• Experience in leading General Managers and managing regional execution (Europe & Australia)defining sales processes, KPIs, and performance standards
• Extensive experience working with data & data analytics to drive informed decisions on market trends, customer insights, competitive positioning, and sales strategies
• Knowledge of analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics, CRM systems, etc.) to support decision-making around sales & pricing
• Experience in performance marketing and online/e-commerce optimisation, revenue management and pricing strategies responding to market dynamics
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to present complex data and strategic recommendations to senior leadership and stakeholders in an engaging way
• Experience of Project Management demonstrating the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously.

• This is a great opportunity to make a real impact and join the business in its next stage of growth having just launched in the US. 
• Agile Working Policy
• Employee discounts on our products
• Access to perks, deals and discounts via our HR platform
• Funny, kind and inclusive work environment. We are banter, but we get sh*t done. 
• 28 days holiday plus bank holidays (25 + 3 days over Christmas).

If you're a driven and hungry professional with a passion for beauty and sustainability, and you're ready to make a significant impact in a fast-growing start-up, we'd love to hear from you.  Join us in redefining personal care while looking after our planet!