Category Manager, Card Authentication Category Management Remote (US, New York preferred) View role

Legitmark; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

Growth opportunities

Job summary

Legitmark, Inc. is seeking a Category Management lead to operate remotely in the US (New York preferred).

You will design authentication and grading standards for collectible cards, define counterfeit-detection criteria, and translate them into repeatable workflows for the operations team. You will partner with Product and Engineering to shape the roadmap, own the category launch plan, hire and train authentication specialists, and oversee ongoing quality, throughput, and growth as volume

Qualifications

• 5-8 years of experience in card grading, authentication, or category/merchandising management.
• Expert-level understanding of card grading systems across sports, non-sports, and/or TCGs.
• Knowledge of counterfeiting and card doctoring methods and how to detect them at production speed.
• Understanding card printing processes, variants, and errors related to authentication.
• Experience building or scaling operational processes from scratch.
• Experience hiring, training, and managing frontline staff with ownership of performance.
• Ability to work cross-functionally with Product and Engineering to shape tooling.
• Strong documentation skills to codify tacit knowledge.
• Ability to own ambiguous scope and act as category expert.

Responsibilities

• Design authentication and grading standards for cards including condition criteria and defect taxonomy.
• Define detection standards for counterfeits and card doctoring.
• Translate standards into repeatable intake and authentication processes for operations.
• Partner with Product and Engineering to inform roadmap and tooling.
• Own the category launch plan: scope, timeline, staffing, success metrics.
• Maintain and grow the category post-launch with expanded coverage and throughput.
• Hire authentication specialists and build out the team as volume grows.
• Train new hires on standards, grading methodology, and tooling.
• Provide ongoing supervision including quality audits, coaching, performance management.
• Set and manage production goals balancing throughput and grading accuracy.
• Stay current on industry developments and adapt standards.
• Monitor category-level metrics and report on health, growth, and risks.

Skills

Card grading

Authentication

Operational process scaling

Hiring & training frontline staff

Cross-functional collaboration

Documentation & standards

Job description

Category Management – Remote (US, New York preferred)

About the role

In this role, you'll:

• • Design authentication and grading standards for cards, including condition criteria (centering, corners, edges, surface), defect taxonomy, and edge-case rulings
• • Define detection standards for counterfeits and card doctoring, including trimming, recoloring, restoration, and resealed packs
• • Translate standards into documented, repeatable intake and authentication processes for the operations team
• • Partner with Product and Engineering to inform roadmap decisions and tooling needed to support the category
• • Own the category launch plan: scope, timeline, staffing, and success metrics
• • Maintain and grow the category post-launch by expanding coverage, tuning throughput and quality, and responding to demand
• • Hire authentication specialists for the category and build out the team as volume grows
• • Train new hires on standards, grading methodology, and tooling
• • Provide ongoing supervision of category staff, including quality audits, coaching, and performance management
• • Set and manage production goals that balance throughput with grading accuracy and consistency
• • Stay current on industry developments, especially new counterfeits and alteration methods circulating the market, and evolve standards to counter them
• • Monitor category-level metrics and report on health, growth, and risks

Your first 90 days

• • Day 30: Standards and processes set. You've immersed in how Legitmark authenticates today, drafted grading and counterfeit-detection standards for the initial sub-category, translated them into repeatable intake and authentication workflows, and aligned with Product and Engineering on tooling.
• • Day 60: Category live. We're authenticating cards in production with defined scope, staffing, and success metrics, and hiring for your first authentication specialists is underway.
• • Day 90: Growing. Coverage is expanding, throughput and accuracy are tuned against real volume, and you're reporting on category health with a clear plan to scale.

We're looking for someone with:

• • 5-8 years of experience in card grading, authentication, or category/merchandising management, ideally with exposure to companies like PSA, Beckett, CGC, SGC, or comparable grading and marketplace operations
• • Expert-level understanding of card grading systems and standards across sports cards, non-sports cards, and/or TCGs, including vintage and modern eras
• • Expert knowledge of the counterfeiting and card doctoring methods that exist in the industry, and how to detect them at production speed without compromising accuracy
• • Working knowledge of card printing processes, variants, and errors, and how they factor into authentication and grading decisions
• • A track record of building or scaling operational processes from scratch
• • Experience hiring, training, and managing frontline staff, with real ownership of their performance over time
• • Comfort partnering cross-functionally with Product and Engineering to shape what gets built
• • Strong process and documentation skills — you can turn tacit expertise into something a new hire can follow
• • Ability to own ambiguous scope and act as the internal domain expert for the category

Nice to have:

• • Experience launching a new product category or business line from the ground up
• • Existing relationships within the card grading and marketplace ecosystem (eBay, PWCC, Alt, COMC, or similar)
• • Background in high-volume, quality-controlled physical inspection workflows
• • Familiarity with authentication or grading software tooling

You might thrive in this role if:

• • You're a category builder. You want to define how an entire category gets authenticated, not just execute someone else's playbook.
• • You think in systems. You design standards and processes that scale, not one-off judgment calls.
• • You're a people manager at heart. You genuinely enjoy hiring, training, and developing a team over the long run.
• • You're comfortable with ambiguity. You're the expert in the room, and you're ready to make the calls when there's no existing precedent.

About Legitmark