Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Input Coordinator
💰 $ - $
🎯 Role Definition
The Input Coordinator is responsible for managing the intake, validation, indexing, and routing of incoming data and documents to ensure accuracy, completeness and timely processing. This role acts as the frontline custodian of transactional and operational data—working across ERP, document management systems, and spreadsheets—while enforcing data quality standards, meeting SLA targets, and collaborating with cross-functional teams (operations, finance, procurement, customer service). The ideal candidate combines meticulous attention to detail with strong organizational skills, basic technical proficiency (Excel, OCR tools, ERPs) and the ability to escalate exceptions and drive small process improvements.
📈 Career Progression
Typical Career Path
Entry Point From:
- Data Entry Clerk / Data Processor
- Administrative Assistant / Office Coordinator
- Document Control Clerk
Advancement To:
- Senior Input Coordinator / Lead Data Coordinator
- Data Quality Analyst / Data Specialist
- Operations Supervisor / Team Lead
Lateral Moves:
- Records / Document Control Manager
- Quality Assurance Analyst
- Customer Service Operations Specialist
Core Responsibilities
Primary Functions
- Receive, triage and log incoming documents and data feeds (paper, email, EDI, scanned PDFs, system imports) using company-specific document management systems or ERPs, ensuring every item is captured and tracked to SLA standards.
- Perform high-volume data entry into ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics) and proprietary platforms, maintaining accuracy levels expected by department KPIs and minimizing rework.
- Validate incoming information against source documents, purchase orders, contracts or master data records to ensure completeness, correct coding and adherence to business rules before forwarding for downstream processing.
- Index, classify and tag documents using metadata standards so records are searchable, auditable and compatible with retention policies and compliance requirements.
- Reconcile data discrepancies between source documents, system records and external reports; research root causes and coordinate with requestors, vendors or internal stakeholders to resolve exceptions.
- Maintain and update master lists, lookup tables, and reference data (customer IDs, vendor numbers, SKU lists) to prevent recurring input errors and support accurate transaction routing.
- Run and review automated quality checks (validation scripts, Excel macros, built-in ERP checks) and correct flagged items or escalate to team leads when thresholds are exceeded.
- Process invoices, purchase orders, shipping manifests and remittances as required by the function, ensuring proper GL coding, approval routing and attachment of supporting documentation.
- Index and OCR scanned documents and verify OCR results for accuracy, correcting misreads and training OCR dictionaries or templates where applicable.
- Manage batch processing workflows: create batches, monitor processing jobs, reconcile completed batches and reprocess failed transactions in coordination with IT or systems support.
- Track, report and improve SLA performance metrics (e.g., input turnaround time, accuracy rate, backlog levels) and present findings in weekly status reports to stakeholders.
- Maintain secure handling and confidentiality of sensitive documents and personally identifiable information in accordance with corporate policies and regulatory obligations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA where applicable).
- Coordinate with cross-functional teams (finance, procurement, legal, customer operations, IT) to clarify ambiguous inputs, obtain approvals and ensure timely resolution of flagged items.
- Support periodic internal and external audits by preparing documentation, explaining input control processes and demonstrating proof of accuracy and traceability.
- Implement and document standard operating procedures (SOPs), input checklists, and data validation rules to reduce error rates and speed onboarding of new hires.
- Provide training, mentoring and quality feedback to junior input clerks or temporary staff to ensure consistency and adherence to best practices.
- Maintain physical and electronic filing systems, ensuring proper retention, archiving and destruction per company records policy.
- Prepare ad-hoc and recurring operational reports (through Excel, BI tools or ERP extracts) summarizing input volumes, error categories and continuous improvement opportunities.
- Participate in change control for input-related system updates—testing new templates, mapping changes and validating that conversion or import routines preserve data integrity.
- Manage vendor or third-party data intake processes where external partners supply data feeds, ensuring required formats, delivery schedules and error handling procedures are in place.
- Escalate systemic issues to operations management or IT, propose corrective actions, and follow through on implementation of process or tool improvements.
Secondary Functions
- Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
- Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
- Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
- Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
- Assist with month-end or quarter-end data freezes and reconciliations that impact reporting timelines.
- Participate in pilot rollouts for new document capture or RPA (robotic process automation) initiatives, providing feedback on real-world exceptions and workflow impacts.
Required Skills & Competencies
Hard Skills (Technical)
- High-speed, accurate data entry (sustained rates consistent with role expectations) and proven track record of meeting accuracy KPIs.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel (vlookups/XLOOKUP, pivot tables, conditional formatting, basic macros) for reconciliation and reporting.
- Hands-on experience with ERPs (examples: SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics) and the ability to navigate modules for purchasing, accounts payable and inventory.
- Familiarity with document management systems and indexing best practices (e.g., SharePoint, OpenText, DocuWare).
- Practical experience with OCR and document capture tools (ABBYY, Kofax, Nuance) and post-OCR verification workflows.
- Basic SQL or query skills for extracting and validating records from databases (ability to run SELECT queries, export results).
- Knowledge of EDI/file import formats and batch processing (CSV, XML, flat files) and familiarity with data mapping concepts.
- Understanding of data quality concepts (validation rules, duplicate detection, master data maintenance).
- Experience with SLA-driven environments and reporting tools (Power BI, Tableau, or internal dashboards).
- Comfortable using ticketing or task systems (Jira, ServiceNow) to log exceptions, track issues and manage requests.
Soft Skills
- Exceptional attention to detail and a commitment to data accuracy and traceability.
- Strong organizational and time-management skills; ability to prioritize heavy workloads and meet strict deadlines.
- Clear written and verbal communication to liaise with internal stakeholders, suppliers and auditors.
- Problem-solving mindset with a bias for root-cause analysis and proposing practical process improvements.
- Ability to work independently and escalate appropriately when issues exceed delegated authority.
- Team-oriented approach; experience training or mentoring less experienced colleagues.
- Adaptability to change management initiatives and willingness to learn new tools and procedures quickly.
- High integrity and discretion when handling confidential or regulated information.
- Customer service orientation—responds promptly and courteously to internal/external requests.
- Resilience under repetitive high-volume work and ability to maintain focus and accuracy.
Education & Experience
Educational Background
Minimum Education:
- High school diploma, GED or equivalent.
Preferred Education:
- Associate degree or Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Information Management, Supply Chain, Accounting or related field.
Relevant Fields of Study:
- Business Administration
- Information Management / Data Management
- Supply Chain / Logistics
- Accounting / Finance
- Records & Information Management
Experience Requirements
Typical Experience Range:
- 1–4 years of relevant experience in data entry, document control or operations support roles.
Preferred:
- 2–5+ years of experience working with ERPs, document capture systems or in an accounts payable/purchasing operations environment; demonstrable experience improving input accuracy or processing efficiency.