Country Manager Nordics

Whether you’re a 007-fan looking for a Rolex Submariner, or a philatelist trying to get your hands on a rare Penny Black – the world’s first stamp -, Catawiki is the place to go. On average, 30,000 noteworthy items are sold by bid at Catawiki every week. It’s no surprise Catawiki is Europe’s fastest growing tech company. Having just launched Danish, Swedish and Norwegian translations of the website, they are now attracting a Country Manager for the Nordics.

About Catawiki

Catawiki started out in 2008 as a online platform enabling comic book collectors from all over the world to keep track of their collections while also creating a global reference work, hence the suffix “wiki”. The auction-functionality was added to the platform in 2011 and turned out to be a strong means of monetization. Nowadays, more than 12 million visitors from around the world engage with the platform every month. They are offering or looking for collectibles in over seventy categories, ranging from oldtimers and boats to stamps and coins to music and toys. What makes Catawiki different from other online auction platforms, is that all items are selected and checked by expert auctioneers. As this creates an additional layer of security which benefits both seller and buyer, both parties pay a commission.

“We are in the unique position of being able to fill the gap between eBay and the more traditional auction houses.” – René Schoenmakers, Founder & CEO Catawiki

Expanding globally

Catawiki was founded in 2008 in Assen in the Netherlands, where it still has part of it’s HQ. Once the company started growing, HQ expanded to Amsterdam. With commercial offices in Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain, the scale-up now employs over 450 professionals (compared to 60 in 2015) from all over the world. And that’s just the beginning. The board has decided to set up offices Belgium, DACH and the Nordics shortly, as fact-based market analyses shows these markets are major growth opportunities. Consequently, Frederik de Beer (Head of Supply & International Expansion) is hiring a Country Manager Germany /Austria / Switzerland, a Country Manager Belgium and a Country Manager Nordics. Catawiki is a singular platform connecting international markets – all content is translated into 14 languages, so that all auctions are offered globally. International expansion efforts are mostly focused on the supply side of the business model. From local offices, commercial ties with major sellers and auctioneers are established and  managed and PR and local marketing are organized in cooperation with the marketing team based in the Netherlands.

About the vacancy: Country Manager Nordics

As Scandinavian translations of the platform have only recently been launched, the Country Manager Nordics can pretty much start from scratch building Catawiki in these markets. The Country Manager will report to Frederik de Beer, who will share learnings and best practices from other markets. The first step will be to identify high-potential sellers and bring them on board. The Catawiki way of working is highly fact-based and data-driven. Current expectations are that the initial phase will focus on the Swedish and Danish markets, but if the Country Manager has a strong business case indicating that a different market-entry strategy would be more beneficial, they will be encouraged to do so.

The Country Manager will be accountable for the long-term growth of Catawiki within the Nordics, the accomplishment of quarterly targets. In order to achieve those targets, the Country Manager will work closely with the global marketing team, the buyer and seller experience teams and customer service team based in The Netherlands. The next step will be building and managing the network of local auctioneers and the local commercial team. As the Country Manager is responsible for strategy, planning, people management, recruitment (based on business opportunities), securing new major sellers, on-boarding and relationship management, a strong track record of supply management at an online marketplace is key.