Customer Operations Specialist

The Customer Operations Specialist plays a key operational role within Customer Operations for the U.S. business. The position coordinates customer orders from Sales Confirmation through order completion, ensuring accurate order creation and maintenance in SAP, clear internal handoffs, timely customer communication, and consistent follow-up on open actions, delays, and exceptions.

Working in a fast-paced import and distribution environment, the Customer Operations Specialist serves as the primary operational liaison among customers, Traders, Sales, Planning, Logistics, Inbound, Supply, Quality, PGI, Finance, Master Data, and other supporting teams. The role provides customers and internal stakeholders with accurate, current information while maintaining organized and traceable order records.

A significant component of the role involves reviewing Sales Confirmations, validating customer and order information, creating sales orders and deliveries, maintaining purchase order numbers and dates, coordinating customer documentation, and monitoring readiness, pickup, delivery, PGI, and closure status. The Specialist investigates issues, gathers supporting details, engages the responsible department, and follows each item through resolution.

The Customer Operations Specialist coordinates and communicates across the order lifecycle but does not independently perform responsibilities assigned to Logistics, Planning, PGI, Quality, Supply, or other control owners. Warehouse release, transportation execution, inventory decisions, PGI execution, and final operational confirmations remain with the designated process owner unless leadership formally changes the approved RACI.

The role requires strong ownership, accuracy, organization, customer focus, and sound judgment. It is well suited for an experienced order-management or customer-operations professional who can balance multiple priorities, communicate across departments, and maintain visibility of time-sensitive orders.

Key responsibilities:

• Review Sales Confirmations for completeness and follow up with Traders when required information is missing, unclear, or inconsistent.
• Validate customer, Sold-To and Ship-To information, receiving and order-coordination contacts, product details, attributes, documentation requirements, requested dates, and delivery instructions.
• Create accurate sales orders in SAP and maintain customer purchase order numbers, dates, and approved order changes or cancellations.
• Send sales order details, shipping-mark requirements, customer instructions, and supporting documentation to Planning and other responsible teams.
• Track inventory allocation, product availability, quality-inspection status, documentation holds, testing holds, and expected release dates with Planning, Inbound, Supply, Quality, and Logistics.
• Create deliveries accurately and within established lead times, approval controls, and escalation procedures.
• Serve as the primary operational point of contact for assigned customers from order creation through completion.
• Provide customers and Traders with timely, factual updates on order status, confirmed delays, next actions, and revised pickup or delivery dates.
• Receive customer document requests, route them to the correct owner, follow up on completion, and provide approved documents to the customer.
• Investigate order issues, collect supporting information, engage the responsible department, document ownership and next steps, and track each item through resolution.
• Coordinate approved corrective actions while documenting commitments, revised dates, customer impact, and unresolved risks.
• Escalate urgent or recurring issues promptly when they may affect service, product release, inventory accuracy, financial exposure, or the customer relationship.
• Monitor open orders and maintain visibility of pickup, delivery, PGI, and closure status through updates from the responsible operational teams.
• Follow up on completion confirmations and communicate final status or outstanding issues to customers, Traders, and internal stakeholders.
• Maintain the All Pending Orders Status report, including delays, reasons, actions in progress, revised dates, and commercial support needed.
• Maintain accurate and organized order records, customer correspondence, action logs, and supporting documentation for continuity and auditability.
• Support the continuous improvement of SOPs, templates, trackers, reports, handoffs, and customer-communication standards.
• Perform other Customer Operations duties as assigned in support of service quality, order accuracy, business continuity, and process improvement.

Qualifications:

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• Associate or bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Logistics, Operations, or a related field preferred.

Knowledge:

• Working knowledge of customer order management, customer service, logistics coordination, and cross-functional business processes.
• Working knowledge of ERP or order-management systems;
  SAP experience is strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with sales orders, delivery creation, customer purchase orders, shipping marks, warehouse releases, PGI, BOLs, COAs, and related order documentation preferred.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office, especially Excel and Outlook.

Experience:

• Two to three years of experience in customer service, order management, customer operations, sales support, logistics coordination, supply chain, or a related operational role.
• Experience entering, reviewing, or maintaining customer orders in an ERP, order-management, or comparable business system.
• Experience coordinating customer requests, operational issues, delivery status, documentation, and cross-functional follow-up.
• Experience in food distribution, meat or protein products, cold storage, import operations, transportation, or another time-sensitive supply chain environment preferred.

Skills:

• Fluent English required;
  Spanish or Portuguese is a strong plus.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to accuracy in customer, product, order, date, and documentation information.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills for clear, professional updates to customers and internal stakeholders.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills, with the ability to manage multiple orders, deadlines, follow-ups, and escalations simultaneously.
• Ability to investigate issues, collect facts, identify the responsible owner, and follow actions through resolution.
• Ability to coordinate across Sales, Planning, Logistics, Inbound, Supply, Quality, PGI, Finance, Master Data, and customers.
• Customer-focused and collaborative, with the ability to build productive working relationships across functions and cultures.
• Proactive, adaptable, and able to work effectively in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities.
• Ability to follow established procedures and approval controls while identifying opportunities for process improvement.

High level of professionalism, accountability, confidentiality, sound judgment, and follow-through.