Joel Schumacher

Head of Performance Marketing & Media at Deichmann

Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

About

Marketing leader with experience building and scaling teams, marketing organisations, and growth engines across e-commerce, social commerce, and retail. Currently leading Performance Marketing, Media, and Retail Media at Deichmann, with responsibility for growth across 30+ international markets. Previously, I helped build the creator ecosystem for TikTok Shop Germany and spent more than six years at ABOUT YOU, where I progressed from Online Marketing Manager to Head of Creator Marketing, ultimately leading a 50+ person organisation across Europe. My career has been shaped by scaling businesses, building high-performing teams, and turning new growth opportunities into sustainable, measurable results.

Experience

  • Head of Performance Marketing & Media at Deichmann
    May 2026 - Present · 3 mos

    - Lead Deichmann's international Performance Marketing, Media, and Retail Media organisation across 30+ markets. - Drive customer acquisition, growth, and marketing effectiveness across the full digital media ecosystem. - Build scalable structures, capabilities, and teams to support Deichmann's digital growth ambitions.

  • TikTok Shop ()
    • Head of Creator Operations
      Jan 2025 - Apr 2026 · 1 yr 4 mos

      - Built and led TikTok Shop Germany’s Creator Operations organisation, helping establish the creator ecosystem for market launch. - Scaled creator management and partner operations across owned and agency-managed creator networks. - Led creator-seller matchmaking initiatives to accelerate social commerce growth and commercial performance.

    • Head of Creator Acquisition & Incubation
      Jun 2024 - Jan 2025 · 8 mos

      - Led TikTok Shop UK's Creator Acquisition & Incubation organisation. - Developed and scaled programmes to acquire, activate, and grow creators on the platform. - Drove creator engagement and performance across video and LIVE commerce.

  • ABOUT YOU (6 yrs 5 mos)
    • Head of Creator Marketing
      Mar 2023 - May 2024 · 1 yr 3 mos

      - Led ABOUT YOU’s entire European Creator Marketing organisation, overseeing a 50+ person team, including 2 team leads and functional experts across strategy, operations, and creative execution. - Managed the planning and execution of all creator collaborations across Europe, driving performance outcomes, process scalability, and cross-market alignment. - Implemented data-driven structures, KPI frameworks, and operational workflows to elevate creator marketing efficiency and ROI.

    • Team Lead Creator Marketing
      Jan 2022 - Feb 2023 · 1 yr 2 mos

      - Led and unified a 50+ member creator-facing organisation by merging multiple teams into a centralized Creator Marketing structure. - Introduced ABOUT YOU’s creator attribution model, enabling transparent performance tracking and stronger budget allocation decisions. - Rebuilt team strategy with a focus on profitability, scalable processes, and repeatable performance playbooks.

    • Senior Online Marketing Manager | Channel Lead Creator Performance
      Jan 2021 - Dec 2021 · 1 yr

      - Led a 30+ member team, scaling performance cooperations into one of ABOUT YOU’s highest-performing performance marketing channels. - Scaled monthly creator collaborations from ~1,000 to 2,000+, establishing Hauls as a core performance engine for ABOUT YOU’s social commerce. - Led creator activation for major hero events, coordinating up to 1,000 creators per event (ES, IT, GR, PT market launches; ABOUT YOU Awards; ABOUT YOU Fashion Week).

  • Student Assistant at Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
    Apr 2015 - Mar 2017 · 2 yrs

    Conducted quantitative data collection and literature research, supporting academic and project-based workstreams.

  • Intern Product Management at maxdome GmbH
    Apr 2016 - Sep 2016 · 6 mos

    Supported cross-functional development of Deutsche Bahn’s web app, contributing research, competitive analysis, and stakeholder coordination.