What is direct hire recruiting?

Direct hire recruiting means placing a candidate as a permanent, full-time employee of your company rather than a contractor or temp. The candidate goes directly onto your payroll from day one. eCommerce Placement works exclusively on direct hire placements.

What does eCommerce Placement charge for direct hire recruiting?

We work on a contingency basis, meaning you pay nothing until we successfully place a candidate. Our fee is 20% of the placed candidate's first-year base salary, invoiced on their start date with net 30 payment terms.

What types of eCommerce roles do you recruit for?

We recruit across nine eCommerce practice areas: eCommerce leadership, digital marketing, Amazon and marketplace, site merchandising, web analytics and CRO, retail media, sales and account management, eCommerce technology and AI, and fulfillment and logistics.

How long does a direct hire eCommerce search take?

Most searches take 4 to 8 weeks from kickoff to accepted offer for Director-level roles, and 6 to 10 weeks for VP and SVP-level searches. We typically present an initial shortlist within 2 to 3 weeks of engagement start.

Do you work with companies outside the US?

Yes. We place eCommerce talent across the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom. We support both in-office and remote-first roles.

Full-Time eCommerce Hires.
Done Right.

Direct hire recruiting places a candidate permanently on your payroll from day one. No temp-to-perm. No contract conversion. Just the right person, in the seat, for the long term. eCommerce Placement specializes exclusively in this model.

Start a Search How It Works

20%

Contingency Fee
No placement, no fee

1-2

Week
Shortlist

The Model

What Direct Hire Actually Means

Direct hire is a specific engagement model. Understanding how it works helps you decide if it is the right approach for your search.

Direct Hire

Candidate goes directly onto your payroll on day one
Full-time, permanent employee from the start
You control onboarding, benefits, and management
One-time recruiting fee, no ongoing billing
Replacement guarantee included if placement does not work out

Contract or Temp-to-Perm

Candidate is employed by the staffing firm, not you
Ongoing agency markup on every hour billed
Conversion to full-time requires an additional fee
Candidate benefits and taxes handled by the agency
Longer path to permanent headcount

Retained Search

Upfront retainer required before search begins
Fee paid in installments regardless of outcome
Exclusivity typically required
Higher total cost for most mid-market searches
Best suited for C-suite or highly confidential searches

eCommerce Placement works exclusively on contingency direct hire. You pay our fee (20% of the placed candidate's first-year base salary) only when we successfully fill the role. No retainer. No upfront cost. No fee if we do not deliver.

When to Use It

Direct Hire Is Right When Permanence Matters

Not every eCommerce gap calls for a full-time hire. But when these conditions apply, direct hire is almost always the right call.

You Need an Owner, Not a Vendor

The role requires someone accountable for outcomes, not deliverables. A VP of eCommerce, Director of Amazon, or Head of Digital Marketing needs to lead. Leaders need to be on your team, not billing by the hour. They need the authority to make decisions, the context that comes from sitting in your meetings every week, and a long-term stake in the results they are driving.

The Role Is Core to Your Growth

If the function you are hiring for is central to your competitive advantage (DTC growth, Amazon profitability, digital marketing performance), you want institutional knowledge that stays with your company, not an agency's bench. A full-time hire builds context over years, not weeks, and that context compounds into judgment your business can rely on as it scales.

You Are Building a Team

Fractional and contract talent can fill gaps. But if you are building an eCommerce team with real reporting structure, career paths, and organizational depth, you need full-time employees who grow with the business. That kind of team compounds in value over time, since institutional knowledge, cross-functional trust, and leadership bench strength are hard to replicate with rotating outside talent.

Your Last Hire Did Not Work Out

A mis-hire at the Director or VP level can set your eCommerce operation back 12 months or more. When the cost of a bad hire is high, the value of a specialized recruiter with deep candidate knowledge, and a replacement guarantee, is easy to justify. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates a bad hire costs at least 30% of the employee's first-year salary; for senior roles, SHRM puts full replacement cost as high as 200% of annual salary.

