Operations Manager (Sports Cards & Collectibles)

Job Description

Job Description

Why this job is different from the other management jobs you’re looking at

Most operations manager jobs hand you a process somebody else built and ask you to keep it running. This one hands you a business that has grown faster than its processes, and asks you to build the ones that are missing.

SMR Collectibles is an authorized dealer for PSA, CGC and JSA. We move thousands of items a week across eBay, live selling platforms and the national show circuit, and we buy collections all over the country. Product comes in the door raw and leaves graded, listed, photographed, sold and shipped, and every one of those steps has people, tools and deadlines attached to it. Right now the owner is holding most of that together personally. We are hiring the person who takes it over.

You will not need to be the best card person in the building. We have those. You need to be the person who makes sure their work flows, their numbers are right, and nothing sits in a bin for three weeks because nobody owned it. This is an in-person role with a schedule that follows the business. Expect a regular Saturday, roughly two per month, for shows and live selling, with a weekday off in exchange, and early starts on show weekends including the National Sports Card Collector Convention. 

What you will actually do

• Own the day to day flow of product through the building, from intake and sorting to grading submissions, photography, listing, live sales, storage and shipping
• Set and enforce turnaround targets at each stage, and know where the bottleneck is before it becomes a backlog
• Manage and schedule the product specialists and warehouse team, run their reviews, and handle hiring and training as we grow
• Coordinate grading submissions to PSA, CGC, JSA and others, including tracking what is out, what is due back and what is late
• Run the operational side of the show calendar, including inventory pulls, packing, travel logistics and post-show reconciliation
• Keep inventory counts, vault records and listing status accurate across our systems, and build the checks that catch mistakes early
• Manage vendor relationships for supplies, shipping and services, and keep an eye on the costs that eat margin
• Document how things are done, turn one-off fixes into repeatable processes, and keep those processes current in Monday.com as the business changes
• Report to the owner weekly on throughput, backlog, staffing and problems, with a recommendation attached to every problem

Where this goes

Your first few months are about learning how product actually moves here and where it gets stuck. You will spend time on the floor, at the grading desk and next to the people running live sales, because you cannot fix a process you have not watched.

From there you take full ownership of operations, and the owner’s calendar starts to open up. Compensation moves with that. As we add locations, categories and headcount, this role grows into running the operation outright, and we will have that conversation honestly when you get there.

You will do well here if

• You have run a team and a workflow somewhere with real volume, whether that was a warehouse, a fulfillment operation, a retail back room, a restaurant or a shop floor
• You are organized to the point that it is a personality trait, and you make the people around you more organized without making them resent it
• You are comfortable making a call with incomplete information and adjusting when you learn more
• You like spreadsheets, systems and dashboards, and you are willing to learn Monday.com, eBay’s seller tools and our inventory systems quickly
• You know the hobby, or you are willing to learn it fast enough that the team respects your decisions about their work

This is probably not the right fit if

• You want remote or hybrid. This is on-site in Amityville, and it has to be, because the product and the people are here
• You want a fully defined role with a fixed process for everything. Much of what you will do does not have a process yet, which is why we are hiring you
• You manage from a desk. This job involves walking the floor, picking up a box, and being at a show at 6 a.m. on a Saturday a few times a year

What we need from you

• 3 or more years managing people and processes in an operations, warehouse, fulfillment, retail or similar environment
• A track record of building or fixing a process, not just running one
• Strong computer skills, including spreadsheets, and comfort learning new software
• Clear written and verbal communication, because you will be the link between the owner and the team
• Reliable transportation to our Amityville location
• 18 or older and legally authorized to work in the United States
• High school diploma required, with a degree or relevant certification a plus

Experience in sports cards, collectibles, e-commerce or live selling is a real plus. Experience with grading companies or the show circuit is a bigger one. We care much more about whether you can run an operation than about where you learned to do it.

Compensation and benefits

$60,000 to $70,000 per year. Where you start in that range depends on how much of this you have done before, and it moves up as you take ownership of more of the operation and the results show it. 401(k) with company matching, paid time off, and a flexible schedule around our show calendar.

How to apply

Fill out our application at . It takes about ten minutes. We read every one and we will get back to you within a week either way.