Strategic Program Manager

The organisation

Bol.com has made a tremendously strong impact on the Dutch and Belgian e-commerce landscape. The company hardly needs any further introduction, especially in the regions in which it operates. The slogan ‘the store for everyone of us’ has long been well-established: everyone knows bol.com. On the largest online platform in the Netherlands and Belgium, millions of consumers have a choice of over 36 million items. This massive quantity of items comes partly from bol.com itself, but increasingly from the 51,000 business partners operating on the platform. Bol.com is growing rapidly and intends to continue to do so. To achieve this, it must consistently look ahead, both to the near and distant future.

The driving force behind bol.com’s success is innovation. The team is continuously developing new categories, business models, and services. What new consumer propositions and innovative e-commerce-related services can the company introduce, to make itself and its partners even more successful? How can bol.com solidify and increase its market share while continuously decreasing its ecological footprint as an e-commerce powerhouse? These are just a few of the various fundamental questions and topics that the Strategic Program Management team addresses on a daily basis.

In order to continue making a difference in e-commerce, in today’s competitive landscape and in the future, a team is being built, responsible for strategy and program management for e-commerce. The new Strategic Program Manager will play a key part in the development and further professionalization of that team.

The position

The Dutch e-commerce giant Bol.com is growing rapidly and intends to continue to do so. To achieve this, it must consistently look ahead and innovate. The Strategic Program Manager will play a key role in bol.com's ambition to sustain and expand its market leadership with the best-in-class customer proposition in e-commerce, in today’s competitive landscape and in the future.

Tasks & responsibilities

The new Strategic Program Manager will complement the new E-commerce Strategy Team, with their background and experience in strategic consultancy. They will bring extensive project management experience, possess the ability to steer and coach other team members, and be able to solve complex problems around large cross-functional topics, while managing a senior stakeholder field.

The E-commerce Strategy team will focus on defining and implementing the winning E-commerce strategy to sustain market leadership. This will encompass, among other things, the development of new propositions and the prioritization of strategic initiatives. Example strategy projects could be how to continuously differentiate ourselves from increasing competition, how to adapt to changing consumer needs driven by Gen Z, how to enhance sustainable consumption, or how to leverage AI in the context of e-commerce.

The newly formed team is led by Friso Blankenspoor, Head of E-commerce Strategy, who reports directly to Lars Sanders, Director E-commerce Strategy & Platform Development. With this team mostly working on topics directly for senior leadership, lines of communication with C-level are short. The team consists of five individuals, and due to its recent formation, there is a lot of flexibility to shape how this team operates within the broader scope of bol.com. The E-commerce Strategy team collaborates with other teams throughout the entire business, thereby gaining exposure to a wide range of subjects, projects, and processes. This, in turn, creates promising avenues for subsequent roles within bol.com, down the line.

This is a great opportunity for someone with experience in strategy consulting and program management to contribute to the future of a remarkable brand within an exceptionally professional environment, offering considerable room for growth and a good work-life balance. It’s a chance to play a pivotal role in a new team, introduce new propositions, and contribute to the company’s continued expansion.  

Candidate profile*

• Over 6 years of experience
• In program management and/or strategic consultancy
• Affinity with e-commerce and/or consumer products
• Proven track record of setting up and executing complex projects
• Stakeholder Management skills

* Research shows that while male candidates feel confident enough to apply when they meet about 60% of the requirements, female candidates only apply when they tick every box. So if this role has your name on it, but you’re not sure about the criteria, we still want to hear from you.

Interested?

You can apply for this position by using the link below. Bol.com is working with Top of Minds to fill this vacancy.