A Quick Heads-Up Before You Apply

We’re excited to welcome applications for this role! To ensure everyone has a fair chance to apply, our Talent Acquisition team will begin reviewing candidates in the final week of September. Once the posting closes, we’ll carefully evaluate all submissions.

What to expect: You’ll hear from us in October, either with an invitation to interview or an update on your application status.

Who We Are

At Elte, we are dedicated to purposeful, thoughtful designed timeless pieces that elevate the way people live. For over 100 years, our family-owned business has partnered with visionary designers and craftspeople to deliver curated collections of furniture, lighting, rugs, and home décor. With expansive showrooms in Toronto’s Design District and sister brands like Mkt and Ginger’s, we continue to shape the future of home design with integrity, quality, and innovation.

About the Role

We are looking for a strategic and results-oriented Director of Merchandising, Furniture Bath to lead one of Elte’s core product categories. Reporting directly to the Co-President/Chief Product Officer, this role combines high-level vision with hands-on execution. You will be responsible for the business performance of Elte’s furniture and bath categories, including sales, margin, inventory, and service outcomes.

As the category owner, you will lead the product management team and collaborate cross-functionally to drive growth and deliver against a defined strategic direction. This includes overseeing assortment planning, vendor and pricing management, go-to-market readiness, and ensuring operational excellence across the merchandising lifecycle.

This is an exceptional opportunity for a proven leader with a passion for product, a sharp analytical mindset, and the entrepreneurial drive to shape and scale a key vertical within a growing business.

Key Responsibilities

Business Performance Analytics

• Monitor the weekly performance of our furniture and bath categories across three key dimensions: core financials (e.g., sales and margin), inventory (e.g., in-stock rate, open-to-buy usage, and healthy inventory percentage), and product-related customer experience (e.g., average lead time, lead time accuracy, product issue rate, and NPS score), identifying risks and opportunities, developing strategies to address them, and executing accordingly to drive results.

Team Leadership Development

• Lead, manage, and hold accountable the furniture and bath product management team—providing day-to-day guidance, issue resolution support, and fostering cross-category collaboration to ensure category-level financial performance is achieved in a way that is consistent with our brand.

Assortment Strategy Optimization

• Create and execute a seasonal process to optimize our furniture and bath assortments—analyzing sales data, gathering vendor feedback, and conducting internal sales surveys to identify bestsellers to augment, assortment gaps to fill, and poor performers to exit—ensuring all proposed additions and removals are submitted for approval before action is taken.

Brand Growth Product Marketing

• Champion the strategic growth of Elte-branded products by managing their performance and leading the execution of cross-functional initiatives—including marketing campaigns, brand partnerships, and new sales channels.

Showroom Visual Merchandising

• Oversee the showroom product presentation by partnering with product managers and visual merchandising, establishing a seasonal process for determining which products are shown in-store, the materials and configurations they are displayed in, and the product pairings used—prioritizing newness and bestsellers to support strategic direction and drive sales performance.

Calendar Process Management

• Create and manage a master calendar for our furniture and bath categories that aligns the product team (as well as other internal teams) and holds them accountable to key seasonal timelines (e.g., product launches, order deadlines, clearance decisions, and promotional outreach).
• Identify, develop, and refine core processes for recurring workflows (e.g., seasonal launches, vendor price updates, clearance decisions, and vendor sales leads) to create clear systems that reduce friction, improve execution, and free up strategic focus.

Sales Enablement

• Oversee all sales tools and resources—including swatches, samples, price lists, catalogs, vendor information sheets, and the coordination of internal and external product trainings—to ensure the sales team is fully equipped to support successful product launches and ongoing category performance.

Pricing Strategy

• Establish and execute a proactive pricing process to ensure our products remain competitive and margin-optimized—regularly updating pricing in response to vendor cost changes, competitive quotes, market research, and other relevant inputs.

Vendor Management

• Own and manage our top vendor relationships—including key cross-category partners—by conducting regular business reviews and leading negotiations, while aligning efforts across the broader product team to improve pricing, terms, and promotional or marketing support—ensuring strong, strategic partnerships.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Coordinate with internal teams—including marketing, e-commerce, sales, inventory, visual merchandising, and product development—to ensure alignment on strategic initiatives, seasonal execution, and ongoing efforts to improve product performance and customer experience.

Operational Excellence

• Identify, develop, and refine core processes for recurring workflows (e.g., seasonal launches, vendor price updates, clearance decisions, and vendor sales leads) to create clear systems that reduce friction, improve execution, and free up strategic focus.

Who You Are

Experience Expertise

• 3+ years in director-level role overseeing buyers/category managers (or equivalent)
• 5+ years in retail buying/category manager (or equivalent)
• Proven success overseeing product teams and driving performance across multiple categories
• Experience in home furnishings and/or luxury retail environments
• Demonstrated ability to manage vendor relationships and lead strategic negotiations
• Track record of executing complex, cross-functional initiatives that deliver measurable results

Skills Attributes

• Strategic thinker with strong analytical and financial acumen
• Entrepreneurial mindset with a high degree of ownership and resourcefulness
• Execution-focused leader who drives accountability and results
• Excellent project manager with the ability to align teams and manage timelines
• Strong communicator and collaborator across departments and disciplines
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable managing multiple priorities
• Skilled problem-solver with the ability to identify root issues and implement effective solutions
• Passionate about product, design, and delivering exceptional customer experiences
• Flexible and open to travel for seasonal business needs

Why Join Elte?

• Make a measurable impact by leading a high-growth category in a design-led company
• Work closely with ownership, gaining exposure to executive-level decisions and entrepreneurial leadership
• Join a growing brand with plans to expand into new markets across North America
• Competitive compensation, bonus potential, and meaningful growth opportunities

Our Values

• We are committed to quality. We sweat the details. We are motivated by being great, not big. We are the tortoise, not the hare.
• We are hands-on. We roll up our sleeves, take initiative, and get things done. We dive deep and go right to the source. We don’t point out issues without suggesting solutions.
• We are open-minded. We are curious, we ask questions, and we are always eager to learn. We are nimble, light on our feet, and embrace change.
• We are humble. We don’t have egos. We aren’t afraid to ask dumb questions or admit we don’t know the answer. We have empathy for our clients, our partners, and each other.

We appreciate your interest in joining Elte and encourage you to apply if this opportunity aligns with your experience and passion. While we are grateful to all applicants, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. If you don’t hear from us this time, we hope you’ll consider applying for future opportunities, we’d love to hear from you again.

In accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, and Elte Accommodation Policy, accommodation will be provided in all parts of the hiring process. Applicants need to make their needs known in advance.