Please note that while the Senior Retail Sales Operations Specialist will mostly work remotely, the person hired is expected to live in the greater Chicagoland area, within easy driving distance of the WFC office/plant.
Why This Role Exists
The Senior Retail Sales Operations Specialist ensures the accurate, timely, and efficient execution of critical operational processes that support World's Finest Chocolate's retail customers and growth initiatives.
This role serves as a core execution engine for the Retail Sales Operations function. The Senior Specialist will own key day-to-day processes across new customer and new item setup, purchase order execution, pricing administration, retailer requirements, EDI exceptions, promotional and seasonal execution, deductions support, and event-based program management.
The role will also be accountable for coordinating complex, cross-functional programs that require disciplined execution across Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, Customer Service, Master Data, and external retail partners. This includes programs such as Chocolate for a Cause, seasonal initiatives, customer events, new item launches, and promotional programs.
Just as importantly, this person will be expected to continuously improve how the work gets done through process simplification, automation, AI-enabled tools, and stronger operating discipline.
The successful candidate will combine strong CPG retail operations experience with project management capability, systems aptitude, attention to detail, and a builder mindset.
What This Role Owns
Retail Order Execution & Customer Operations
• Own day-to-day execution of retail customer purchase orders from receipt through shipment readiness, ensuring orders are complete, accurate, and aligned with customer requirements.
• Monitor open orders, delivery dates, inventory availability, order holds, and EDI exceptions.
• Proactively identify order and service risks and coordinate resolution across Customer Service, Supply Chain, Logistics, and Sales.
• Maintain visibility to customer-specific requirements, routing guides, order parameters, and operational deadlines.
• Support operational execution for major national and regional retailers.
• Serve as a key operational resource for National Account Managers, providing timely visibility to execution status, risks, and required actions.
New Customer & New Item Setup
• Own the end-to-end coordination of new customer and new item setup for the Retail organization.
• Manage setup timelines from commercial approval through operational readiness and customer activation.
• Coordinate required inputs across Sales, Marketing, Finance, Master Data, Supply Chain, Customer Service, and external retailer systems.
• Ensure customer, item, UPC, case configuration, pricing, dimensions, logistics attributes, images, and other required data are complete and accurate before launch.
• Manage retailer portal submissions and required documentation for new item introductions.
• Track dependencies, approvals, deadlines, and unresolved issues through completion.
• Validate operational readiness before first orders are released.
• Establish and maintain standardized new item setup checklists, timelines, ownership models, and SOPs.
• Conduct post-launch reviews to identify setup failures, delays, and opportunities to improve future launches.
• Identify recurring bottlenecks in new item setup and drive corrective action with the relevant functional owners.
Program & Project Management
• Serve as the operational project manager for major retail programs and event-based initiatives, including Chocolate for a Cause, seasonal programs, customer events, promotional programs, assortment transitions, and new product launches.
• Build and maintain detailed project plans, timelines, milestones, dependencies, and ownership.
• Coordinate execution across Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Customer Service, Finance, and external partners.
• Lead recurring project status meetings and ensure clear accountability for open actions.
• Identify risks early and escalate issues that threaten customer commitments, production timing, item readiness, shipments, or event execution.
• Maintain launch and event readiness trackers so stakeholders have clear visibility to status.
• Coordinate operational requirements for displays, promotional materials, seasonal packaging, and event-specific programs.
• Support post-event and post-launch reviews, capturing lessons learned and required process improvements.
• Ensure event-based programs transition from one-time execution into repeatable operating processes where appropriate.
Pricing & Commercial Administration
• Execute and maintain customer pricing, promotional pricing, and other commercial inputs in applicable systems.
• Ensure pricing changes are accurately implemented and validated before customer orders are processed.
• Coordinate required approvals and documentation with Sales and Finance.
• Identify and resolve pricing discrepancies before they result in deductions or customer disputes.
• Maintain appropriate documentation and audit trails for pricing changes.
EDI, Retailer Portals & Compliance
• Monitor and resolve EDI transaction exceptions, including purchase orders, acknowledgments, advance shipment notices, and invoicing-related issues.
• Navigate retailer portals and operational systems to maintain required information and resolve exceptions.
• Monitor retailer compliance requirements and proactively identify potential risks that could create deductions, chargebacks, shipment delays, or service failures.
• Partner with Finance and other functional owners to research deductions and claims by providing required operational documentation and root-cause information.
• Track repeat compliance issues and recommend corrective actions.
Seasonal & Promotional Execution
• Coordinate operational execution of seasonal programs, promotional activity, assortment changes, and customer resets.
• Ensure items, pricing, inventory, orders, displays, and operational requirements are ready against customer timelines.
• Maintain seasonal and promotional readiness trackers.
• Identify risks related to inventory, setup, production timing, logistics, or customer deadlines.
• Support successful execution across key seasons, including Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, and Holiday.
• Conduct post-season reviews to capture issues and improve future execution.
Process Improvement, Automation & AI
• Continuously evaluate Sales Operations workflows to identify manual work, duplicate activity, recurring errors, and opportunities for simplification.
• Document current-state processes and support development of improved future-state workflows.
• Use automation tools to reduce repetitive tasks such as status tracking, data consolidation, exception identification, and routine administrative work.
• Apply approved AI tools to accelerate documentation, summarize exceptions, improve workflow visibility and increase productivity.
• Partner with the Senior Manager and appropriate IT/Data resources to identify automation and AI-enabled opportunities.
• Help test, implement, and document new tools and processes.
