Category Specialist

Staples Canada; Richmond Hill; On-site; CAD 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Associate discount

Health and dental benefits

RRSP/DPSP

Performance bonuses

Learning & Development programs

Job summary

Staples Canada in Richmond Hill seeks a Category Specialist to meet financial sales and margin targets. The role involves working with the Category Manager on assortment development, promotions, pricing strategies, and optimizing product presentation for customer satisfaction.

The ideal candidate has a postsecondary diploma in retail management or equivalent experience, with 1–3 years in retail management or merchandising. Attractive perks include health benefits and performance bonuses.

Qualifications

• Minimum 1–3 years of prior retail management, purchasing, or merchandising experience.
• Understanding of basic merchandising and marketing strategies.
• Ability to commit necessary time to fluctuating priorities and meet the demands of the role.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the Category Manager to develop assortments and pricing strategies.
• Monitor data integrity and support programmatic customer opportunities.
• Establish effective off-shelf displays with vendors.

Skills

Retail management

Merchandising

Analytical skills

Communication

Education

Postsecondary diploma focused on retail management or equivalent experience

Job description

What you will do

Our Category Specialists are accountable to meet financial sales and gross margin targets for their categories. Working collaboratively with the Category Manager, they will assist in sourcing and building assortments, developing promotions, setting pricing, and delivering best‑in‑class presentation to drive sustained growth and capture market share, including supporting programmatic customer opportunities. This role partners closely with Merchandise, Strategy, Planning and Allocation teams.

Specifically, you will

• Work closely with the Category Manager to develop channel‑relevant assortments leveraging solid analytics, industry trends, and vendor/brand insights.
• Work with the Category Manager on all line reviews.
• Proactively seek category insights from vendors and external sources.
• Provide pre‑sales support to high‑value or specific customer opportunities.
• Support programmatic customer opportunities, including RFI (Request for Information), RFQ (Request for Quotation), RFP (Request for Proposal), and other customer requests.
• Onboard and set up new SKUs by collecting all required content from vendor partners and following established set‑up guidelines.
• Set and maintain pricing, ensuring it is in line with pricing policies and strategies for the category.
• Monitor the integrity of systems data (AS400, Sunrise, Alpha).
• Work with the planogramming department to ensure inline presentation aligns with category strategies, keeping the customer shopping experience top‑of‑mind.
• Work with vendors to establish effective off‑shelf displays that adhere to presentation criteria while balancing inventory investment and sales forecast.

What you need

• Postsecondary diploma focused on retail management, merchandising, purchasing, or equivalent experience.
• Understanding of basic merchandising and marketing strategies.
• Ability to commit necessary time to fluctuating priorities and meet the demands of the role.
• Minimum 1–3 years of prior retail management, purchasing, or merchandising experience.

What you will get

• Associate discount
• Health and dental benefits
• RRSP/DPSP
• Performance bonuses
• Learning & Development programs
• And more

We value transparency in our hiring processes. A human reviewer makes all final decisions. This posting is for an existing vacancy.

We are building an inclusive and diverse team.

Staples Canada is continuously working towards creating an inclusive and diverse work environment. We welcome, value and thrive on perspectives and contributions from backgrounds that vary by race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, lifestyle, age, educational background, national origin, religion or physical ability. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.