Director - Enterprise Planning & Operations

Staples Canada•Richmond Hill, ON

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Enterprise Planning & Operations is a key Merchandising leadership role responsible for connecting Staples Canada’s enterprise priorities, promotional agenda, operational capabilities, and master data foundations into clear, executable plans. The role acts as the connective tissue across Merchandising, Marketing, Store Operations, Supply Chain, IT, Finance, Print, B2B, and Field Leadership to align resources, priorities, timing, ownership, and next steps. This role leads four integrated pillars: Enterprise Planning, Promotion Leadership, Operations Support & Continuous Improvement, and Master Data Management (MDM). Together, these pillars ensure Staples is planning the right work, executing with discipline, measuring performance, and continuously improving the tools, data, and processes that enable teams to move faster and serve customers better across stores, online, and business channels. The Director brings the pieces together across the organization, translating strategic priorities into action, creating visibility to risks and dependencies, and driving accountability through strong planning routines, promotion governance, operational readiness, and data stewardship.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Merchandising, Retail Management, Finance, Economics, Supply Chain, Information Technology, or a related field; MBA or Master’s degree considered an asset.
Working knowledge of master data management, item and vendor data governance, data quality controls, and vendor compliance processes.
Strong enterprise planning and operating cadence capability, with demonstrated ability to align priorities, resources, timelines, risks, decisions, and next steps across a complex organization.
Deep understanding of retail merchandising, promotional planning, pricing, flyer execution, offer strategy, vendor funding, omnichannel execution, and performance measurement.
Strong analytical and commercial acumen, with the ability to convert sales, margin, inventory, customer, competitive, and operational insights into clear recommendations and action plans.
10+ years of progressive experience in retail merchandising, merchandise planning, merchandising operations, promotional strategy, business operations, analytics, master data, or related functions.
5+ years of people leadership experience, including leading managers, specialists, or cross-functional project teams.
Experience leading enterprise planning cycles, seasonal events, promotional programs, business reviews, operational readiness, system/process enhancements, or transformation initiatives.
Experience partnering across Merchandising, Marketing, Store Operations, Supply Chain, IT, Finance, Digital, Print, B2B, and Field Leadership in a fast-paced retail environment.
Proven experience improving internal tools, dashboards, workflows, SOPs, issue-resolution routines, and scalable operating models.

Nice To Haves

MBA or Master’s degree

Responsibilities

Lead Staples Canada’s enterprise merchandising planning rhythm across retail, digital, print, and B2B priorities, ensuring clear alignment on resources, sequencing, milestones, ownership, and decision points.
Own and govern the integrated enterprise calendar for major events, campaigns, offers, launches, vendor activity, and seasonal moments, including Back-to-School, holiday, and other critical selling periods.
Translate business strategies into practical execution plans with clear actions, owners, timing, dependencies, risks, and follow-up routines.
Facilitate planning meetings, leadership updates, business reviews, and post-mortems that create a shared view of performance and drive timely action on gaps, opportunities, and learnings.
Act as a central connector across Merchandising, Marketing, Store Operations, Supply Chain, IT, Finance, Print, B2B, and Field Leadership to remove barriers, align priorities, and maintain execution momentum.
Lead the end-to-end promotional planning process across flyer, mass offers, product and price promotions, coupons, vendor-funded activity, and key enterprise campaigns.
Partner with Category Management, Marketing, Pricing, Finance, Digital, Store Operations, and B2B teams to strengthen promotional effectiveness across sales, margin, traffic, basket, conversion, and ROI.
Own promotion governance, including offer timing, item readiness, pricing accuracy, margin guardrails, store and digital execution requirements, vendor funding, and performance readbacks.
Provide operational support for merchandising execution, including issue intake and resolution, store and home office support, pre-sale validation, UAT, release readiness, and follow-up execution.
Lead the Merchandising MDM agenda, including item and vendor data governance, stewardship, data quality standards, controls, and issue-resolution routines across core systems.
Lead and develop the Enterprise Planning & Operations team, setting clear priorities, expectations, routines, and accountability across the four pillars.