Role Summary
This role is part of the global IT organization and will be instrumental in driving the evolution of Staples Merchandising and Pricing technology capabilities. The leader will oversee a team responsible for support, enhancements, and new initiatives across seven product PODs spanning three pillars: Product Lifecycle & Assortment Management, Enterprise Pricing & Revenue Management, and 3P Marketplace Enablement.
The Associate Director will lead and scale the India-based GCC engineering team (50+ members), ensuring seamless collaboration with US-based engineering managers, architects, and business stakeholders. This role demands a leader who combines strong delivery management with deep functional acumen across merchandising, pricing, and marketplace domains.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership
- Lead and scale the India-based Merchandising & Pricing Technology team (50+ members) within the GCC
- Align technology strategy with global merchandising, pricing, and marketplace IT objectives
- Drive modernization of legacy systems and adoption of scalable, cloud-native platforms
Functional Oversight
Oversee systems supporting:
- Product Information Management (PIM) & Master Data Management (MDM) — item onboarding, enrichment, mastering, and syndication via STIBO STEP for 100,000+ SKUs
- Promotions & Pricing Platforms — promotional pricing, competitive pricing, price rules, and margin optimization across retail and digital channels
- B2B Vendor Rebates — rebate program management, accrual tracking, and vendor cost analysis
- CPQ Ecosystem & Contract Bid/Quote Management — B2B contract pricing, customer-specific quotes, and PROS CPQ integration
- 3rd Party Marketplace Price Engine — competitive pricing engine, listing management, and catalog syndication across Amazon, Walmart, and Target (powered by Merceo platform)
- Ensure seamless integration and performance across legacy, modern, and COTS platforms
Delivery & Operations
- Manage end-to-end delivery of support, enhancements, and strategic initiatives across all product PODs
- Establish and monitor KPIs for system performance, support SLAs, and project execution
- Promote automation in testing, deployment, and operations to improve quality and efficiency
- Strong program/project management and delivery ownership across large, distributed teams
Architecture & Systems Thinking
- Partner with domain architects to drive architectural decisions across the merchandising and pricing ecosystem.
- Evaluate technical trade-offs across a complex landscape of microservices, SaaS platforms, and enterprise integrations
- Ensure systems serve as the authoritative source for product and pricing data, supporting APIs and data services to 100+ downstream applications.
Modernization & Innovation
- Lead transformation initiatives to modernize merchandising and pricing systems and infrastructure.
- Evaluate and implement emerging technologies to enhance platform agility and resilience
- Drive adoption of DevOps, CI/CD, and automated QA practices
- Leverage event-driven, microservices-based architectures to build scalable and resilient systems.
AI-Native Engineering & Force Multiplication
- Champion an AI-native mindset across the GCC engineering organization — leveraging tools like GitHub Copilot, AI-assisted code generation, and intelligent testing to accelerate delivery and elevate engineering quality.
- Drive adoption of AI-driven SDLC practices across the team: AI-assisted design reviews, automated code analysis, intelligent documentation, and predictive quality assurance
- Embed AI tooling into everyday engineering workflows — not just coding, but requirements analysis, architecture exploration, incident resolution, and operational intelligence.
- Act as a force multiplier by enabling engineers at all levels to leverage AI tools to amplify their impact, reduce toil, and focus on higher-order problem solving.
- Establish best practices and governance for responsible AI tool usage across the engineering organization
Stakeholder Engagement
- Collaborate directly with US-based business stakeholders — merchants, pricing analysts, revenue management, and marketplace operations teams
- Partner with US engineering managers and architects to align on roadmaps, priorities, and delivery cadence
- Serve as a trusted advisor on merchandising and pricing technology strategy and execution.
Talent & Capability Building
- Attract, develop, and retain top engineering talent across merchandising, pricing, and marketplace domains
- Foster a high-performance culture focused on innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement
Requirements
Minimum Years of Experience
- Minimum of 12 years of experience in IT with a focus on merchandising, pricing, or e-commerce technology systems
- Minimum of 4 years of experience working in a full stack engineering role
Basic Qualifications
- Proven leadership experience managing large teams (50+) in a GCC or similar setup.
- Deep functional acumen across Product Information Management (PIM/MDM), Pricing & Promotions platforms, CPQ ecosystems, and marketplace technology
- Experience with B2B vendor rebate management, contract bid/quote systems, and 3rd party marketplace pricing engines
- Expertise in Java, Spring Boot, React/Angular, microservices architectures, and SaaS platforms
- Strong background in cloud platforms (Azure/GCP), system modernization, and automation
- Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills with ability to engage directly with business teams
- Champion of AI-native engineering practices — demonstrated experience driving adoption of AI tools (GitHub Copilot, AI-assisted testing, intelligent code review) as a force multiplier across engineering teams
- AI-driven SDLC mindset: proven ability to embed AI tooling across the software development lifecycle to accelerate delivery, improve quality, and amplify team productivity
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in global retail or B2B commerce environments
- Hands-on experience with STIBO STEP (PIM/MDM), PROS CPQ, or similar enterprise platforms
- Exposure to cloud-native transformation programs and event-driven architectures
- Ability to lead in a fast-paced, matrixed organization with a global footprint