• Measure process improvements through reductions in cycle time, errors, manual effort, or recurring exceptions.
• Maintain appropriate human review and controls for automated processes.
• Build repeatable processes rather than relying on individual knowledge or manual workarounds.
Operational Reporting & Issue Management
• Maintain core Sales Operations trackers and execution reports required to manage daily business performance.
• Monitor operational metrics such as open orders, OTIF, order accuracy, EDI exceptions, deductions, set-up status, and launch readiness.
• Use available reporting to identify execution risks and prioritize actions.
• Partner with the Retail Sales Analyst for deeper analysis, dashboard development, trend identification, and business insights.
• Provide operational context and root-cause information to support analyst-led reporting.
• Escalate recurring or systemic issues that require cross-functional intervention.
Business Continuity & Process Discipline
• Maintain current SOPs, process maps, customer requirements, and work instructions for assigned processes.
• Ensure critical processes have documented backup procedures.
• Support cross-training across Retail Sales Operations responsibilities.
• Maintain organized shared documentation so critical knowledge is institutional rather than dependent on one individual.
• Identify single points of failure and recommend mitigation.
• Ensure recurring processes are documented, repeatable, and scalable.
Decision Rights & Escalation
The Senior Specialist decides:
• Day-to-day prioritization of assigned Retail Sales Operations work.
• Initial triage and resolution path for order, EDI, setup, and retailer-operational exceptions.
• Execution sequencing for new item setup and program-management activities within established timelines.
• When operating procedures require clarification, correction, or additional documentation.
The Senior Specialist recommends or coordinates:
• Process improvements and automation opportunities.
• Corrective actions for recurring operational issues.
• Changes to new item setup workflows and launch processes.
• Service-recovery plans requiring broader cross-functional coordination.
• Improvements to retailer workflows, event execution, and operating routines.
The Senior Specialist escalates:
• Material customer service, revenue, compliance, supply or financial risks.
• Missed or at-risk new item setup milestones.
• Issues that threaten a customer launch, CFAC event, seasonal program, or promotional commitment.
• Recurring cross-functional ownership gaps.
• Risks that could result in a major deduction, shipment failure, missed event, or customer penalty.
How WFC Will Know This Person Is Succeeding
Success in this role will be measured through:
• Accurate and timely retail order execution.
• On-time completion of new customer and new item setup.
• Strong launch readiness and execution.
• Successful delivery of CFAC, seasonal, promotional, and event-based programs.
• Reduction in recurring setup, EDI, and operational errors.
• Reduction in avoidable customer deductions and chargebacks.
• Strong adherence to customer compliance requirements.
• Effective project management with clear ownership, milestones, and escalation.
• Documented and maintained SOPs for critical processes.
• Improved business continuity and backup coverage.
• Demonstrated reductions in manual work and process cycle time.
• Successful adoption of automation and AI-enabled process improvements.
• Strong partnership across Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, Customer Service, Finance, Master Data, and IT.
What You'll Bring
Experience
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Operations, Project Management or a related discipline preferred.
• 4 to 7+ years of experience in Retail Sales Operations, Customer Operations, Customer Supply Chain, Order Management, or Commercial Operations, preferably within CPG, food, confectionery, or another high-volume retail environment.
• Experience supporting national or regional retail customers.
• Demonstrated experience with new item setup and retailer onboarding processes.
• Experience managing cross-functional projects, product launches, promotional programs, or seasonal events.
• Strong knowledge of retail purchase-order execution, replenishment processes, and order-to-cash workflows.
• Experience with SAP or a comparable ERP platform strongly preferred.
• Experience working with EDI transactions and resolving transaction exceptions.
• Experience with retailer portals such as Walmart Retail Link/Luminate, Syndigo, 1WorldSync, or comparable platforms preferred.
• Strong working knowledge of Excel and operational reporting.
• Demonstrated experience improving processes and simplifying work.
Technology, AI & Automation Capability
• Strong systems aptitude and willingness to adopt new technology.
• Demonstrated ability to learn and apply digital tools quickly.
• Experience using workflow automation, AI-enabled productivity tools, or low-code/no-code solutions preferred.
• Ability to identify repetitive work that can be automated or simplified.
• Comfortable partnering with IT, Data and Analytics teams to translate operational needs into system or workflow improvements.
• Experience with tools such as Power Automate, Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise, or similar platforms is advantageous.
• Demonstrated ability to use technology to improve execution is more important than expertise in any single platform.
Critical Capabilities
• Operational ownership: Drives work from initiation through completion.
• Project management: Manages timelines, dependencies, owners, and risks.
• New item execution: Understands how to move items from commercial approval to customer readiness.
• Process improvement: Fixes recurring problems rather than repeatedly managing symptoms.
• Systems orientation: Understands how customer, item, and order data move across systems.
• Technology curiosity: Looks for better ways to execute using automation and AI.
• Attention to detail: Maintains accuracy across customer-facing and operational processes.
• Commercial judgment: Understands which execution issues create material customer or business risk.
• Cross-functional influence: Drives accountability without direct authority.
• Builder mindset: Helps create a scalable future-state Sales Operations organization.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:
• Base salary of $85,000.00-$95,000.00 annually
• Annual Bonus: 5% of base salary, based on company and/or individual performance
• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Wellness Program
• 401k Matching
• HSA/FSA
• LifeLock Identity Theft Protection
• STD/LTD
• Life Insurance
• Tuition Reimbursement
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER:
World’s Finest Chocolate is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws. We celebrate diversity and are dedicated to providing an environment of respect and inclusivity for all employees.