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operations support associate

title: Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Operations Support Associate
salary: $45,000 - $70,000
categories: [Operations, Customer Support, Technical Operations, Logistics, Service Delivery]
description: A comprehensive overview of the key responsibilities, required technical skills and professional background for the role of a Operations Support Associate.
Hiring an Operations Support Associate: a hands-on, cross-functional role focused on day-to-day operational execution, incident and escalation management, process optimization, and data-driven reporting. Ideal candidates combine strong technical aptitude (CRM/ERP tools, Excel/SQL, ticketing systems) with excellent communication and a customer-first mindset.

🎯 Role Definition

The Operations Support Associate is responsible for ensuring smooth, reliable delivery of operational services by monitoring systems and workflows, resolving customer and internal issues, maintaining operational data integrity, implementing process improvements, and working cross-functionally to meet SLAs and business objectives. This role requires a blend of technical troubleshooting, process orientation, stakeholder communication, and continuous improvement mindset.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Customer Support Representative / Customer Success Coordinator
  • Junior Operations Analyst / Administrative Coordinator
  • Technical Support Specialist

Advancement To:

  • Operations Coordinator / Senior Operations Associate
  • Operations Analyst / Process Improvement Specialist
  • Technical Program Manager / Operations Manager

Lateral Moves:

  • Customer Success Manager
  • Implementation Specialist
  • Supply Chain / Logistics Coordinator

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Monitor daily operational dashboards, ticket queues, and service health indicators to identify outages, SLA breaches, and process bottlenecks; initiate corrective actions and notify stakeholders within required response windows.
  • Own triage and first-line investigation for operational incidents, including gathering logs, reproducing issues, coordinating with engineering or vendor teams, and tracking incident lifecycle until resolution.
  • Manage customer escalations related to order processing, billing, platform availability, or service interruptions; provide timely status updates, root cause analysis, and restitution recommendations.
  • Execute high-volume transactional tasks such as order entry, invoice validation, returns processing, and account changes with accuracy and adherence to policy.
  • Reconcile operational data across systems (CRM, ERP, billing platforms) to ensure integrity of invoices, shipments, inventory, and customer records; identify and remediate discrepancies.
  • Maintain and update operational documentation, runbooks, and knowledge base articles to ensure accurate run procedures and consistent responses by the team.
  • Coordinate cross-functional handoffs (sales, product, engineering, fulfillment) for onboarding, go-live events, and release cutovers to minimize customer impact and ensure readiness.
  • Track, measure, and report against key operational KPIs (SLA attainment, MTTR, ticket backlog, throughput) and prepare weekly/monthly summaries for stakeholders.
  • Design and implement standard operating procedures (SOPs) and checklists to reduce errors, shorten cycle time, and improve quality of service.
  • Automate repetitive tasks using scripting (Python, Bash), macros, or workflow tools to increase team efficiency and reduce manual error-prone activities.
  • Perform root cause analysis for recurring issues; propose and drive remedial projects or process changes to eliminate systemic failures.
  • Manage vendor and third-party relationships for services such as fulfillment, payments, or support platforms; handle escalation paths and SLA enforcement.
  • Conduct quality assurance checks on processed transactions, support tickets, and outbound communications to enforce compliance and brand standards.
  • Support billing and collections processes by validating invoices, routing disputes, coordinating credits, and ensuring accurate revenue recognition inputs.
  • Participate in release readiness and post-release validation to ensure new product features or platform changes do not disrupt operational flows.
  • Facilitate capacity planning and resource forecasting by analyzing trends, seasonality, and backlog to recommend headcount or tooling adjustments.
  • Train new hires and upskill team members on tools, processes, and escalation protocols; act as a subject matter expert for core operational workflows.
  • Support compliance and audit activities by preparing documentation, responding to information requests, and implementing corrective actions as required.
  • Manage scheduled maintenance and outage communications across internal teams and to customers, ensuring clarity on scope, impact, and recovery timelines.
  • Drive continuous improvement projects (Lean/Six Sigma practices) to streamline end-to-end processes, reduce cycle time, and improve customer satisfaction scores.
  • Coordinate and execute backlog remediation campaigns (data cleanups, failed transactions) with minimal business disruption and validated rollback plans.
  • Ensure data privacy and security best practices are followed in operational tasks, including proper handling of PII and adherence to company policies and regulations.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
  • Assist with special projects such as product launches, go-to-market support, and pilot rollouts where operational execution is required.
  • Provide periodic training sessions and feedback to product and sales teams about common operational pain points and customer patterns.
  • Help maintain integrations between internal tools and external vendor systems, documenting transactional mappings and error handling.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • CRM platforms (Salesforce, HubSpot) — managing cases, account updates, and workflow automation.
  • Ticketing and ITSM tools (Zendesk, ServiceNow, Jira) — triage, SLAs, and incident tracking.
  • Advanced Excel / Google Sheets — pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, conditional formatting, and macros.
  • SQL for data querying and reconciliation across operational tables and reports.
  • Basic scripting and automation (Python, Bash, Google Apps Script) to automate repetitive workflows.
  • Business Intelligence / Reporting tools (Tableau, Power BI, Looker) — building dashboards and extracting insights.
  • ERP / Order Management Systems (SAP, Netsuite, Workday) — transactional processing and reconciliation.
  • Data validation and reconciliation methodologies — reconciliation templates and exception handling.
  • Knowledge of SLA, MTTR, and operational metrics concepts — defining and measuring performance.
  • Familiarity with billing/payment systems and dispute resolution workflows (Stripe, Adyen, Zuora).
  • API fundamentals and integration troubleshooting — reading logs, testing endpoints, and coordinating with engineers.
  • Version control / documentation tools (Confluence, Git) — maintaining runbooks and change history.
  • Basic Linux / command-line usage for log collection and simple diagnostics.
  • Quality assurance techniques — sampling, validation rules, and test case execution.

Soft Skills

  • Strong verbal and written communication — clear updates to customers and cross-functional partners.
  • Customer-centric mindset — empathy, ownership, and urgency when resolving issues.
  • Analytical problem solving — breaking down complex incidents and identifying root causes.
  • Attention to detail and high level of accuracy when working with critical data.
  • Time management and prioritization — handling competing high-priority incidents and routine tasks.
  • Collaboration and stakeholder management — influencing peers and leaders without formal authority.
  • Resilience under pressure — maintaining composure during outages or high-volume periods.
  • Continuous improvement orientation — curiosity to test, iterate, and document better ways of working.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Associate degree or equivalent work experience in operations, IT support, or business administration.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Business Administration
  • Operations Management
  • Information Systems / Computer Science
  • Supply Chain / Logistics
  • Finance / Accounting

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 1–5 years of relevant experience in operational support, technical support, customer operations, or a related function.

Preferred:

  • 2–4+ years supporting SaaS, e-commerce, logistics, or enterprise operations with experience using CRM/ERP/ticketing systems and performing data reconciliations.
  • Demonstrated track record of process improvement, cross-functional coordination, and incident management.
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