Strategy Director (US based 12 month contract role)

Company Description

Depop is a peer-to-peer circular fashion marketplace where anyone can buy, sell and discover secondhand fashion. Our mission is simple: to make fashion circular by making secondhand as exciting and rewarding as buying new.
Founded in 2011, Depop’s diverse community has helped move resale into the mainstream, where buying secondhand is no longer an alternative, but how people of different ages now engage with fashion. Today, more than 56 million registered users come to Depop to find great value, express their own personal style and give clothes a longer life. We believe that everything you want already exists, and our role is to help people discover it.
Powered by a team of over 500 people, our company is headquartered in London, with offices in New York. In 2021, Depop became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Etsy - the global marketplace for unique and creative goods - and continues to operate as a standalone company. For more information, visit www.depop.com
We aim to create an inclusive environment where everyone is welcome, no matter who they are or where they’re from. Just as our platform connects people globally, we believe our workplace should reflect the diversity of the communities we serve. We thrive on the power of different perspectives and experiences, knowing they drive innovation and bring us closer to our users.
We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer, providing employment opportunities without regard to age, ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy or maternity, marriage and civil partnership, or any other protected status. We’re continuously evolving our recruitment processes to ensure fairness and are open to accommodating any needs you might have.
AI Disclosure: We use AI tools (Google Gemini) to help our team source and review applications for roles with a high volume of applications. These tools assist our recruiters in identifying great talent but do not replace human decision-making. At Depop, every hiring decision is made by a human.
If, due to a disability, you need adjustments to complete the application, please let us know by sending an email with your name, the role to which you would like to apply, and the type of support you need to complete the application to [email protected].

Compensation:

$203,000 - $263,000

The Role

The Strategy team drives Depop's growth by answering critical questions and identifying, shaping and delivering its highest-impact opportunities. We operate at the centre of the business, partnering closely with the Executive team and senior leaders across Product, Marketing, Finance and Internal Comms to set direction and solve complex, ambiguous problems.

The team’s scope spans four key pillars:

• Strategic Planning:  Co-owning the development of Depop’s strategic vision and growth strategy. This includes leading company-wide planning processes (quarterly, annual and long-term), aligning senior stakeholders on priorities, and supporting the Executive team to make high-quality trade-offs.

• Strategic Initiatives:  Leading the development and early execution of high-impact, cross-functional initiatives. These are typically ambiguous, zero-to-one problems of critical importance to the business, requiring strong leadership and stakeholder alignment before transitioning into executional teams.

• Strategic Articulation:  Translating strategy into clear, compelling narratives tailored to different audiences, including the Executive team, the wider organisation, and our parent company Etsy.

• Strategic Operations: Improving how the business operates to execute its strategy more effectively. This includes evolving planning processes, operating rhythms, and organisational design, as well as proactively identifying opportunities to strengthen cross-functional collaboration.

Role Overview:

This is a 12-month US based fixed-term Director role covering a maternity leave, with full ownership of the scope and a critical role in shaping Depop’s strategy during this period.

You will co-own key elements of Depop’s company strategy, lead critical parts of the planning process, and act as a trusted advisor to the Executive team. You will regularly present to senior leadership and play a central role in shaping the company’s direction and priorities.

A core focus of the role is acting as a strategic partner to the Marketing organisation, working very closely with the Chief Marketing Officer to shape marketing strategy across growth, brand and investment decisions. While centrally positioned within Strategy, you will operate in close partnership with Marketing leadership - bringing strategic rigour, external perspective and clarity to some of the company’s most important growth questions.

Alongside this, you will lead high-impact strategic initiatives and help ensure the organisation is set up to execute effectively against its priorities.

Responsibilities:

• Drive the development of Depop’s long-term strategy, applying in-depth understanding of competitor and geographic dynamics

• Lead critical elements of the company planning process, supporting prioritisation and trade-offs across senior leadership

• Act as a strategic partner to the Chief Marketing Officer, shaping marketing strategy across growth, brand and investment decisions, and helping to set priorities while ensuring alignment with the company strategy 

• Advise and influence senior stakeholders across the business, providing both strategic guidance and hands-on problem solving

• Lead high-impact, cross-functional strategic initiatives, taking ideas from early-stage problem definition through to clear direction and handover to execution teams

• Drive alignment across teams, facilitating complex discussions and navigating competing priorities to enable effective decision-making

• Communicate strategy and performance clearly, building compelling narratives for Executive, Board and company-wide audiences

• Improve how the organisation operates, strengthening planning processes, decision-making and cross-functional ways of working

Requirements:

• Experience in strategy (consulting or in-house), with a track record of shaping strategy and influencing senior decision-making

• Deep experience partnering with Marketing teams; in-house marketing experience at a consumer or technology company is a strong plus

• Strong commercial acumen, with a clear understanding of P&L dynamics and growth drivers

• Experience working closely with senior stakeholders, including Executive-level audiences, 

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to distil complex topics into clear, compelling narratives

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; comfortable working with data and building simple models

• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives in ambiguous environments

About You:

• Interest in resale, with a desire to be part of transforming fashion consumption

• Comfortable with ambiguity; able to create clarity and momentum

• Collaborative, low ego, and highly trusted by stakeholders

• Proactive and self-directed, with strong ownership and an ability to operate effectively under pressure

Additional Information
 

Health + Mental Wellbeing

• Medical Plan, HSA, Dental & Vision

• Health Benefit Resources via Sequoia App, One Medical and Health Advocate

• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) - have access to a confidential support network of expert advice 24/7

• 401(k) Retirement Savings

Work/Life Balance:

• 22 days annual leave + public holidays

• 1 company-wide day off per quarter, for you to take some time for yourself and decompress

• Ability to work abroad for 4 weeks per year 

Family Life:

• 18 weeks of paid parental leave for full-time regular employees

• Shared parental leave, and paid emergency parent/carer leave

Learn + Grow:

• Development discussions to support continuous learning and professional growth.

• Upskilling our employees with company wide training workshops, materials and resources

Your Future:

• 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan *eligible after completing 1,000 hours in a given calendar year.