Product Information Management (PIM) Specialist

Who We Are: Great Northern Equipment Distributing, Inc. manufactures and distributes top-quality equipment that you can trust and count on at an exceptional value. We provide quality products and trusted brands to the hardware, lawn & garden, rental, agriculture and power equipment industries. We continue to strategically partner ourselves with quality products, and incorporate smart business solutions that we can utilize across our business to provide our customers exceptional value. Since we started in 1983, our goal has always been to understand our customer's business and develop a complete product and support solution that delivers exactly what you need.

Why Choose GNE?

We provide an industry leading benefits package to cover healthcare, retirement, and wellness programs to help you be your best self financially and physically. On top of that, we have:

• Competitive Pay: $70-78.5k annually, with your exact compensation personalized based on your skills, experience, and location. We believe in rewarding top talent with pay that reflects your value.  
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Holiday pay
• Referral bonus
• Employee Assistance Program
• 401K with employer match
• Excellent work/life balance
• Employee Discount & Free Rental Equipment Program
• Opportunity for internal growth and employee advancement

Basic Function: The Product Information Management (PIM) Specialist is responsible for the integrity, accuracy, and optimization of product data across eCommerce platforms. This role supports both operational excellence and digital customer experience by managing product setup, lifecycle updates, content quality, fitment specifications, and digital assets.

Essential Functions: 

New Item Publishing

• Oversees intake, validation, and publishing of new SKUs, ensuring data completeness, accuracy, and alignment with internal standards.
• Coordinates with internal teams to gather necessary data, assign proper taxonomy, and enrich content using internal, supplier, and third-party sources.

Item Maintenance

• Governs product lifecycle data (active, discontinued, obsolete) across all platforms.
• Continuously audits and resolves product data inconsistencies and gaps, maintaining feedback loops with internal teams to ensure accuracy.

Fitment & Technical Specifications

• Owns compatibility/fitment data (e.g., Make/Machine/Model), ensuring coverage, accuracy, and alignment with industry standards.
• Collaborates with Engineering and Product managers to validate technical attributes and equipment-specific specifications.

Product Copywriting & SEO

• Creates or edits product copy (e.g., descriptions) to align with brand tone, SEO best practices, and copywriting guidelines (e.g., Chicago Manual of Style).
• Uses AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Grammarly) to enhance productivity, consistency, and efficiency.

Digital Asset Management

• Links product images and owner’s manuals (PDFs) to appropriate SKUs.
• Ensures proper metadata standards for media files, optimizing syndication.

Data Governance

• Owns data quality across eCommerce sites.
• Maintains scalable product attribute models, and collaborates with various teams to implement improvements that enhance user experience and search functionality.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Strategically partners with various cross-functional teams to support product data initiatives.
• Translates business needs into structured data models and provides documentation and training on PIM processes and standards.

Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Monitors KPIs for product data accuracy and publishing timelines, and address gaps in information pipelines to ensure continuous data quality.
• Designs, recommends, and implements process improvements to streamline data management workflows.

Other Responsibilities

• Maintains SmartEquip marketplace listings (parts and wholegoods catalogs).
• Supports merchandising relationships (e.g., accessories, suggested products).
• Keeps supervisor informed of important developments, potential problems, and all related information necessary for effective management.
• Performs related work as apparent or assigned.
• Attends training as determined from GNE.

Qualifications and Skills

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Required

• 5+ years in a product data management, product content, or ecommerce role, preferably in manufacturing or wholesale
• Proven experience with PIM platforms (e.g., Salsify, Akeneo, inRiver, Stibo, Syndigo, Pimcore)
• Strong knowledge of taxonomy management, data governance, and digital content syndication
• Experience with ERP systems and data integration processes
• Familiarity with SEO, digital asset management, and ecommerce best practices
• Strong analytical mindset with Excel, Power BI, or other reporting tools 

Preferred

• Familiarity with fitment data standards 
• Exposure to scripting or automation tools (e.g., Power Automate, Python) 
• Background in product marketing, digital merchandising, or technical documentation 
• Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Marketing, Business, or related field 

Travel 

• Occasional local travel may be required