Company Overview
Whatnot is the largest livestream shopping platform in North America and Europe, enabling buyers and sellers to discover and trade items ranging from cards to electronics and live plants. As a fast-growing marketplace, we are shaping how a new industry develops and recently earned recognition as Forbes' #1 Best Startup Employer in America.
We are a remote-co‑located team inspired by our values, anchored in hubs across the US, UK, Ireland, Poland, Germany, and Australia. We move fast and focus on high-impact work.
Role
Head of Launch – German Market
Take charge of scaling categories on Whatnot in Germany. This high‑ownership role involves strategy, general management, and market development. You will define category strategy, lead a cross‑functional team, and launch new verticals in Germany, building communities, supply, and demand.
Location
Team members must live within commuting distance of either our Berlin, Germany or London, UK hubs.
Responsibilities
* Define strategy: map the German e‑commerce landscape, analyze market data, engage sellers and buyers, and identify priority categories.
* Create category strategy grounded in German consumer culture, identifying optimal categories, communities, and seller archetypes.
* Build and maintain a rolling action plan addressing challenges, communicating trade‑offs and priorities to the team and leadership.
* Develop a zero‑to‑one playbook for new category opportunities, covering market sizing, supply mapping, community identification, and go‑to‑market approach.
* Directly manage and develop a generalist launch team responsible for seller onboarding, influencer activation, and community events.
* Set performance standards, run structured 1:1s and team rituals, provide candid feedback, and hold the team accountable to outcomes.
* Identify development opportunities, stretch assignments, and coaching moments to grow team members into senior contributors.
* Define hiring needs, participate in recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding top talent.
* Build a culture of ownership, curiosity, and strong seller relationships, ensuring every team member understands the product and the communities they serve.
* Lead end‑to‑end launch of new verticals: hypothesis, market validation, seller acquisition, community activation, and growth ramp.
* Identify appropriate categories based on consumer demand, supply ecosystems, community enthusiasm, and platform strengths.
* Refine repeatable launch playbooks applicable to future categories and other European markets.
* Collaborate across product, marketing, operations, and engineering to unlock platform features and support needed for success.
* Define clear success metrics, run experiments, and make data‑driven decisions on scaling or pivoting.
* Work with executives on experiments that surface insights to adapt to evolving dynamics.
* Serve as the primary internal voice for the German market, communicating local context, cultural nuance, and seller insight to product and business decisions.
* Build relationships with top sellers and buyers, ensuring product and operations align with their expectations.
* Represent Whatnot at German industry events, trade shows, and seller communities to build brand credibility and surface new opportunities.
Qualifications
* 10+ years in fast‑paced, client‑facing, high‑output environments (strategy consulting, venture capital, private equity, or partnership roles at a tech company).
* Passion for community and marketplace growth, with relentless drive to improve user experiences.
* Proven leadership: built and led high‑performing teams, set vision, developed talent, managed performance, and scaled structures.
* Zero‑to‑one builder with experience launching new products, categories, or markets from scratch.
* Deep German market expertise: fluent in German and English, with nuanced understanding of German consumer culture and e‑commerce dynamics.
* Player‑coach mentality, capable of shaping strategy at senior level while also rolling up sleeves to unblock team.
* Scrappy and resourceful mindset, finding solutions with limited resources.
* Analytical mindset, comfortable using data to generate insight, define success metrics, and drive decisions.
Nice to Have
* Experience with two‑sided platforms and marketplace dynamics.
* Passion for creator communities and live e‑commerce.
* Experience scaling a category or market across multiple European countries.
* Existing network within German collector, fashion, or enthusiast communities.
Benefits
* Generous holiday and time off policy.
* Health insurance options including medical, dental, vision.
* Work from home support: home office setup allowance, monthly allowance for cell phone and internet.
* Care benefits: monthly wellness allowance, annual childcare allowance, lifetime benefit for family planning (adoption or fertility expenses).
* Retirement; pension plans internationally.
* Monthly allowance to dog‑food the app.
EEO Statement
Whatnot is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value diversity and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, parental status, disability status, or any other status protected by local law.
Compensation Range: €200K - €230K
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