Digital Commerce Lead

More than a hundred years ago, Van Leeuwen started as a trader in steel pipes. Today, the company supplies the world’s largest industrial and energy companies from seventy locations across 32 countries. The next step is digital: developing e-commerce as a growth channel, leveraging data to transform the customer experience, and a new role to lead it all: Digital Commerce Lead.

About Royal van Leeuwen

Van Leeuwen has been a leading player in the world of steel pipes and tubes since 1924. Over time, the family-owned business has grown into a distribution network spanning Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and North America, with more than 2,250 employees. Its offering extends well beyond the sale of pipes: services such as processing, logistics, inventory planning, and project management complete the package. Van Leeuwen serves customers across six market segments, ranging from mechanical engineering and automotive to oil and gas and petrochemicals, with an annual revenue of approximately 1.2 billion euros. Acquisitions are an important part of the growth strategy, as demonstrated earlier this year by the acquisition of the global operations of Corrotherm International and the German company C+R Hydraulics.

In 2024, on the occasion of its centenary, the company was granted the “Royal” title. Entrepreneurship, customer focus, and continuity have defined Van Leeuwen since its founding. As a family business, the organization takes a long-term view, with sustainability woven into both its operations and its partnerships. Van Leeuwen actively involves suppliers and partners in reducing its environmental footprint. Internally, that same mindset translates into an inclusive workplace that invests in the development of its people at every level.

Vacancy: Digital Commerce Lead

The Digital Commerce Lead sets the course for Van Leeuwen’s digital future, operating across a broad international network of countries and commercial teams. E-commerce is a concrete and prominent lever within that strategy, alongside customer journey optimization, UX, and analytics. The digital channel is still at an early stage at Van Leeuwen, which means there is genuine ground to break. That is precisely what makes this role compelling.

Van Leeuwen is an environment where good ideas get the space to be executed. The Digital Commerce Lead is trusted with the freedom to develop digital sales channels, apply AI in the B2B buyer journey, and improve the customer experience step by step. In a traditional organization, building buy-in matters just as much as the strategy itself. The Digital Commerce Lead knows that change only sticks when people are on board, and has the stakeholder management skills to bring them along.

The scope is broad: from e-commerce and UX optimization to KPI frameworks and data analysis, in close collaboration with commercial directors and digital and pricing specialists across countries. The role reports to Jörg Hassler, Corporate Director Marketing & Commercial Excellence, and operates with the autonomy to put digital firmly on the commercial agenda.

“This is a rare opportunity to shape the digital agenda of a 101-year-old family company from the ground up. There is no blueprint yet: you create it.” – Jörg Hassler, Corporate Director Marketing & Commercial Excellence

This is a role for a candidate who takes responsibility, works pragmatically, and finds their footing in a traditional family business where results matter. In return, they are offered the space to make a real mark on how a century-old company connects with its customers in the digital age, on an international scale.

Interested?

Royal van Leeuwen is working with Top of Minds to fill this vacancy.
To express your interest, please contact Karlijn Havekes at karlijn.havekes@topofminds.com