Product Data Specialist

Ontario Trillium Foundation; Minnesota; On-site; USD 65,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Houston, TX-based company seeks a Product Data Specialist to own the product data ecosystem. You will define canonical data models, map variant attributes, and establish data quality thresholds for 2.5 million catalog items. Lead end-to-end cleanup for 300,000 parent items and 2.2 million variants, aligning ERP and website data.

You will collaborate with the Ecommerce Director and ERP Admin to ensure data supports SEO, site search, and data flows. Strong Excel, PIM, and ERP experience required.

Qualifications

• 2-5 years of experience in product data management, catalog management, or PIM administration in an e-commerce or distribution environment
• Hands-on experience cleaning and normalizing large product catalogs (100,000+ SKUs)
• Advanced Excel skills including pivot tables, VLOOKUP/INDEX-MATCH, and data transformation
• Experience defining data standards and enforcing them across an organization
• Experience with ERP systems in a product data context (Epicor Prophet 21 a strong plus)

Responsibilities

• Define and enforce the canonical product data model: required fields, naming conventions, variant attribute standards, and category taxonomy across all brands
• Create and maintain the master variant attribute mapping and consolidate finish names into canonical values
• Establish minimum data quality thresholds for product pages
• Lead end-to-end data cleanup across 300,000 parent items and 2.2 million variants
• Audit catalog to quantify data quality issues by type, brand, and severity
• Define normalization rules, mapping tables, and review criteria for cleanup work
• Identify and resolve duplicate items, orphan variants, and incorrect relationships
• Cross-reference ERP records against the live website to fix discrepancies
• Define required fields, formats, and image specs for manufacturer data feeds
• Evaluate data ingestion tools or PIM platforms for ongoing automation
• Own the new product intake process and set completion metrics
• Run quarterly catalog audits and report data health to leadership
• Create and maintain documentation/playbooks for day-to-day maintenance
• Collaborate with Ecommerce Director for SEO, site search, and filtering
• Support ERP data migration requirements and testing

Skills

Data governance

Excel

PIM management

ERP systems

SEO optimization

Tools

Akeneo

Salsify

Pimberly

DDS Acadia

Epicor Prophet 21

Job description

Product Data Specialist

Full-Time | Houston, TX | On-Site

WHY THIS ROLE EXISTS

We have a large, complex product catalog and a small, capable e-commerce and IT team. Today, our Data Analyst handles scripted cleanup and pricing updates, our Ecommerce Director manages the website, and our Office Manager is the subject matter expert on product inside the ERP. What we are missing is someone who owns the product data itself: the person who defines what clean, complete, and consistent data looks like for our catalog, and who is accountable for getting it there and keeping it there.

This role is the single point of ownership for our entire product data ecosystem. You will be the bridge between our ERP, our website, and our internal teams, ensuring that the 2.5 million items in our catalog are accurate, well-structured, and optimized for both customer experience and search visibility.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

Data Standards & Architecture

• Define and enforce the canonical product data model: required fields, naming conventions, variant attribute standards, and category taxonomy across all 300 brands

• Create and maintain the master variant attribute mapping (e.g., consolidating hundreds of inconsistent finish names into a standardized set of canonical values)

• Establish minimum data quality thresholds for product pages to remain published on the website

Catalog Cleanup & Normalization (Initial Project)

• Lead the end-to-end data cleanup project across 300,000 parent items and 2.2 million variants, starting with our 50 actively sold brands and expanding to traffic-only brands

• Audit the existing catalog to quantify data quality issues by type, brand, and severity

• Work with the team to define normalization rules, mapping tables, and review criteria that all cleanup work follows, and approve the results before they publish

• Identify and resolve duplicate items, orphan variants, and incorrect parent-child relationships

• Cross-reference ERP product records against the live website to identify and fix discrepancies

Manufacturer Data Standards

• Define the required fields, formats, and image specifications that manufacturer data feeds (EDI, API, flat files) must meet before they are accepted into the catalog

• Evaluate and recommend product data syndication tools or PIM platforms to automate ongoing data ingestion

• Ongoing Data Governance

• Own the new product intake process: every item that enters the catalog meets your standards before it goes live

• Define the completeness, consistency, and freshness metrics the catalog is measured against, and own the reporting that tracks them

• Run quarterly catalog audits and report on data health to leadership

• Create and maintain documentation and playbooks so the Data Analyst can execute day-to-day maintenance within your framework

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work with the Ecommerce Director to ensure product data supports SEO strategy, site search, and filtering

• Work with the ERP Admin to ensure data structures, workflows, and integrations support clean data flow between the ERP and the website

• Guide the Data Analyst’s day-to-day catalog work, providing standards, priorities, and quality review

• Coordinate with the sales team to understand which product attributes drive customer purchasing decisions and trade partner requirements

• Support the ERP evaluation process by defining product data migration requirements and testing data mapping in any new system

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

Required Experience

• 2-5 years of experience in product data management, catalog management, or PIM administration in an e-commerce or distribution environment

• Hands-on experience cleaning and normalizing large product catalogs (100,000+ SKUs)

• Comfortable working with large data sets in spreadsheet, PIM, and reporting tools, including reading and interpreting reports built by others

• Advanced Excel skills including pivot tables, VLOOKUP/INDEX-MATCH, and data transformation

• Demonstrated ability to define data standards and enforce them across an organization

• Experience working with ERP systems in a product data context (Epicor Prophet 21 experience is a strong plus)

Required Experience

• Experience in building materials, plumbing, kitchen, bath, or home improvement product lines

• Experience with PIM platforms such as Akeneo, Salsify, Pimberly, or DDS Acadia

• Familiarity with the structure and content of manufacturer data feeds (EDI 832/846, flat files)

• Experience with product data syndication and SEO optimization for e-commerce

• Understanding of variant/configuration management for products with multiple finishes, sizes, or options

• Experience supporting ERP migrations or major system transitions from a data perspective
  

Who You Are

• You are obsessive about data quality and consistency — inconsistent finish names keep you up at night

• You can zoom out to design a data architecture and zoom in to manually fix a product record

• You communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical stakeholders

• You are self-directed and can manage a multi-month project without constant oversight

• You understand that product data is not just an IT problem — it directly impacts sales, customer experience, and operational efficiency

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

• Salary: $65,000 - $75,000 annually, based on experience

• Benefits: 401K (4% match), 2+ weeks PTO based on tenure, Medical, Dental, Vision

• This role is based in Houston, TX