Since 1978, Lee Valley has recognized that for many, woodworking and gardening are more than just hobbies. Lee Valley Tools enjoys a proud history of providing high-quality woodworking, gardening, hobby, hardware, gift and seasonal merchandise to customers worldwide. We pride ourselves on providing quality products and renowned customer service.
Lee Valley has been honored with many prestigious awards, including being recognized as one of Canada's Best Managed Companies by Deloitte. Additionally, we ranked #1 for In-Store Experience in Ontario by Leger Marketing Inc.
A position at Lee Valley is more than just a job – we honor the time and dedication that our people give by providing sustained and meaningful employment while striving to provide an environment where learning and development are encouraged.
Overview:
Reporting to the Vice-President, General Merchandise Management, you are a central day-to-day resource for product compliance, merchandise data governance and ERP item administration. You oversee the records required to purchase, import, stock, promote and sell products, helping ensure that applicable compliance requirements are identified and addressed before an item proceeds.
The work calls for initiative, curiosity, sound judgment and close attention to detail. You research unfamiliar questions, apply established requirements, assess supporting information and resolve discrepancies. You work directly with vendors, testing organizations and other external specialists, and with regulatory bodies as required, to understand requirements and obtain the necessary documentation, testing or approvals.
Within established requirements and the authority of the role, you assess whether an item is ready to proceed. Novel, ambiguous or significant compliance, risk or commercial matters are escalated to the VP, General Merchandise Management or the appropriate external specialist.
The role combines research, project coordination, training, governance and record keeping. You maintain and help develop clear standards, reliable records and practical guidance, sharing the knowledge colleagues need to work accurately and consistently.
Working with Category Management, Supply Chain, Traffic and other teams, you consider how item decisions affect downstream systems and sales channels. Part of the role is finding practical ways to simplify processes, prevent errors, automate repeatable work and make compliance reporting, item creation and maintenance more efficient and consistent.
This is a broad developmental role for someone who wants to build deep expertise in product compliance, enterprise merchandise systems and data governance while taking on increasing responsibility as their knowledge develops.
Key Responsibilities:
Product Compliance
- Coordinate Lee Valley's day-to-day product-compliance activity in Canada and the United States. Research applicable legislation, regulations and standards and translate established requirements into clear direction for products, vendors and internal teams, seeking internal or external guidance when interpretation is uncertain.
- Working with vendors, regulatory authorities, testing organizations and other specialists, you obtain and assess the certifications, test reports, declarations, labels, warnings and other evidence needed to establish compliance. You investigate gaps or discrepancies and determine whether an item meets established requirements, escalating significant risks or commercial decisions to the VP, General Merchandise Management.
- You monitor changing requirements, help identify affected products and coordinate corrective action, regulatory inquiries and recalls, maintaining a complete record of decisions and actions.
Item Creation and Maintenance
- You oversee the creation, maintenance and retirement of item and vendor records in our enterprise software, ensuring products are correctly established for their intended markets, channels and business processes.
- Serve as a key business resource for merchandise-data administration in our enterprise software, understanding how its fields, codes and rules affect purchasing, inventory, pricing, promotions, stores, ecommerce, fulfilment, reporting and connected systems.
- Apply established submission and validation requirements, coordinate item setup across functions, and resolve discrepancies before inaccurate or incomplete information moves downstream. You also troubleshoot complex data and process issues, contribute to system changes and integrations, and develop the knowledge of other enterprise software users.
Data Governance & Records
- Apply, maintain and help improve standards for product, item and vendor master data, including required fields, sources of record, validation rules, ownership and change control.
- Maintain organized, current and retrievable records of compliance evidence, decisions, approvals and follow-up requirements. Through regular audits and reporting, you identify missing or outdated information and provide visibility into item readiness, documentation status, data quality and unresolved risks.
- You translate regulatory, technical and system requirements into practical direction for colleagues and vendors. You coordinate complex compliance and item-creation work across functions, clarify responsibilities and follow issues through to resolution.
- You develop training, procedures, checklists and decision tools that improve accuracy at the source. You constructively challenge incomplete or unsupported information while maintaining productive relationships with colleagues, vendors and external specialists.
- Identify and help implement practical improvements to compliance, item-creation and maintenance processes. Working with IT and business teams, contribute to templates, validation tools, controlled uploads, automation, reporting and appropriate AI-enabled tools that reduce manual effort and prevent errors.
Knowledge and Skills:
- Postsecondary education in business, supply chain management, regulatory affairs, information management, commerce or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and substantial relevant experience.
- Experience with product master data, item creation, merchandise administration, product compliance, supplier documentation or a closely related field in a complex retail, distribution or import environment.
- Familiarity with product compliance, certification, labelling, documentation, importation and traceability requirements applicable to products sold in Canada and the United States.
- Experience independently researching unfamiliar technical or regulatory questions and converting findings into operational requirements and defensible decisions.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel and data-analysis and reporting skills. Workflow automation or AI-enabled productivity tools is an asset.
What we offer:
- A competitive compensation program, including base salary, comprehensive health and dental benefits, and a matching group retirement savings plan.
- Paid vacation and sick leave to support your well-being and work-life balance.
- A generous Lee Valley employee discount.
- A supportive, family-oriented environment that encourages learning, growth, and long-term development.
Salary Range: $60,000 - $70,000
Diversity and Inclusion:
At Lee Valley, we are proud to celebrate and foster a diverse team of professionals. We take pride in nurturing an inclusive culture that empowers our people to be their authentic selves, celebrate their differences and love where they work. Our diverse community combined with our inclusive culture, is what sets us apart in the industry.
We encourage all candidates to apply for job opportunities with Lee Valley regardless of race, national origin, colour, religion, age, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital and family status, or disability.
Our Approach to Artificial Intelligence in Recruitment
We believe that hiring decisions should be grounded in human judgment, thoughtful evaluation, and meaningful dialogue.
At Lee Valley, we do not use artificial intelligence tools to screen, rank, or make automated decisions about candidates. All applications are reviewed by members of our hiring team, and selection decisions are made through human assessment and professional judgment.
We are committed to a fair, transparent, and equitable recruitment process where candidates are evaluated based on their experience, skills, and potential — not by automated systems.
Accommodation Requests
If you require accommodation during the recruitment and selection process, please do not hesitate to reach out.
We thank all applicants, however only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
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