Operations Associate

FLSA Status: Non-exempt
Reports to: Director, Operations
Employment Status: Full time

Overview

The Operations Associate plays a pivotal role as the liaison between IPG's distribution center and its diverse stakeholders, including customers, client publishers, and the sales department. The primary focus of this role is to seamlessly process purchase orders and shipment requests, ensuring accurate communication of handling and shipping instructions to the distribution center. The Operations Associate is also responsible for maintaining meticulous customer and publisher account records, as well as efficiently managing inventory reserves and allocations. This position collaborates closely with various departments, including Distribution Center, Supply Chain, Customer Service, Accounting, and Sales, to optimize the flow of the company's physical book business operations.

Responsibilities and Duties

Efficiently process purchase orders from customers and trade representatives via email, fax, or phone. Provide timely feedback to customers and sales representatives as necessary. Communicate specialized handling and shipping requirements to the distribution center, ensuring adherence to ship date deadlines.
Maintain accurate account records, meticulously configuring discount rates, shipping preferences, contacts, and billing settings.
Oversee accounts with unique handling needs, such as international, consignment, and mass merchandise clients. Effectively manage consigned stock levels and process consigned sales reports.
Collaborate with other departments to assist with various tasks, including stock reserve management, invoice issuance, shipping quote generation, tracking information retrieval, and communication with the distribution center. Serve as backup support for the Customer Service team, offering assistance to customers and clients via phone.
When necessary, provide backup support for the Operations Manager/Order Processing Specialist in daily tasks such as processing Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) orders, maintaining EDI account records, ensuring order requirements alignment, releasing orders to the warehouse, and generating and transmitting EDI Advanced Shipment Notification (ASN) files.
Undertake any other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, Outlook).
Exceptional organizational and analytical aptitude.
Demonstrated accuracy and meticulous attention to detail.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Capability to thrive under pressure.

Preferred Qualifications:

Prior experience in operations, warehouse management, or logistics.
Bachelor’s Degree
Prior publishing or book industry experience
Experience with a ticketing system
Familiarity with Trilogy and IRMS WMS
Physical abilities: The ability to sit and/or stand for long periods of time is required
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.