Operations Specialist

position, you will serve as a vital pillar for our client's wholesale division, specifically championing backend management and logistical support for their vibrant licensed sports category (covering collegiate, professional, and golf profiles). This unique contract block offers an incredible opportunity to step into a highly structured environment, leverage pre-existing operational frameworks that are easily repeatable, and keep a high-performing business engine moving smoothly. Operating under a flexible hybrid work structure based out of Vancouver, you will report directly to a progressive Strategic Sales Operations Manager located in Chicago, joining a close-knit, highly collaborative local team.

As an Operations Specialist focused on Strategic Sales, you will serve above a coordinator level as a mini project manager, masterfully guiding seasonal timelines, supporting e-commerce image workflows, and coordinating cross-functional partnerships across North America. To succeed in this role, you must thrive within ambiguous environments—being completely comfortable "in the grey"—while bringing a healthy dose of curiosity, proactive tracking, and absolute professional confidence to the table. Our client's team values highly presentable professionals who shine in virtual collaboration spaces, command a Zoom room with excellent etiquette, and communicate with both honesty and kindness.

Because we are a premier staffing and recruitment firm, please note that you will be working directly for our industry-leading retail client, rather than Randstad. While this position is an explicit contract block designed to provide coverage for a team member's upcoming sabbatical, it opens up immense visibility to a globally recognized brand name, and the contract worker is eligible to apply for other internal roles as the assignment nears completion. If you love execution, continuous process improvement, and connecting with multi-functional teams across the corporate landscape, our expert recruiters want to hear from you today.

Advantages
• Competitive contract compensation rate budgeted to align with an attractive market salary range of $35 to $44 hourly for the contract duration.
• High-visibility corporate exposure with a world-renowned, global athletic performance retail brand.
• Excellent work-life balance through a hybrid working arrangement based out of a premium Vancouver office space (specific in-office attendance schedule to be finalized upon hire).
• Standard business operational hours (approximately 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 or 5:00 p.m.) with built-in daytime flexibility.
• Access to pre-established, easily repeatable operational frameworks designed by top-tier industry experts, ensuring a smooth training and onboarding ramp.
• A collaborative, high-energy, and incredibly fun team dynamic that integrates transparency, peer-to-peer trust, and personal development into the daily routine.

Responsibilities
• Support the end-to-end wholesale order management for licensed sports accounts, managing seasonal pre-buys, sell-in tracking, and stock replenishment cycles.
• Coordinate, implement, and audit internal frameworks for order processing, high-volume purchase orders (POs), and retail stickering compliance.
• Streamline and improve existing business processes to elevate overall workflow execution, data management accuracy, and cross-functional productivity.
• Manage comprehensive sales timelines throughout the multi-layered product buying cycle, holding cross-functional team members and multiple stakeholders accountable to critical deadlines.
• Support corporate e-commerce image operations by coordinating and ordering internal-use products required for seasonal photo shoots and asset presentation.
• Draft, review, and deliver crucial operational updates and communications, ensuring that all licensed sports business processes are transparently captured.
• Facilitate comprehensive operational training for new licensed sports wholesale accounts, serving as the core operations champion during key partner meetings.
• Nurture and maintain vital cross-functional partnerships with regional sales representatives, program managers, design functions, and corporate stakeholders.
• Develop urgent, innovative solutions when unexpected supply chain or operational bottlenecks impact the delivery of licensed sports deliverables.
• Champion a collaborative corporate culture that actively celebrates diversity, prioritizes equity, integrates fun and joy, and empowers peers to hold each other accountable.

Qualifications
Skills
• Strong project tracking, proactive follow-up, and timeline management capabilities with a high level of confidence and personal accountability.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to be highly present and engaging within virtual meetings and Zoom environments.
• Proven ability to manage ambiguity, solve complex structural problems, and challenge the status quo with an entrepreneurial, innovative spirit.
• Highly collaborative, relationship-first mindset, exhibiting a strong eye for detail, emotional intelligence, and passion for cross-functional group success.
• Deep analytical capacity for reviewing data, identifying process efficiencies, and establishing best-practice operational guidelines.

Requirements
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, or a closely related professional corporate discipline; background or certification in change management is a plus.
• Minimum of 1 to 3 years of direct experience working as an Operations Specialist, Sales Operations Specialist, or Project Management Specialist.
• Highly proficient in advanced Microsoft Excel functions (e.g., VLOOKUPs, pivot tables) and specialized project management applications such as Smartsheet and SharePoint.
• Proven background navigating fast-paced product or project environments; previous exposure to sports, apparel wholesale, licensed consumer goods, or even fast-moving fields like film production is highly valued.
• Demonstrated capability to organize workloads, establish shifting priorities, and seamlessly execute multiple backend management projects under tight deadlines without losing attention to detail.
• Willingness to adapt to a central timezone management reporting structure, including attending virtual syncs twice a week, and travel occasionally for business operations if requested.

Summary
At Randstad, we are dedicated to helping you achieve professional fulfillment while balancing your personal well-being. Our recruiters are specialized experts in the business administration and sales sectors, meaning they understand the unique market trends in Vancouver and are committed to guiding you through every step of your career journey. If you are an execution-focused professional looking to align your unique skills with a premium brand, we invite you to apply through our online platform or connect with one of our recruitment specialists today.

If this specific contract role doesn't perfectly match your current ambitions, don't worry! Connect with our team anyway to explore other exciting opportunities that fit your unique expertise.

Randstad Canada is committed to fostering a workforce reflective of all peoples of Canada. As a result, we are committed to developing and implementing strategies to increase the equity, diversity and inclusion within the workplace by examining our internal policies, practices, and systems throughout the entire lifecycle of our workforce, including its recruitment, retention and advancement for all employees. In addition to our deep commitment to respecting human rights, we are dedicated to positive actions to affect change to ensure everyone has full participation in the workforce free from any barriers, systemic or otherwise, especially equity-seeking groups who are usually underrepresented in Canada's workforce, including those who identify as women or non-binary/gender non-conforming; Indigenous or Aboriginal Peoples; persons with disabilities (visible or invisible) and; members of visible minorities, racialized groups and the LGBTQ2+ community.

Randstad Canada is committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible workplace for all its candidates and employees by supporting their accessibility and accommodation needs throughout the employment lifecycle. We ask that all job applications please identify any accommodation requirements by sending an email to accessibility@randstad.ca to ensure their ability to fully participate in the interview process.