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Operations Associate

FLSA Status: Non-Exempt
Reports to: Director, Operations
Employment Status: Full, Temporary

Overview

Operations Associates act as the bridge between IPG’s warehouse and its customers, client publishers, and sales department. Their primary responsibility is to process purchase orders and shipment requests, ensure necessary handling and shipping instructions are communicated to the warehouse, and that shipments meet required deadlines. They help maintain customer and publisher account records, and manage inventory reserves and allocations. The Operations department works closely with the Warehouse, Supply Chain, Customer Service, Accounting, and Sales departments, in addition to many client publishers, to ensure the company’s physical book business flows smoothly and efficiently. Operations Associates are experts with IPG’s order processing software, Trilogy, and often assist members of other departments with technical tasks.

Responsibilities and Duties

• Process purchase orders sent by customers and trade reps over email, fax, or phone. Send feedback to customers and sales reps as required. Send special handling and shipping requirements to the warehouse as required, and ensure orders meet ship date requirements. Maintain account records and ensure they are set to correct discount, shipping, contact, and billing settings.
• Process publisher drop shipment/fulfillment and stock transfer requests, and remainder orders.
• Help manage accounts with special handling requirements, such as international, consignment, and mass merchandise customers. Manage consigned stock levels and process consigned sales reports.
• Perform daily morning tasks, such as running stock imports and managing stock reserves.
• Assist other departments with incidental tasks, such as managing stock reserves, sending invoices, generating shipping quotes, locating tracking information, and communicating with the warehouse. Assist other departments with using Trilogy software. Provide back-up for Customer Service department, answering phones to assist customers and clients.
• Perform data entry and processing tasks for Supply Chain, including purchase orders and invoices for all product lines, pulp orders, international and domestic stock transfers, reconciling receipts and inventory, and off-site inventory analysis.
• As needed, act as back-up for Operations Manager/Order Processing Specialist on certain daily tasks, such as processing EDI (electronic data interchange) orders, maintain EDI account records, manage Amazon order requirements, release orders to the warehouse, and generate & send EDI ASN (advanced shipment notification) files.
• All other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree preferred
• Bookstore or equivalent, and/or operations/warehouse/logistics experience a plus
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, Outlook). Trilogy and IRMS software a plus
• Exceptional organizational and analytical skills required
• Must exhibit accuracy and attention to detail
• Must have excellent communication skills – written and verbal
• Ability to work under pressure
• Physical abilities: None
• Travel requirements: None

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

About the Company

IPG is the original independent distributor of books, ebooks, and audiobooks from publishers around the world, and a top 10 supplier of book content to Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, independent bookstores, libraries, and specialty markets, in addition to thousands of retailers globally.

Established in 1971, Independent Publishers Group (IPG) was the first organization specifically created for the purpose of marketing titles from independent presses to the book trade. IPG was acquired by Chicago Review Press in 1987. In the fall of 2006, Chicago Review Press, Inc., the parent company of IPG, bought Trafalgar Square Publishing, Inc., the leading North American distributor of UK publishers. Trafalgar Square Publishing was founded in 1973 and as a division of IPG, now distributes products from clients such as Penguin Random House UK, Australia, New Zealand, and China; Allen & Unwin; The History Press UK; Amberley Publishing; HarperCollins UK; Pan Macmillan; and John Blake.

With consistent growth each year, IPG’s success has come from supporting and encouraging the growth of its client publishers in the United States and worldwide. IPG has a wide reach in the market with its distribution of publishers with academic, Spanish-language, children’s, and general nonfiction and fiction titles.