Commercial Director
Motorway · London, England
ABOUT MOTORWAY
Motorway is the UK's largest online car-selling platform. We connect private sellers directly with over 8,000 dealers nationwide. Our online platform helps sellers achieve great prices for their cars while giving dealers fast, reliable access to the stock they want for their dealerships. Founded in 2017, our award-winning, technology-led approach has redefined the experience of selling a car. Motorway is backed by some of the world’s leading technology investors, having raised £143 million in Series C funding.
This is a unique opportunity to join a fast-growing scale-up at a crucial phase of growth and help change an industry for the better.
ABOUT US
Motorway is the first and largest car-selling marketplace in the UK, connecting private sellers directly with over 8,000 verified dealers nationwide. Our online platform helps sellers achieve market leading prices for their cars while giving dealers fast, reliable access to the stock they want to grow their businesses profitably.
Founded in 2017, Motorway's technology-led approach has transformed the car-selling experience. We now facilitate hundreds of thousands of car sales each year, with 2,500 cars in our daily auction. We employ 400+ people across the UK. Valued at over $1bn and backed by leading global technology investors, including Index and Iconiq. Motorway is now entering a critical phase focused on scale, growth and profitability. This is a rare opportunity to join a high-growth scale-up at a pivotal moment and help shape the services that sit around every car sold on Motorway.
ABOUT THE JOB
As Commercial Director of Dealer Solutions, you will own what happens after Motorway's daily auction closes: inspecting and transporting the car, making sure everyone gets paid, and helping dealers fund the stock they buy. Transport, Payments and Dealer Finance are central to Motorway's next phase of growth. They shape how dealers experience Motorway, how much of each transaction we serve, and how we grow revenue beyond the core marketplace. There is significant work to do across all three, with scope to add new dealer solutions over time.
This is a senior commercial leadership role. You will set the strategy, own the P&L for these services and lead experienced specialist teams, bringing commercial clarity, pace and ambition. You will be as comfortable framing an investment case for the executive team as you are working through an operational problem with your team.
You will work closely with Sales, Marketing, Operations, Product and Engineering, as well as a network of external partners that support the delivery of Dealer Solutions. Our dealer base and partnerships are growing, and our Dealer Solutions need to scale ahead of that demand while staying simple and reliable for dealers and sellers.
The Commercial Director reports directly to the Chief Operating Officer, James Wilson, and is part of Motorway's senior leadership team.
RESPONSIBILITIES
This role is responsible for turning Motorway's Dealer Solutions into a scaled, profitable part of the business. You will set clear priorities, make explicit trade-offs and move between strategy and detail as the situation needs.
Strategy & Commercial Leadership
- Set the vision, strategy and goals for Transport, Payments and Dealer Finance, with clear priorities across short and long-term horizons
- Own the P&L for Dealer Solutions, making explicit trade-offs between growth, margin and customer experience
- Build and present investment cases to the executive team and contribute to Motorway's wider strategy
Transport & Fulfilment
- Lead the strategy and performance of Motorway's vehicle transport proposition, making sure capacity keeps pace with demand
- Build and manage a scalable network of logistics partners, with strong commercial terms and clear performance management
- Improve reliability, speed and cost so dealers and sellers get a fast, predictable experience
Payments
- Own the commercial performance of Motorway's dealer payment products, driving adoption and a smooth, secure payment experience
- Partner with Product and Engineering to launch and scale improvements, using phased rollouts and clear success measures
Dealer Finance
- Shape and grow Motorway's dealer finance proposition, including stock funding, working with internal teams and external partners
- Develop the commercial model, partnerships and go-to-market approach needed to scale it
Performance & Operating Rhythm
- Set clear metrics for each service and a regular operating cadence, using data to find root causes and drive improvement
- Make sure operations can absorb growth and seasonal peaks without the customer experience suffering
Leadership & Collaboration
- Lead and develop experienced specialist teams, adding commercial framing and clear priorities while giving experts room to lead
- Build strong working relationships with Sales, Marketing, Operations, Product and Engineering teams
- Manage key partners and suppliers, getting full value from existing relationships and identifying and onboarding new partners as required
- Role-model Motorway's values as part of the senior leadership team
REQUIREMENTS
This role requires a senior commercial leader who combines strategic thinking with operational delivery. You should be comfortable in a fast-moving environment, able to set direction at an executive level and get into the detail with your team when it matters.
- Strategy: Ability to set and communicate a clear commercial strategy, translating growth plans and constraints into a prioritised roadmap over multiple horizons
- Commercial: Proven experience owning a P&L or major commercial line in a high-growth, technology-led business, ideally a marketplace.
- Operations: A track record of running operational teams and improving how they perform as the business grows.
- Situational leadership: Experience leading senior specialists, knowing when to step into the detail and when to step back
- Judgement: A pragmatic, outcome-driven mindset with strong ownership and high business judgement
- Composure: Calm and decisive when operations are under pressure, and focused on fixing root causes afterwards
- Influence: Able to align senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams around clear priorities and trade-offs
- Communication: Explains complex commercial and operational trade-offs clearly, adjusting the message for audiences from the executive team to front-line colleagues
- Location: Based in our London office, with regular time in our Brighton office where our operational teams are based
Transport or payments experience would be useful, but isn't a requirement.