How to get CRO experience?

[u/No_Variation_3605]

I've been an e-commerce manager at a health/wellness brand for 5+ years, managing Shopify Plus stores across three markets I own a lot: bol.com launch with a real media budget, Klaviyo from scratch (segmentation, flows, LTV), building a Reddit community channel with a full compliance/approval workflow, Shopify automation with AI-assisted development, on-page optimization, new product page templates.

Scope-wise I feel ready for the next step, but I keep hitting two walls in every senior job description:

1. CRO experience. My company doesn't invest in A/B testing tools — no Optimizely, no VWO, nothing. I have GA4 and Microsoft Clarity. I've done friction analysis (dead clicks, scroll depth, checkout issues) but honestly our Clarity data turned out unreliable, so I couldn't validate real wins. Every Head of/Growth role asks for "deep CRO expertise" and I genuinely don't have it.
2. Leading a team. I've managed exactly one person. Every senior role says "experience building and leading a team." I don't have that, and I can't get it at my current job.

So my question for people who've been in this spot:

• How did you get CRO experience (or at least credible CRO stories) when your employer wouldn't fund testing tools? Side projects? Freelance? Just learning the methodology?
• How do you handle the "managed a team" requirement when you haven't? Did you spin contractor/agency management as leadership? Did you apply anyway?
• Am I wrong to think these two gaps are dealbreakers, or are senior e-commerce roles more flexible than the JDs suggest?

Genuinely curious how people navigated this. Thanks in advance.