The Senior Vice President, Private Brands will serve as the enterprise leader responsible for advancing Staples’ Private Brands portfolio into a distinctive growth platform and strategic source of competitive advantage. Reporting to and partnering closely with the Chief Merchandising Officer, this executive will lead the strategy, innovation, development, sourcing, quality, and commercial performance of Staples’ proprietary brand portfolio across channels.
This is a highly strategic general management role requiring a leader who can move beyond traditional private label management and build destination brands and products that customers actively choose for quality, innovation, trust, and value. The successful candidate will combine commercial judgment, brand-building capability, global sourcing expertise, product development discipline, data-driven decision making, and enterprise leadership to accelerate growth, expand margins, and strengthen customer loyalty.
Role Description
Strategic Leadership
Define and execute a multi-year strategy for Staples’ Product Brands portfolio that drives profitable growth, increased penetration, customer loyalty, and enterprise value creation.
Operate as the general manager of the Private Brands business, with clear accountability for portfolio performance, innovation, quality, cost productivity, re-sourcing, mitigating tariff impacts and commercial outcomes.
Translate macroeconomic shifts, customer behavior, workplace trends, and competitive dynamics into actionable brand and product strategies.
Partner across Merchandising, Sales, Digital, Inventory Management, Finance, Supply Chain, Legal, and Stores to embed Product Brands into the broader enterprise growth agenda. Driving strategic alignment with 4 channels, encompassing B2B and B2C.
Shape a clear strategic roadmap that balances near-term financial delivery with long-term brand equity, differentiation, and category expansion.
Brand Building & Consumer-Led Innovation
Build a portfolio of trusted, differentiated products and solutions that customers seek out for superior value, quality, relevance, and reliability.
Lead brand architecture, positioning, segmentation, and portfolio management to ensure each brand and product has a clear role, customer target, and growth path.
Use customer insights, competitive intelligence, research, behavioral data, and market signals to identify unmet needs and whitespace opportunities.
Champion innovation that solves real customer problems and strengthens Staples’ position as a provider of products for work.
Create a disciplined innovation pipeline with faster concept-to-market timelines, test-and-learn practices, and measurable commercial impact.
Product Development, Quality & Portfolio Growth
Oversee end-to-end product lifecycle management from concept development through commercialization, launch, optimization, and rationalization.
Ensure Private Brands meet national brand quality expectations while delivering compelling value to customers.
Advance design, packaging, engineering, quality assurance, safety, and compliance standards across the portfolio.
Identify and scale opportunities in core, adjacent, and emerging categories that strengthen Staples’ relevance and margin profile.
Balance product innovation, simplification, assortment productivity, and lifecycle discipline to maximize portfolio performance.
Data, Analytics, AI & Digital Commerce
Leverage customer data, AI, predictive analytics, search behavior, ratings, reviews, and digital signals to inform product creation, pricing, assortment, and portfolio decisions.
Build analytical capability that enables faster identification of trends, demand shifts, product gaps, and innovation opportunities.
Partner with digital and ecommerce teams to improve discoverability, conversion, content quality, and customer confidence across Staples.com, Staples Business.com and emerging marketplace commerce platforms.
Prepare the Private Brands portfolio for AI-enabled shopping, agentic commerce, and digitally influenced customer journeys.
Use insight and analytics to create a structural advantage over national brands and traditional competitors.
Global Sourcing, Cost Productivity & Resilience
Lead a global sourcing strategy that balances cost competitiveness, quality, speed, innovation, supply continuity, and risk management.
Deliver sustainable cost productivity and total delivered cost improvement while protecting customer experience and product integrity.
Strengthen supplier relationships, negotiation capability, manufacturing partnerships, and global sourcing governance.
Build supply chain resilience through diversification, contingency planning, geopolitical awareness, and risk-adjusted sourcing decisions.
Ensure appropriate oversight of regulatory, product safety, environmental, and compliance requirements (product and packaging) across the supply base.
Strategic Partnerships & External Ecosystem
Develop strategic relationships with manufacturers, suppliers, designers, innovation partners, and technology providers that enhance Staples’ product and brand capabilities.
Evaluate opportunities for co-development, licensing, exclusivity, and partnership models that accelerate differentiation and speed to market.
Position Staples as a preferred innovation and sourcing partner within the global supplier ecosystem.
Enterprise Leadership & Organization Building
Lead, develop, and inspire a high-performing organization across Category Management, Project Management, Analytics, Sourcing, Engineering, Design, Quality, Logistics, Content, Packaging and Commercial Activation.
