Customer Operations Manager

Location: Charlotte Metro (Concord, NC) | Reports to: Managing Director | Current Direct Reports: 3

Department: Customer Service | Classification: Full-time, Exempt

About National Drug Source

National Drug Source, Inc. (NDS) is a pharmaceutical wholesale distributor serving both U.S. and international customers. We are a lean, fast-moving company where individual ownership matters. This is a newly shaped role: every RFQ, quotation, and order is a commitment to a customer coordinating supply, often internationally, and we're building the team and standards to make that function dependable as we grow. Because this role is new, you'll have a direct line of sight to company leadership and real influence over how this part of the business runs.

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced Customer Operations Manager to lead our customer service team and ensure accurate, timely execution of the RFQ-to-order process. The goal is a high-performing, reliable operation that customers can rely on.

This is a working manager role. The Manager leads a team of 3 and is accountable for the team's overall performance, but also personally works the most complex or high-risk orders, customer escalations, and supplier exceptions. Expect roughly 60% of time on team leadership - coaching, workload allocation, performance management, process improvement - and 40% on direct execution. The direct-execution share is expected to decrease over time: as the team grows and processes mature, the role shifts toward full-time leadership.

The Manager works across Sales, Purchasing, Warehouse, Quality/Regulatory, and other functions to resolve issues affecting customer orders, and oversees purchasing activity required to support those orders within established purchasing plans and authority.

Core Accountabilities

Customer Operations & Order Management

• Oversee the accurate and timely execution of the RFQ-to-order process, ensuring customer requirements and orders are managed with appropriate responsiveness, accuracy, follow-through, and ownership.
• Maintain management visibility over open orders, customer commitments, and customer-specific inventory, ensuring the team proactively addresses delays, required customer follow-up, supplier issues, and other exceptions that could affect order progression or cause product to remain in the warehouse unnecessarily.
• Manage adherence to agreed customer shipment expectations and address recurring shipment delays, escalating when necessary to minimize prolonged inventory holding and working-capital exposure.
• Maintain a high standard of customer service by responding promptly to customer concerns, resolving complaints and order-related issues, managing escalations appropriately, and balancing customer expectations with the company's commercial and operational requirements.
• Coordinate with customers and internal teams as necessary to resolve issues affecting order readiness, ensure customer requirements are accurately communicated, and maintain appropriate follow-through after release to the warehouse to confirm requested shipments are executed as expected.

Team Leadership & Customer Service Performance

• Lead, coach, and develop the customer service team, setting and holding clear performance standards and addressing gaps through training, coaching, or process change.
• Allocate workload and maintain visibility over team priorities, open RFQs, quotations, orders, and exceptions to ensure timely execution.
• Establish baseline service and operating measures within the first 90 days (RFQ/quotation responsiveness, order accuracy, open-order progression, customer follow-up, exception resolution), then monitor and improve them.
• Build a team that takes ownership of customer needs and routine problems, escalating material issues appropriately.
• Operate with a high degree of independence and ownership. Investigate issues, determine appropriate action within established authority, and resolve routine customer, order, and operational matters without unnecessary executive involvement.
• Escalate material financial, regulatory, quality, or customer risks appropriately and ensure ERP records and operating information remain accurate and current.

Order Support & Supplier Coordination

• Oversee purchasing activity needed to support customer orders within established purchasing plans, approved suppliers, and defined authority.
• Ensure purchase orders supporting customer orders are placed accurately and timely, with appropriate follow-up through receipt.
• Coordinate with suppliers and internal teams to resolve availability, delivery, pricing, or other issues that could affect customer commitments.
• Escalate significant or recurring supplier and purchasing issues, risks, or opportunities to leadership as appropriate.

Process, Systems & Continuous Improvement

• Identify recurring causes of order delays, supplier failures, customer exceptions, data errors, and process breakdowns and recommend practical improvements.
• Document and improve workflows, procedures, and reporting so the function becomes less dependent on tribal knowledge and manual follow-up.
• Use ERP data, reporting, and operating metrics to identify bottlenecks and opportunities to improve customer responsiveness, order accuracy, order velocity, exception resolution, workflow efficiency, and inventory utilization.
• Contribute to process redesign and validate revised workflows to ensure they are practical, accurate, and effective in day-to-day operations.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role means the customer service team executes the RFQ-to-order process reliably and to a measured standard, resolves routine issues without escalation, and protects both customer retention and margin through disciplined execution. Specifically, within the first year:

• Service is measured. RFQ/quote response time, order accuracy, and open-order aging are baselined, tracked, and trending in the right direction.
• Orders don't stall. Aged and stranded inventory tied to order-execution gaps - customer follow-up, missed handoffs, and unresolved supplier delays or shortfalls - is materially reduced, with recurring supplier issues escalated rather than absorbed.
• Executive involvement in routine exceptions drops. The team resolves day-to-day customer, order, and supplier issues within its authority; leadership sees the material risks, not the routine ones.
• The team isn't dependent on any one person. No customer or workflow relies on a single individual; procedures are documented well enough that coverage doesn't break when someone is out.
• Customers stay because service is dependable. Order execution, communication, and follow-through are consistent enough that operational issues are not a reason customers reduce volume or leave.
• Execution protects margin. Quotes are accurate, purchasing stays within approved plans and authority, and avoidable cost-to-serve (expedites, rework, errors, excess handling) is controlled.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive experience in B2B customer service, customer operations, or order management within a distribution, manufacturing, or comparable product-based environment, including 2+ years directly managing staff.
• Direct experience leading, coaching, and developing a customer service, customer operations, or order management team, with responsibility for employee performance, workload management, and development.
• Has owned a team-level service or accuracy measure - for example order accuracy, on-time fulfillment, response time, or exception backlog - and improved it.
• Track record of setting and holding high standards for customer responsiveness, transactional accuracy, and follow-through in a detail-intensive order environment.
• Strong commercial judgment, analytical problem-solving ability, and comfort making decisions independently within defined authority.
• Experience coordinating across sales, purchasing, suppliers, inventory/warehouse, order fulfillment, and other operational functions.
• Strong written and verbal communication and organization.
• Strong ERP experience and demonstrated ability to rapidly learn complex ERP-driven workflows.

Preferred Background

• Background in pharmaceutical or medical products distribution, wholesale distribution, medical devices, or industrial distribution. Pharmaceutical experience is not required.
• Experience supporting international customers or complex B2B customer accounts.
• Experience managing RFQ, quotation, sales-order, and open-order workflows in an ERP environment.
• SAP Business One experience.

Work Environment & Physical Requirements

This is a primarily in-office position based in Concord NC (Charlotte Metro). Regular onsite presence is important to the role given its team leadership and cross-functional responsibilities. Following successful onboarding and demonstrated proficiency in the role, the position may be eligible for up to one remote workday per week, subject to business needs, performance expectations, and company policy.

• Remain stationary at a computer for extended periods and clearly view information across multiple computer monitors.
• Communicate effectively with others by phone, computer, and face-to-face interaction in an office environment.
• Move through the office and warehouse as needed to observe operations, follow up on orders, or coordinate with the team.

Travel: Occasional domestic and international travel, generally up to 10%, may be required for customer or supplier meetings, industry events, or training.

What We Offer: Base salary: $85,000–$110,000, based on experience and qualifications.

Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance; 401(k) with company match; PTO and holidays; pre-tax premium and FSA options; and access to voluntary disability and supplemental coverage at group rates.

National Drug Source is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This description outlines the primary duties of the role and is not exhaustive; responsibilities may change with business needs. Employment is at-will.