Country Manager/General Manager, Canada

About Yami:

Founded in 2013, Yami’s mission is to bring the world closer for everyone to experience and enjoy. We make it easy to discover exciting flavors and trending products from Asia. Named Inc. Magazine’s fastest-growing start-up on the ”Inc. 500 List.”, "We’re committed to connecting people with authentic food, beauty, home, and wellness experiences through our e-commerce platform, iOS, and Android apps.

Benefits & Compensation:

• Extended Health, Dental & Vision Benefits
• Paid Vacation, Statutory Holidays, and Sick Leave
• Employee discount
• Coffee and snacks
• 110-180K CAD per year

Summary:

Yami has built a strong foundation serving a highly engaged global customer base and continues to expand its international footprint. As we enter the next stage of growth, Canada represents a key strategic market for expansion, offering strong demand, a growing Asian diaspora, and significant long-term e-commerce opportunity.

Canada Expansion & Role Overview

We are hiring a Country Manager / General Manager, Canada to lead Yami’s market entry and long-term expansion in the region. This is a hands-on yet strategic leadership role with full P&L ownership, responsible for driving revenue growth, profitability, and operational scalability across the Canadian market.

The role will define and execute the Canada strategy, in alignment with C-level leadership, including GMV growth, customer acquisition, conversion rate optimization, retention, and unit economics, while building a sustainable and scalable local business. The leader will be accountable for translating market opportunities into measurable business outcomes, including revenue growth, margin expansion, and overall market share development.

The ideal candidate is a data-driven operator and builder with strong business instincts, someone who can move fluidly between strategy and execution, and who understands how to use metrics, customer insights, and financial levers to scale a business from early-stage entry (0 to 1) to long-term growth, while adapting Yami’s model to local Canadian market conditions.

Ultimately, this leader will be responsible for building a high-performing Canada business with clear accountability for revenue growth, profitability, customer experience, and operational efficiency, establishing Yami as a leading e-commerce platform for Asian products in Canada.

Essential Job Responsibility:

1. Business Ownership & Strategy

• Own full P&L, including revenue growth, profitability, and cost control
• Define and execute the Canada market entry and expansion strategy in alignment with global leadership
• Identify growth opportunities across categories, channels, and partnerships

2. Market & Customer Insights

• Develop a deep understanding of Canadian consumers, especially the Asian diaspora
• Translate customer insights, competitive dynamics, and market trends into localized growth strategies across marketing, merchandising, and product
• Build strong local brand presence and customer engagement

3. Commercial & E-commerce Leadership

• Lead end-to-end e-commerce business operations, including merchandising strategy, pricing, promotions, and assortment planning
• Drive GMV growth, conversion, and customer retention
• Collaborate with HQ on platform, product, and growth initiatives

4. Operations & Supply Chain

• Oversee end-to-end local operations, including fulfillment, logistics, inventory planning, and last-mile delivery
• Optimize inventory, warehousing, and distribution efficiency
• Ensure compliance with Canadian regulatory, tax, and trade requirements

5. Organization Building & Leadership

• Build and lead a high-performing local team across functions
• Foster a high-performance culture aligned with Yami’s values and mission
• Drive performance management, capability building, and develop leadership depth and succession planning for long-term scalability
• Operate as an AI-native leader, leveraging AI tools, automation, and data systems to improve decision-making and operational efficiency

6. Cross-border Collaboration

• Act as the key bridge between HQ (US/China) and the Canada team
• Align global strategy with local execution while ensuring fast and effective decision-making and actions
• Ensure clarity in priorities, communication, and individual and teams’ execution accountability across time zones

Qualification and Requirement

• Bachelor’s degree or above in Business, Economics, Engineering, or related field
• 10–15+ years of progressive leadership experience in e-commerce, retail, or consumer-facing industries
• Strong bilingual communication skills in English and Chinese , with the ability to translate strategy into clear execution and align teams across all organizational levels
• Proven track record of full P&L ownership or leading a significant business unit
• Experience building and scaling businesses in high-growth or startup environments strongly preferred
• Experience in the North American market required; Canada market experience is a strong plus
• Strong understanding of end-to-end e-commerce business models, including growth, monetization, operations, and customer lifecycle
• Demonstrated ability to scale businesses from early-stage entry to long-term growth (Zero-to-one & One-to-Many)
• Strong business judgment with ability to balance growth, profitability, and operational efficiency
• Proven ability to build, lead, and scale cross-functional teams in a fast-paced environment
• Strong organizational leadership skills with experience in talent development, performance management, and culture building
• High adaptability and comfort operating in ambiguous, fast-changing environments
• “Builder mindset” with strong ownership and execution drive
• Strong proficiency in leveraging AI tools, automation, and data-driven systems to improve operational efficiency
• Must have legal authorization to work in Canada

Compensation Transparency: Final salary offers are determined based on a variety of factors, including the candidate’s specialized experience, skill set, and existing professional network in the local market.

Accessibility & Inclusion: Yami is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity. In accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and the Ontario Human Rights Code , Yami will provide accommodation to applicants with disabilities throughout the recruitment, selection, and/or assessment process. If selected to participate, please inform our team of the nature of any accommodation(s) that you may require.

AI Disclosure & Transparency: All final hiring decisions, interviews, and candidate evaluations are conducted by our human recruitment team. We ensure that our use of technology supports, rather than replaces, fair and equitable human judgment.

Work Authorization: Applicants must be legally authorized to work in Canada at the time of application. Yami does not provide visa sponsorship or relocation assistance for this position.

Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.