Head of Analytics - Digital Trading & Performance Marketing

Head of Analytics - Digital Trading & Performance Marketing

JD Sports- Head Office, Warwick House, Bury, Bury, United Kingdom

Job Description

Posted Thursday 12 March 2026 at 01:00 Expires Sunday 12 April 2026 at 23:59

Established in 1981 with a single store in the Northwest of England, the JD Group is a leading omni-channel retailer of Sports Fashion, Outdoors and Gyms with our colleagues working in stores across several retail fascias in many markets around the world.

JD Sports Fashion Plc was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1996 and has been a FTSE100 publicly quoted company since 2019 and continues to grow in the UK and internationally.

We want to be the leading global omnichannel retailer in the sports and outdoor industry. To be a part of this successful company and help us to achieve this you will have the desire to ingrain our strategic goals of being a people-led, innovative and customer-focused organisation which provides operational excellence whilst identifying new areas of growth as part of our day to day objectives.

Role: Head of Analytics - Digital Trading & Performance Marketing

Department & Location: JD Digital, Bury

Reports to: Digital Director

Role Overview

The Head of Analytics will lead the data and insights function for our online retail business, driving data-informed decision-making across digital trading and performance marketing. This role is pivotal in optimising trading strategies, supporting on performance marketing reporting & admin tasks plus ensuring that analytics underpins every commercial decision. You will oversee the development of advanced analytics capabilities, mentor a high-performing team, and collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders, including Commercial Finance, Digital Trading, Performance Marketing and Marketing Effectiveness, to deliver actionable insights that fuel growth.

Key Responsibilities Strategic Leadership

• Define and execute the analytics vision and roadmap aligned with digital trading and marketing objectives.
• Champion a data-driven culture across the organisation, influencing senior stakeholders with clear, actionable insights.
• Develop and maintain governance for data integrity, compliance (including GDPR), and standardisation across platforms.

Digital Trading Analytics

• Analyse trading performance across all digital channels (web, app, marketplaces) to identify growth levers and optimise conversion.
• Partner with trading teams to forecast demand, optimise pricing strategies, and improve product availability.
• Build dashboards and reporting frameworks for real-time visibility of trading KPIs (sales, margin, stock availability).

Performance Marketing Analytics

• Support the Head of Performance Media in understanding & reporting on our performance marketing activity across paid media, affiliates, SEO, and CRM campaigns.
• Working alongside the Marketing Effectiveness team to validate attribution, incrementality and econometric model outputs to inform regular business reporting and in-flight optimisation.
• Collaborate with customer insights, commercial finance and marketing teams to inform and evolve targeting, segmentation, and budget allocation strategies.

Commercial Finance & Trading Partnership

• Work closely with Commercial Finance & Digital Trading to align analytics outputs with financial planning and budgeting.
• Provide insights on profitability, margin optimisation, and cost efficiency across trading and marketing activities.
• Support trading and pricing decisions through robust forecasting and scenario modelling.
• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of three analysts, covering UK& ROI, North EU and South EU.
• Foster continuous learning and innovation within the analytics function.

Skills & Experience

• Proven experience in a senior analytics role within eCommerce or online retail, with exposure to digital trading and performance marketing.
• Strong understanding of marketing technology, attribution modelling, and trading optimisation.
• Expertise in data visualisation tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau) and advanced analytics techniques (predictive modelling, machine learning).
• Proficiency in SQL, Python/R, and familiarity with marketing platforms (Google Ads, Meta, GA4).
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to translate complex data into actionable insights.
• Experience collaborating with Commercial Finance teams on budgeting, forecasting, and profitability analysis.

We know our colleagues work tirelessly to make JD Sports the success it is today and in turn, we offer them some amazing benefits including staff discount on JD Group and other brands within the organisation and personal development opportunities to learn and develop at work.