Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Operations Coordinator

🎯 Role Definition

The Operations Coordinator is a hands-on, process-oriented professional responsible for the day-to-day coordination and continuous improvement of operational workflows. This role ensures timely fulfillment of customer needs, accurate inventory and logistics execution, smooth cross-functional communication, and adherence to standard operating procedures (SOPs) and compliance requirements. The ideal Operations Coordinator combines strong administrative skills, proficiency with ERP/CRM systems, and a bias for measurable process improvement.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Administrative Assistant with exposure to logistics or procurement
Customer Service Representative supporting order fulfillment
Logistics or Warehouse Associate handling inventory and shipping

Advancement To:

Senior Operations Coordinator
Operations Manager / Site Operations Manager
Program Manager or Supply Chain Analyst

Lateral Moves:

Project Coordinator
Inventory Analyst or Procurement Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Coordinate daily operations across cross-functional teams, ensuring orders move from sales to fulfillment on schedule and that SLA targets are met.
Manage vendor and third-party logistics relationships, including onboarding, performance reviews, contract compliance, and dispute resolution to maintain service levels and control costs.
Oversee inventory management activities: cycle counts, stock reconciliations, replenishment triggers, and coordination of purchase orders with procurement to reduce stockouts and carrying costs.
Prepare, analyze, and distribute weekly and monthly operational KPI reports (on-time delivery, order accuracy, inventory turnover) using Excel, Google Sheets, or BI tools to inform leadership decisions.
Create, update, and enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) and process documentation to ensure consistent execution and scalable operations.
Coordinate shipping and receiving schedules with carriers, warehouses, and internal teams to optimize freight costs, transit times, and delivery accuracy.
Serve as the primary operations point-of-contact for escalated customer issues, working with customer success and warehouse teams to drive rapid resolution and prevent recurrence.
Support budgeting and expense tracking for operations, processing invoices, reconciling vendor statements, and flagging variances to finance.
Execute continuous improvement initiatives (Lean, Kaizen, or ad-hoc optimization projects) to streamline workflows and reduce operational waste.
Maintain and update operational databases and systems (ERP/NetSuite, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, or other platform) to ensure accurate master data, SKU attributes, and order statuses.
Schedule and coordinate operational meetings, stand-ups, and cross-functional reviews to align teams on priorities, risks, and action items.
Monitor compliance with safety, regulatory, and quality standards (ISO, OSHA, or industry-specific requirements) and coordinate corrective actions when audits reveal gaps.
Facilitate onboarding and training for new operations hires, creating job aids and checklists to accelerate time-to-productivity.
Manage returns, reverse logistics, and warranty processing workflows to minimize cost and improve customer satisfaction.
Coordinate equipment and facility maintenance schedules, vendor service agreements, and repair tracking to minimize downtime.
Support procurement activities by issuing and tracking purchase orders, obtaining quotes, and coordinating supplier lead times to meet demand.
Track and reconcile freight, shipping, and handling charges against budgets and contracts, proactively investigating anomalies.
Run ad-hoc operational analyses—root cause investigations, trend analysis, capacity planning—to support strategic initiatives and executive reporting.
Maintain accurate records for audits: transactional logs, SOP revisions, vendor certifications, and inventory adjustments, ensuring traceability.
Act as the liaison between sales, finance, customer success, and warehouse teams to remove operational blockers and improve end-to-end customer experience.
Implement and monitor key control points to reduce errors in order processing, billing, and fulfillment while documenting mitigation strategies.
Support seasonal and promotional planning by coordinating capacity, inventory allocations, and temporary staffing or facility changes.
Lead small cross-functional projects (system upgrades, process rollouts) from requirements through implementation and post-launch measurement.
Continuously evaluate operational technology stack and tools (WMS, TMS, OCR invoicing) and make recommendations to improve automation and reporting.

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 vendor onboarding paperwork, insurance verification, and background checks for third-party providers.
Coordinate special projects such as site moves, facility expansion, or process pilot programs.
Provide backup administrative support for executive scheduling, travel logistics, and office supplies procurement.
Track regulatory filings and certification renewals required for operations continuity.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Advanced Microsoft Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, macros) and Google Sheets for data manipulation and reporting.
Experience with ERP systems (NetSuite, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics) for order, inventory, and procurement management.
Familiarity with Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) and Transportation Management Systems (TMS).
Basic SQL skills for querying operational data and supporting ad-hoc analytics.
Experience with CRM platforms (Salesforce) to coordinate order and customer-related workflows.
Proficiency with reporting/visualization tools (Tableau, Power BI, Looker) to build dashboards and KPI trackers.
Purchase order and invoice processing experience, including AP reconciliation and expense management.
Knowledge of logistics and freight operations, carrier selection, and freight audit & payment processes.
Understanding of inventory control methodologies (FIFO/LIFO, cycle count programs, safety stock calculations).
SOP and process documentation skills, including version control and training rollouts.
Familiarity with compliance frameworks and audit preparation (quality, safety, regulatory).
Basic project management skills and tools (Asana, Trello, Jira) for task tracking and project delivery.

Soft Skills

Strong verbal and written communication skills to coordinate across teams and communicate status, risks, and requirements.
Exceptional organizational skills and the ability to prioritize competing operational tasks under time pressure.
Analytical mindset with attention to detail and the ability to interpret metrics to drive decisions.
Problem-solving orientation and ability to lead root-cause analysis and corrective actions.
Stakeholder management skills—able to influence without direct authority and build consensus across departments.
Time-management and multi-tasking capability to handle unpredictable operational peaks.
Adaptability and resilience to manage shifting priorities in fast-paced environments.
Customer-centric mindset focused on operational excellence and continuous improvement.
Teamwork and collaboration skills to work effectively with internal and external partners.
Initiative and ownership—proactively surfacing issues, proposing solutions, and following through to completion.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:
High school diploma or equivalent with relevant operations experience; Associate degree preferred.

Preferred Education:
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, Supply Chain Management, Industrial Engineering, or related field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Business Administration
Supply Chain Management / Logistics
Industrial Engineering
Operations Management
Finance / Accounting (useful for budgeting-related duties)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:
2–4 years of experience in operations coordination, logistics, warehouse coordination, or administrative operations support.

Preferred:
3–5+ years in operational roles with demonstrated experience in ERP/WMS platforms, vendor management, inventory control, KPI reporting, and process improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma or Kaizen experience is a plus). Experience supporting cross-functional programs and managing small projects is highly desirable.