Build next-generation capabilities in innovation, analytics, negotiation, customer insight, portfolio management, and strategic problem solving.
Influence senior leaders across the enterprise and align cross-functional teams around a common Private Brands vision.
Create a strong leadership bench, succession pipeline, and culture of accountability, collaboration, pace, and continuous improvement.
Qualifications:
Professional Experience
Senior executive experience leading a sizeable, branded product, private brand, merchandising, product development, consumer goods, retail, or sourcing organization.
Demonstrated record of delivering profitable growth, margin expansion, product innovation, and portfolio transformation at scale.
Experience operating in a complex, matrixed, global organization with significant cross-functional influence and enterprise-level accountability.
Leadership Capabilities
Strategic enterprise leader with the ability to set vision, simplify complexity, make disciplined choices, and deliver results through others.
High-impact communicator who can engage senior executives, cross-functional partners, suppliers, and teams with clarity and credibility.
Change leader with the resilience, pace, and influence required to elevate Private Brands into a larger strategic growth platform.
Functional Expertise
Deep knowledge of brand strategy, product development, customer insights, category management, portfolio optimization, commercial activation, and global sourcing.
Ability to combine commercial, creative, operational, analytical, and financial thinking into an integrated Product Brands strategy.
Strong understanding of digital commerce, data-driven decision making, AI-enabled insights, and changing customer discovery behaviors.
Personal Characteristics
Customer-obsessed, commercially sharp, intellectually curious, and externally aware.
Balances strategic ambition with operational discipline and a bias for action.
Collaborative, low-ego leader who builds trust, raises standards, develops strong talent, and can network well across the organization.
Measures of Success
Success in this role will be measured by the executive’s ability to elevate Private Brands into a larger growth, margin, and loyalty engine for Staples. Key indicators include:
Accelerated Private Brands unit, sales, and margin dollar growth, penetration, and category relevance.
Sustained margin expansion and total delivered cost productivity.
Improved brand equity, customer preference, product quality, and customer satisfaction.
Stronger innovation pipeline, faster speed to market, and measurable commercial impact from new and existing products.
Leverages data, AI, analytics, and digital signals to inform product and portfolio decisions.
More resilient, diversified, and strategically advantaged global sourcing capabilities.
Development of a strong leadership bench and higher-performing Private Brands organization.
Clear contribution to Staples’ broader enterprise value creation agenda.
It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.
Skills Required
- Senior executive experience leading a sizeable branded product, private brand, merchandising, product development, consumer goods, retail, or sourcing organization
- Demonstrated success delivering profitable growth, margin expansion, product innovation, and portfolio transformation at scale
- Experience operating in a complex, matrixed, global organization with significant cross-functional influence and enterprise-level accountability
- Deep knowledge of brand strategy, product development, customer insights, category management, portfolio optimization, commercial activation, and global sourcing
- Strong understanding of digital commerce, data-driven decision-making, AI-enabled insights, and changing customer discovery behaviors
- Ability to integrate commercial, creative, operational, analytical, and financial thinking into a Product Brands strategy
- Strong enterprise leadership, communication, change leadership, talent development, and cross-functional influence capabilities
Staples Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Staples and has not been reviewed or approved by Staples.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Wellbeing offerings are described as broad, including wellness reimbursements, emotional support and coaching, legal services, identity theft protection, and pet insurance. Employee discounts and select on-site amenities are also positioned as meaningful add-ons beyond basic coverage.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time-off provisions are presented as relatively expansive, including paid time off, company-recognized holidays, and a personal or flexible holiday option. Vacation that grows with tenure and PTO flexibility are highlighted as valued elements.
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Inclusive Benefits Coverage — Healthcare benefits explicitly include gender-affirming care alongside medical, dental, and vision coverage. Family and caregiver programs also include support that references LGBTQ+ considerations and broader life-stage needs.
Staples Insights
What We Do
For nearly 40 years, Staples has been a trusted leader in delivering end-to-end workplace solutions for consumers and businesses of all sizes across a broad range of industries. The company provides a comprehensive portfolio of products, strategic solutions, and services including print and marketing, shipping, technology, and travel. Its specialized assortment includes high-quality office supplies, janitorial products, technology, furniture, and breakroom essentials, all supported by best-in-class supply chain capabilities and a dedicated team of experts committed to making the workday easier. Headquartered near Boston, Massachusetts, Staples operates throughout North America via direct B2B sales, e-commerce, and more than 900 retail stores. To learn more, visit your local U.S. Staples store, download the Staples app, explore Staples.com or StaplesBusiness.com, or follow @Staples on social media.
