Director, Systems & Technology

Director, Systems & Technology
Full-Time, Remote (Vancouver, BC)
Working Hours: PST

Reports to:
CEO

Overview:
Vessi makes the world’s first 100% waterproof knit footwear. We’re a lean consumer brand focused on durable, profitable growth — a small team where AI-amplified individual contributors own large surface areas end to end. As Director of Systems & Technology, you’ll be responsible for the truth and usefulness of Vessi’s data, and for the intelligence of the systems built on top of it.
Today, our operations run on a connected stack — NetSuite, Shopify, retail POS, wholesale EDI, a 3PL network — held together by integrations that need a single accountable owner. The data these systems produce drives every decision we make: what we buy, where we spend, what we discount, and how we report to our partners. When that data is wrong or invisible, the whole company slows down.
Your work has three layers. First, make the data true: one clean, reconciled data layer across every system, with discrepancies root-caused rather than masked. Second, make it visible: dashboards the entire company runs on, with one agreed definition per metric. Third, make the organization intelligent: partner with each function to rebuild their highest-friction manual processes AI-first — reconciliations, filings, reporting, exception handling — and document every process so no system depends on any single person, including you.
This is a hands-on individual contributor role with no direct reports. You’ll direct contractors, vendors, and our external MSP, own outcomes rather than labor, and work with significant autonomy and a direct line to founders. We believe this work matters enormously: the quality of our systems determines how much of the team’s time goes to judgment and creativity versus manual reconciliation.
The role is remote and based in Vancouver, BC, with in-person company events each quarter.

Responsibilities:
Data Infrastructure and Integrity
Own the company’s data infrastructure end to end: ERP administration, every integration across ecommerce, POS, EDI, 3PL/WMS, banking, and returns, and the integrity of the data flowing between them.
Establish data-integrity discipline: daily variance monitoring across systems, root-cause analysis of discrepancies, and elimination of silent data drift.

Dashboards and Metrics
Build and own the company’s operating dashboards, leading our migration from legacy BI to an AI-native analytics stack with a single source of truth for company metrics.
Align metric definitions across finance and channel owners so the company works from one set of numbers.

AI-First Processes and Documentation
Rebuild high-friction manual processes AI-first across every function, and productionize the automation prototypes the team has already built.
Document every system and SOP as you build: process flows, owners, failure modes — no black boxes.
Govern AI spend with clear budgets and per-model cost visibility.

Vendors, IT, and Uptime
Manage external IT partners and SaaS vendors, including scope, SLAs, renewals, and spend rationalization.
Own uptime and incident resolution across all channels, directing our MSP on endpoint, network, and identity administration.

Qualifications & Requirements:
7+ years in business systems, data infrastructure, or technical operations, including hands-on ownership of a mid-market ERP (NetSuite strongly preferred).
Fluent in SQL and at least one of Python, JavaScript, or SuiteScript, with production integrations built using REST APIs, middleware, EDI, or webhooks.
You treat data quality as a discipline rather than a cleanup project, and instinctively root-cause discrepancies rather than adjusting them away.
You use AI tools as a genuine daily working method and can point to specific processes you’ve automated and what they saved.
You document naturally as you build, and believe systems should survive their owners.
You feel energized rather than daunted by being the sole owner of a wide technical surface area.
You communicate clearly with non-technical colleagues — you can sit with an accountant or a warehouse lead, understand the real problem, and fix it without jargon.
Curiosity, low ego, high agency, obsession with the work, and intelligence. These are the five things we hire for.

Nice to Have:
Experience in DTC, retail, or omnichannel consumer goods.
NetSuite OneWorld experience in multi-entity, multi-currency environments.
Familiarity with Shopify Plus, 3PL/WMS platforms, or wholesale EDI.
Modern data tooling experience (Hex, dbt, DuckDB, or similar) and BI migration experience.
A track record as a first or early systems hire, building process where none existed.

We encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every qualification listed. We’re looking for the right person, not a perfect resume.

Skills

7+ years in business systems, data infrastructure, or technical operations, including hands-on ownership of a mid-market ERP (NetSuite strongly preferred). Fluent in SQL and at least one of Python, JavaScript, or SuiteScript, with production integrations built using REST APIs, middleware, EDI, or webhooks. Treats data quality as a discipline and root-causes discrepancies. Uses AI tools as a daily working method with specific processes automated. Documents systems and processes as they build. Comfortable as sole owner of a wide technical surface area. Communicates clearly with non-technical colleagues.

NetSuite, Shopify, retail POS, wholesale EDI, 3PL/WMS, SQL, Python, JavaScript, SuiteScript, REST APIs, middleware, webhooks, AI tools