VP Commercial & Marketing

Who are we? Smarkets: Predicting the Future of Betting Smarkets runs one of the world's most sophisticated prediction markets, handling over £29 billion in volume since 2010 and engaging 200,000+ traders globally. We're a technology company that happens to revolutionise betting, from sports to political markets, to delivering the sharpest prices and the fairest odds. At the heart of our success are our people. We create a high-performance environment where exceptional talent can thrive, blending deep business experience with a commercial mindset to drive strategic growth. If you're ready to help shape the future of prediction markets with cutting-edge technology and a customer-first philosophy, Smarkets is where you belong. We welcome applications from candidates who are genuinely energised by the challenge of building a brand and a growth engine at scale, and who have the track record to prove it. We look forward to reviewing your application. The Team This role sits at the heart of our commercial strategy, overseeing marketing teams and working shoulder-to-shoulder with product, trading, data, and the executive team to grow the business. Prediction markets and exchange products are having a moment, and the team's job is to capture that energy: building the Smarkets brand and the brands within our group, and making every pound of the marketing budget work harder than the last. About the Role: As our VP Commercial & Marketing, you'll be responsible for every marketing lever we have: brand, acquisition, and retention, across multiple markets, including UK and US. Your team will be accountable for how the world discovers Smarkets and the brands within our group, why they choose us over anyone else, and why they stay. We're looking for a senior leader who has scaled a direct-to-consumer brand before and understands the pitfalls and opportunities. We need someone who will set the strategy for marketing and roll up their sleeves to execute. If you want to direct from a distance, this isn't the role for you. If you want to own the number, build up the team, and be measured on the growth you deliver, read on. You will own the marketing budget, and we'll expect you to make every pound work harder than the last. Success looks like ROI and disciplined scaling; failure looks like vanity spend that fails to deliver the unit economics. This role reports to the COO and sits at the heart of our commercial strategy. What you will do: • Own the Strategy: Own a multi-jurisdiction marketing strategy end-to-end, accountable for design and execution across brand, acquisition, and retention. • Shape Go-to-Market: Help develop the commercial strategy for go-to-market projects and our core brands. • Deliver ROI: Accountable for effective ROI on the annual marketing budget. • Build the Team: Mentor and develop a high-performing marketing team, raising the bar on talent and standards. • Scale Performance Marketing: Build the processes to scale performance marketing across paid channels, relentlessly improving CAC, ROAS, and payback. • Sharpen the Brand: Sharpen and grow the Smarkets brand: our positioning, our voice, and how we show up in a crowded market. • Drive Retention: Develop the retention and lifecycle strategy, turning first-time users into loyal, high-value traders through CRM and lifecycle marketing. • Own the Metrics: Define the metrics that matter, hold the team to them, and make decisions grounded in data. • Partner Cross-Functionally: Partner closely with product, trading, data, and commercial teams to align marketing with the wider business roadmap. Role Requirements: • Proven Brand Builder: A senior marketing leader with a proven track record of scaling a brand. • D2C Experience: Real experience growing a D2C/consumer b