UX Writer

Department: Product & Services

Location: Toronto, ON

Compensation: CA$75,000 - CA$85,000 / year

Description

Reporting to the Director of Product Design, the UX Writer writes the content inside GS1 Canada's ecosystem of digital products. This is a functional ownership role, not a service role: you are accountable for content outcomes on the products you support, from problem definition through delivery and measurement.

You partner with Product Design, Product Management, Engineering, Business Analysis, and the translation team, working in alignment with GS1 Canada's product development lifecycle standard. You are equally comfortable writing copy for complex workflows, holding terminology consistent across products, and defending a wording decision with evidence.

Key Responsibilities

Content Strategy


• Set the content approach for a product or flow before writing begins: what the user needs to know, when, and in what order.
• Shape the narrative of complex, multi-step journeys - onboarding, publication, remediation - so a flow reads as one story rather than a series of unrelated screens.
• Decide where the product should say more, say less, or say nothing at all.
• Make the case for content changes that move a metric: task completion, support volume, data quality.

UX Writing


• Own the words on screen: page titles, navigation, buttons, form labels, helper text, tooltips, empty states, confirmations, and system messages.
• Write for every state a screen can be in - empty, loading, partial, error, permission-denied, zero, one, and many - not only the happy path.
• Turn complex, data-heavy workflows into language a non-expert can act on.
• Write error and validation messages that say what happened, why, and what to do next.
• Write with impact: copy that carries the weight of the moment it appears in, from a first-run welcome to a failed publication.

Standards and Terminology


• Apply and help maintain GS1 Canada's UX copywriting standards, and propose updates as new patterns emerge.
• Maintain the product terminology register: the plain-language labels we use on screen for governed domain concepts.
• Work with the Data team, whose Single Data Model governs our domain vocabulary, and with Corporate Affairs on the shared bilingual glossary.
• Contribute content guidance to design system components so correct content becomes the default for every team building on the system

Content in Delivery


• Prepare copy for development: final text, string keys, character limits, and states, delivered with the work item rather than pulled from a design file.
• Apply the Content Readiness checklist before stories enter a sprint, and raise content that is not ready.
• Run a content pass on staging before release, and file content defects in Azure DevOps alongside functional defects.

Accessibility and Bilingual Content


• Write content that meets AODA requirements and WCAG 2.2 Level AA: accessible names, alternative text, and error text that is specific and programmatically associated with its field.
• Prepare source English that translates cleanly, flag never-translate terms, and support qualified French reviewers through the bilingual review process
• Check French content for length, layout fit, and parity with English before release.

Research and Collaboration


• Test copy with subscribers through usability sessions, and use support themes and behavioural data to find content problems worth fixing.
• Join design critique, and give and receive content feedback as part of the design process rather than after
• Explain content decisions with evidence, and distinguish an error from a strong recommendation from a style preference.
• Use GS1 Canada's AI tooling - including the UX copywriting skill built on our own standards - for first-pass drafting and review, with your judgment as the final word.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE


• Subscribers understand what a screen is asking of them, measured through usability testing and support volume.
• Content reaches development complete and keyed, reducing copy rework and late-stage translation scrambles.
• Terminology stays consistent across screens, products, and both official languages.
• Content defects are caught before release rather than reported by subscribers.

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

• 3 to 4 years writing content for digital products in agile, cross-functional teams.
• Experience writing for applications where people are completing a task rather than browsing.
• Ability to write to constraints: character limits, component patterns, established terminology, and defined states.
• Plain-language discipline, with the judgment to know when a domain term is necessary and when it is jargon.
• Working knowledge of WCAG 2.2 AA, AODA, and how assistive technology reads interface content.
• Proficiency with Figma; familiarity with Azure DevOps or Jira, Storybook, and AI-assisted writing tooling.
• Understanding of how copy moves from a design file into a front-end codebase, and why hardcoded strings are a problem.
• Clear communication and the ability to give and take content feedback without defensiveness.

NICE TO HAVE
• Bilingual (English/French).
• Experience writing for SaaS or enterprise platforms.
Experience in supply chain, retail, healthcare, fintech, or other regulated environments