Sales Operations & Planning Coordinator

Location: Apollo Optical Systems, Rochester, NY area
Job Type: Full-Time, Primarily On-Site
Salary: $28–$35 per hour, depending on experience

Apollo Optical Systems is seeking a highly organized, proactive, and customer-focused Sales Operations & Planning Coordinator to join our team. This newly created position will serve as an important link between our customers, Sales, Production, Engineering, Quality, Shipping, and suppliers. The role will manage customer orders from purchase order through shipment while also supporting purchasing, material planning, and production coordination.

• Process incoming customer purchase orders accurately and promptly.
• Review orders for pricing, quantities, specifications, lead times, and other requirements and resolve discrepancies before release.
• Provide order acknowledgments and routine customer status updates.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for routine customer order and delivery questions.
• Monitor open orders and communicate delivery updates, delays, and potential risks.
• Coordinate customer expedite requests with Production and Operations.
• Provide shipment status, tracking information, and routine customer documentation.
• Maintain accurate customer and order information in Apollo's CRM and ERP systems.
• Support the Sales team with quotes, RFQs, customer documentation, reports, and special projects.
• Review production schedules against customer commitments and identify potential delays or shortages.
• Work with Production, Quality, Engineering, and Shipping to obtain accurate order status and resolve routine issues.
• Maintain an open-order/action list and follow through on customer commitments.
• Identify and elevate schedule risks before customer commitments are missed.
• Support weekly production planning and coordination with the Production team.
• Support day-to-day purchasing of production materials, components, supplies, and outside services.
• Create and release purchase orders within established authorization guidelines.
• Obtain and monitor supplier acknowledgments and expected delivery dates.
• Follow up with suppliers regarding late or at-risk deliveries.
• Compare material requirements and inventory availability against upcoming production needs.
• Identify potential material shortages and communicate risks to Operations before they affect production.
• Maintain accurate purchasing and material-delivery information in the ERP system.
• Assist with material planning, production priorities, and supplier coordination.
• Receive and document customer quality complaints and nonconformance information.
• Ensure Quality receives the information necessary to investigate customer issues.
• Track corrective-action activities and provide appropriate status updates to customers.
• Coordinate communication among customers, Quality, Operations, Engineering, and Sales through issue resolution.
• Escalate significant customer, quality, commercial, or supplier issues to the appropriate account manager or leadership.

• 3+ years of experience in customer service, sales operations, order management, purchasing, planning, production coordination, or a related role, preferably in a manufacturing or engineered-product environment.
• Experience processing customer orders and working with production schedules and delivery requirements.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple orders, priorities, deadlines, and commitments.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong attention to detail and comfort working with part numbers, quantities, specifications, pricing, and delivery dates.
• Experience using an ERP, MRP, CRM, or similar business system.
• Ability to communicate effectively with customers, suppliers, sales professionals,…