Our Process

From Kickoff to Accepted Offer

A focused four-step process. Most searches deliver a shortlist in two to three weeks and a placed candidate in four to ten weeks.

Intake Call

We get into the details: the business problem the hire is solving, scope and seniority, comp range, interview process, and what a successful hire looks like at 6 and 12 months. This conversation shapes every sourcing decision that follows.

Targeted Sourcing

We source against our network of 100,000+ eCommerce professionals, prioritizing passive candidates who match your profile. The best candidates are employed and not on job boards. Reaching them requires established relationships, not cold outreach.

Curated Shortlist

You receive a shortlist of pre-screened, qualified candidates with a write-up on each. We brief every candidate on your company and role before you speak with them, so first conversations are substantive rather than introductory.

Offer and Close

We stay active through offer, negotiation, and start. We advise on comp to close candidates who have competing options. If a placement does not work out, we conduct a replacement search at no additional cost.

What to Expect

Typical Search Timelines

Timelines vary by seniority and how competitive the candidate market is for your role. These ranges reflect our historical averages.

Manager Level

3-5 weeks

eCommerce Manager, Analytics Manager, Merchandising Manager, Paid Search Manager, Retail Media Manager

Director Level

4-8 weeks

Director of eCommerce, Director of Amazon, Director of DTC, Director of Digital Marketing, Director of Retail Media, Director of Analytics

VP and SVP Level

6-10 weeks

VP of eCommerce, VP of Amazon, VP of Digital Marketing, VP of Growth, Chief Digital Officer

In all cases, we target an initial shortlist within 2 to 3 weeks of engagement start. Longer timelines reflect interview process length and offer negotiation, not sourcing delays.

Pricing

Simple, Contingency-Based Pricing

No retainers. No upfront fees. You pay only when we successfully place a candidate.

20%

of first-year base salary

Contingency Fee

Our fee is 20% of the placed candidate's first-year base salary, invoiced on their start date with net 30 payment terms. You pay nothing until we fill the role.

upfront cost

No Risk Until We Deliver

No retainer. No monthly billing. No charge for interviews that do not convert. New clients also receive a 10% discount on their first placement. And if a candidate does not work out, we conduct a replacement search at no additional cost.

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

They are actually the same thing at eCommerce Placement. Direct hire describes the placement model: the candidate becomes your permanent, full-time employee. Contingency describes the fee model: you pay only if we successfully place someone. We operate exclusively on contingency direct hire, meaning we do both: permanent placements with no upfront cost to you.

In a temp-to-perm arrangement, the candidate is employed by the staffing firm and billed to you at an hourly or daily rate, with an option to convert to full-time after a trial period. In direct hire, the candidate is on your payroll from day one. There is no trial billing period, no ongoing agency markup, and no conversion fee. The candidate is yours immediately.

Our fee is 20% of the placed candidate's first-year base salary, invoiced on their start date with net 30 payment terms. We work on a contingency basis, meaning you pay nothing until we successfully fill the role. New clients receive a 10% discount on their first placement.

Manager-level searches typically complete in 3 to 5 weeks. Director-level searches average 4 to 8 weeks. VP and SVP searches typically run 6 to 10 weeks. In all cases, we target an initial shortlist within 2 to 3 weeks of engagement start. Longer overall timelines usually reflect interview process length, not sourcing delays.

Every placement includes a replacement search guarantee at no additional cost. If a placed candidate does not work out within the guarantee period, we conduct a new search for the same role at no charge. Contact us for the specific guarantee duration, which varies by role level.

Yes, and this is actually a common pattern. A fractional leader fills the immediate gap while the direct hire search runs in parallel. Once the full-time hire is in seat, the fractional engagement wraps. We can manage both searches simultaneously.

Full-Time eCommerce Hires.Done Right.