Operations Assistant

The position supports the Operations and Buying team with purchasing, vendor communication, inbound shipment tracking, transportation coordination, receiving documentation, and inventory accuracy. This role helps ensure that products are ordered at the right time, tracked properly, received accurately, and available to support customer demand.

This position is best suited for someone who is highly detail-oriented, organized, steady, disciplined, and comfortable following clear processes. Success requires consistency, patience, strong follow-up, professional communication, and the ability to produce accurate, repeatable results.

• Assist with purchasing products based on inventory levels, sales trends, vendor availability, lead times, and company direction.
• Review inventory reports, sales history, open purchase orders, and current stock levels to help determine replenishment needs.
• Prepare, update, and maintain purchase orders in the company ERP system.
• Communicate with vendors regarding quotes, pricing, availability, minimum order quantities, production timelines, shipping dates, and estimated arrival dates.
• Follow up with vendors on delayed, shorted, damaged, incorrect, or incomplete shipments.
• Help compare vendor pricing, freight costs, lead times, and service levels to support cost-effective purchasing decisions.
• Maintain vendor records, item information, price updates, purchasing documentation, and related files.
• Support vendor performance tracking, product availability review, and cost-saving opportunities.

• Coordinate inbound pickup and delivery schedules with vendors, carriers, warehouses, freight forwarders, and internal teams.
• Track domestic and import shipments from pickup through warehouse delivery.
• Maintain updated shipment timelines, estimated arrival dates, container statuses, and delivery appointments.
• Assist with import documentation, freight paperwork, bills of lading, invoices, packing lists, arrival notices, and related records.
• Fill out and update Project
  44 or other shipment and container tracking platforms.
• Communicate delays, ETA changes, appointment updates, and transportation issues to the Operations and Buying team.
• Keep accurate records of goods shipped, received, and stored.
• Help research freight discrepancies, missed appointments, damaged freight, detention/demurrage concerns, and delivery issues.

• Assist with maintaining accurate inventory levels through regular review of stock, open orders, receiving activity, and inventory movement.
• Process vendor receivables, purchase order documentation, and receiving support paperwork.
• Help investigate inventory discrepancies, receiving variances, short shipments, overages, damages, and item setup issues.
• Support weekly cycle counts and the annual physical inventory process.
• Assist with item status updates, inventory adjustments, expiration date tracking, and inventory reporting.
• Work with warehouse and operations teams to improve inventory accuracy and reduce receiving, picking, and stock-count errors.
• Help identify slow-moving, overstocked, low-stock, or at-risk inventory items.
• Support inventory forecasting by reviewing usage trends, vendor lead times, and product availability.

• Use ERP, WMS, Microsoft Excel, Teams, Outlook, and other company systems to enter, track, and maintain accurate data.
• Maintain organized records for purchase orders, inbound shipments, vendor communication, inventory counts, and transportation updates.
• Prepare basic reports related to open purchase orders, inbound shipments, stock levels, inventory discrepancies, and vendor follow-up.
• Ensure information in company systems is accurate, timely, and complete.
• Check and double-check work before submitting, updating, or communicating important information.
• Escalate issues quickly when delays, stockouts, receiving problems, or documentation gaps may impact customers or operations.

The ideal candidate should be:

• Serious, dependable, and professional.
• Conventional and comfortable following established procedures.
• Disciplined, careful, and accurate.
• Patient and consistent with repetitive tasks.
• Cooperative and supportive with internal teams.
• Cautious with risk and willing to ask questions before making assumptions.
• Comfortable working at a steady pace with clear expectations.
• Focused on quality, accuracy, and doing the work correctly for the first time.
• Pleasant and professional when communicating with vendors, carriers, and internal departments.

This role requires someone who values structure, process, accuracy, predictability, and clear expectations. It is a support role that requires precision, reliability, professional communication, and careful adherence to established systems and procedures.

• Accurate purchase orders, receiving records, and vendor documentation.
• Better visibility on inbound shipments and container…