Leadership, Strategy, & Operations - Products & Publishing

Mcmaster; Chicago, Northern (IL, KY); Hybrid; USD 175,000 - 390,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation stipend

Signing bonus

Medical, dental, vision plans

Mentorship

Paid parental leave

Adoption assistance

Industry-leading retirement accounts

Paid vacation

Job summary

McMaster-Carr in Chicago, IL, is seeking a leadership, strategy, and operations leader for Products & Publishing to shape how we serve customers and grow the business. This path to senior leadership emphasizes impact over timelines, with growth into a general manager who tackles cross-functional challenges across our team.

You will own a product category, advance AI-powered copywriting, strengthen supplier health, launch new website features, and lead teams that translate complex industrial

Responsibilities

• Own a product category and drive decisions that shape the business.
• Build and refine an AI-powered assistant to support copywriters.
• Assess supplier health and drive changes to improve availability and pricing.
• Collaborate with tech teams to design, test, and scale new website features.
• Lead research and creative teams to translate industrial concepts for customers.

Job description

Leadership, Strategy, & Operations - Products & Publishing

Chicago, IL

About the job

Who We Are

McMaster-Carr is a leading e-commerce company that industrial customers have trusted for over 120 years. Our products help them get manufacturing lines back up quickly, keep operations running smoothly, and prototype the next generation of innovative solutions. We earn and keep that trust by offering the right products, making them easy to find, and delivering them fast, so our customers can solve problems with greater speed, precision, and ease.

Our industry-leading e-commerce experience, indispensable product selection, and world-class service bring hundreds of thousands of customers to our site each day. But we’re never standing still. Our curious, exceptional people are at the heart of our evolution. They turn new challenges and disruptive technologies into opportunities to refine our operations, expand our offering, and deliver a better experience for every customer.

What You’ll Do

As part of the Products and Publishing management team, you’ll lead high-impact work that shapes how we serve customers and grow the business. This role is a path to senior leadership, with progress driven by the impact of your work—not a fixed timeline. Over time, you’ll grow into a general manager who takes on broad, business‑critical challenges across our team, including:

• Own a product line. Take full ownership of a product category and make decisions that directly shape our business and improve customer outcomes. The insights you gather—from customer feedback to industry developments to patterns across our broader offering—will guide what we sell and how we present it. Your choices will help customers find what they need faster, make better decisions, and get back to work with confidence, while driving growth for McMaster-Carr.
• Accelerate great writing with AI. Build and refine an AI‑powered assistant that helps our copywriters work faster and smarter—supporting a growing product offering and ensuring customers have helpful, engaging information when comparing products and making decisions.
• Strengthen our supplier base. Assess the health of our supplier network and recommend changes to ensure we’re sourcing from high‑quality manufacturers with competitive pricing and reliable delivery. Your work will improve product availability, reduce risk, and support better outcomes for both the business and our customers.
• Launch new website features. Collaborate with our tech teams to design, test, and scale features that improve how customers navigate and interact with our site. Whether you're streamlining search, enhancing navigation, or introducing new designs, your work will help customers find the right products faster and with less effort.
• Lead teams that explain industrial concepts for customers. Manage research and creative teams that make complex industrial ideas easy to understand. By delivering clear, useful explanations, you’ll help customers solve problems more effectively and choose the right products with confidence.

Who You Are

You’re energized by shaping direction and rolling up your sleeves to drive results. You thrive in ambiguity, take ownership of meaningful outcomes, and bring others with you—building trust, sharing context, and solving problems through collaboration. You may come from consulting, engineering, banking, or somewhere entirely different. What matters most is how you think, how you learn, and how you lead. If you're curious, driven, and eager to take on challenges that matter, McMaster-Carr offers the chance to make an impact and grow into a leader.

Cash Compensation

• Total cash compensation is generally around $175,000 to $390,000 and includes a profit sharing based on company profitability.
• You will also receive a relocation stipend and signing bonus.

• • Informal and formal mentorship
• • Medical, dental, pharmacy, and vision plans with no monthly premiums
• • Inclusive, all-gender benefits

Family & Future

• • Paid parental leave for all new parents
• • Adoption and surrogacy assistance
• • Industry-leading company-funded retirement accounts

Time Off

• • Paid vacation and personal time

#BI-DNI

Equal Opportunity Employer

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and dedicated to providing employees a workplace with reasonable accommodations and free of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. At McMaster-Carr, we do not make employment decisions based on age, ethnicity, citizenship status, military status, gender identity and expression, race, religion, disability status, marital status, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected group.

This position is not eligible for work authorization sponsorship by McMaster-Carr.