Parts Department Specialist

Job Description

Job Description

Hobart Sales and Service – Grand Rapids, MI
Full-Time

Position Summary

Hobart Sales and Service - Grand Rapids is seeking a dependable, organized, and customer-focused Parts Department Specialist to handle all aspects of our commercial food equipment parts operation.

This is a hands-on position responsible for all things parts — helping customers at the counter and over the phone, supporting our field service technicians, researching and identifying parts, preparing quotes, placing orders, tracking shipments, receiving parts, and making sure every request is followed through to completion.

Our parts department supports a wide variety of commercial kitchen equipment and manufacturers. You won't always be handed a part number. Often, you'll be given a model and serial number, a description of the problem, a picture, or information from a technician and will need to research the equipment to determine the correct part.

We're looking for someone who enjoys that kind of problem solving.

Primary Responsibilities

Customer Parts

• Assist customers with parts requests by phone, email, and in person at our parts counter.
• Identify the correct replacement parts based on model and serial numbers, equipment information, pictures, and customer descriptions.
• Research parts using manufacturer websites, parts diagrams, manuals, vendor resources, and other available tools.
• Provide pricing, availability, and estimated lead times.
• Prepare quotes and process customer orders.
• Communicate with customers regarding backorders, substitutions, discontinued parts, and order status.
• Follow customer orders from the initial request through completion.

Technician & Service Parts

• Serve as the primary parts resource for our field service technicians.
• Research and identify parts requested by technicians in the field.
• Order parts required to complete service calls.
• Help locate difficult-to-find or obsolete parts and identify possible alternatives when appropriate.
• Track technician parts orders and communicate expected arrival dates.
• Receive and organize technician parts so they are ready for upcoming service calls.
• Work closely with the service department to prevent parts delays from holding up open service calls.
• Help ensure technicians receive the correct parts the first time .

Ordering & Purchasing

• Place purchase orders with manufacturers, distributors, and suppliers.
• Verify pricing and availability before ordering.
• Track open purchase orders and backorders.
• Follow up with vendors when orders are delayed.
• Research alternative suppliers when necessary.
• Maintain accurate purchasing and order information in company systems.
• Help manage warranty replacement parts and returns when applicable.

Parts Counter & Inventory

• Assist walk-in customers at the parts counter.
• Receive incoming shipments and verify quantities and part numbers.
• Label, organize, and stage incoming parts.
• Maintain an organized parts department and stock area.
• Assist with inventory accuracy and replenishment of commonly stocked parts.
• Process returns and help resolve incorrect or damaged shipments.

What We're Looking For

The right person for this position will be:

• Highly organized — multiple customers, technicians, vendors, and orders may need attention at the same time.
• Detail-oriented — one digit in a model number can mean ordering the wrong part.
• Persistent — some parts are easy to find; others require research and multiple phone calls.
• Customer-focused — customers are often calling because an important piece of equipment is down.
• Technically curious — you don't need to know every piece of commercial kitchen equipment on day one, but you need to be willing to learn how equipment and its components work.
• Comfortable with computers — much of the job involves researching equipment, navigating manufacturer websites, working with parts diagrams, email, and entering information into our service system.
• A strong communicator — you'll work daily with customers, technicians, manufacturers, vendors, dispatch, and other members of our team.
• Accountable — when you take a parts request, you own it through completion.

Preferred Experience

Experience in a parts or technical service environment is strongly preferred. Relevant backgrounds could include:

• Commercial food equipment
• Appliance parts or repair
• HVAC/R
• Electrical or plumbing supply
• Automotive or heavy-equipment parts
• Industrial equipment
• Equipment distribution
• Maintenance or service operations

Commercial food equipment experience is a plus, but we are willing to train the right person who has strong parts, technical, customer service, or problem-solving experience.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this position means our customers receive accurate information, our technicians have the parts they need to complete their work, orders don't fall through the cracks, and problems are followed through until they are resolved.

This isn't simply an order-entry position.

The Parts Department Specialist is expected to take ownership of the parts process — from figuring out what is needed, to finding it, ordering it, tracking it, receiving it, and making sure it gets into the hands of the customer or technician who needs it.