Leadership
Your Head of Ecommerce has resigned: what to do in the first 30 days
By DEQIO · October 2026 · 5 min read
In short
The notice period is the most valuable time you’ll have with your departing Head of Ecommerce, and most businesses waste it. In the first 30 days, secure access and knowledge, put someone in charge of weekly trading, and decide what role you actually need before you recruit. Replacing like for like is often the wrong answer.
Why the gap is riskier than it looks
A senior ecommerce leader holds more than a job description shows: the agency relationship, the ad accounts, the roadmap’s real priorities and the knowledge of which numbers to distrust. When they leave, nothing breaks on day one. Problems surface weeks later, as an agency drifting, ad spend running unchecked or a project quietly stalling.
If the resignation lands in autumn, the timing is worse. Peak trading and next year’s budget both need decisions in the gap.
Week 1: secure access and contracts
Before anything else, make sure the business, not the person, controls its systems. Ask for a list and check each item yourself.
☐ Admin access to the ecommerce platform, held by at least two people who are staying
☐ Ownership of the domain, DNS and hosting accounts
☐ Google Ads, Meta and other ad accounts, including billing
☐ Analytics, Search Console and tag manager
☐ Payment gateway and fraud tool dashboards
☐ Email platform, review platform and key apps
☐ Every supplier contract: agency, hosting, platform licence, apps, with renewal and notice dates
Accounts registered to someone’s personal email are the most common problem we find. Fix them now, while they can still help.
Week 2: capture what’s in their head
Ask for three short documents, not a 40-page handover:
1. The live list: every project in flight, its owner, budget spent, next milestone and biggest risk.
2. The trading rhythm: which reports they check, when, and what they act on. Ask them to show you, not tell you.
3. The honest view: what they’d do in the next six months, what they’d stop, and which supplier they’d worry about. People are often more candid on the way out.
Also sit in on their regular agency and supplier calls during the notice period, so the relationships transfer to you.
Weeks 3–4: name who runs trading
Someone must own the weekly numbers from the day they leave. If nobody does, your agency and marketing suppliers will set priorities by default.
Good options are a capable ecommerce manager stepping up with clear limits, an interim or fractional lead, or you, briefly, if you have the time. The wrong option is “the team will cover it”.
Then decide what you actually need
The role your departing lead did was shaped around them. Before you write a job advert, answer four questions:
■ Is the next 12–24 months about running ecommerce well, or changing it (a replatform, a new market, a turnaround)?
■ Do you need a leader full time, or senior judgement a few days a month alongside a capable team?
■ Is ecommerce a department or a channel run by people across marketing, trading and operations?
■ What will this person own: budget, team, suppliers, P&L?
Your options, compared
| Option | Time to start | Best when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent hire | Months: search plus their notice | The role is clear and needed full time for years | The gap while you search; hiring in a hurry |
| Interim manager | Weeks | You need full-time cover for a fixed period | Day-rate cost; little incentive to build the team |
| Fractional lead | Weeks | You need senior judgement, not full-time presence | Must work through your team, not instead of it |
| Promote from within | Immediate | A strong number two is ready | Losing their current role; support they’ll need |
These aren’t exclusive. A common route is a fractional lead who holds the role for three to six months, writes the real job description, helps interview, and hands over to the permanent hire or a promoted team member.
Your 30-day checklist
☐ All accounts and admin access controlled by the business
☐ Supplier contracts and renewal dates listed
☐ Live projects documented, with owners
☐ Weekly trading owner named from their last day
☐ Agency and supplier calls attended before they go
☐ Next role defined before the advert is written
If you need senior cover quickly, a Fractional Head of Ecommerce can usually start within weeks and stay until you’ve found the right person.
About DEQIO
Independent ecommerce leadership with 20 years on both the client and supplier side. No platforms, no builds, no referral fees. About DEQIO →
Need senior ecommerce cover?
A Fractional Head of Ecommerce, starting in weeks rather than months.