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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Order Entry Specialist

💰 $36,000 - $55,000

OperationsCustomer ServiceLogisticsOrder Management

🎯 Role Definition

The Order Entry Specialist is responsible for accurate, timely entry and management of customer orders across electronic and manual channels, ensuring correct pricing, product availability, billing and shipping information, and seamless handoff to fulfillment. This role requires strong attention to detail, proficiency with ERP/Order Management systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics), and excellent communication with sales, customer service, warehouse and finance teams to drive order accuracy, reduce exceptions, and enhance customer satisfaction.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Customer Service Representative with order processing exposure
  • Data Entry or Administrative Assistant in a supply chain environment
  • Warehouse or Shipping Coordinator with order fulfillment knowledge

Advancement To:

  • Senior Order Management Specialist / Order Desk Lead
  • Order Management Supervisor or Team Lead
  • Supply Chain Analyst or Order Management Analyst

Lateral Moves:

  • Customer Success or Account Coordinator
  • Billing & Invoicing Specialist
  • Logistics Coordinator

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Enter and validate customer purchase orders across multiple channels (email, EDI, web portal, phone, and CRM), ensuring SKU numbers, quantities, pricing, customer reference numbers, payment terms, and shipping details are accurate before order release.
  • Review incoming orders for completeness and compliance with contract pricing and promotions; identify and resolve price deviations, discount errors, and special terms by collaborating with sales and pricing teams.
  • Acknowledge orders to customers promptly and maintain clear communication around expected shipment dates, partial shipments, back-orders, and order modifications to drive a positive customer experience.
  • Process and manage EDI transactions, ASNs, and electronic order confirmations; troubleshoot EDI translation issues with IT or third-party providers and update internal mappings as needed.
  • Coordinate with inventory planning and warehouse operations to confirm product availability, allocate stock, and expedite or decommit orders when required to meet customer SLAs.
  • Create and issue invoices, packing lists, shipping labels, and related documentation in the ERP/OMS; ensure invoice accuracy for finance and timely submission for collections.
  • Monitor order status from entry through fulfillment and invoicing; proactively identify and escalate delayed shipments, inventory shortages, and carrier issues to minimize customer impact.
  • Research and resolve order exceptions such as credit holds, missing freight terms, duplicate orders, or invalid ship-to addresses by partnering with credit, logistics, and sales teams.
  • Manage returns, exchanges, and customer credits by initiating Return Material Authorizations (RMAs), coordinating reverse logistics, and ensuring proper crediting in billing systems.
  • Maintain and update customer master data and product information in ERP/CRM systems, including new ship-to locations, billing accounts, and pricing tables, ensuring data integrity and auditability.
  • Process complex orders requiring special handling (kitting, drop-ship, multi-ship orders, or custom configurations), coordinating cross-functionally to capture requirements and schedule fulfillment.
  • Prepare and reconcile daily order reports, volume metrics, and exception logs for operations and leadership; support weekly or monthly order trend analysis to inform supply chain decisions.
  • Support month-end and quarter-end closing activities related to order cutoffs, backlog reporting, and revenue recognition by working closely with accounting and sales operations.
  • Implement best practices for order entry workflows, data validation rules, and checklists to reduce order-entry errors and improve throughput and first-pass yield.
  • Serve as a primary point of contact for internal teams and external customers during order-related escalations; document actions taken and outcomes in the CRM or ticketing system.
  • Train and mentor junior order entry and customer service staff on order management processes, system use, and escalation protocols to improve team performance and consistency.
  • Execute ad hoc requests from sales and operations for order copies, shipment confirmations, historical order data, and custom reporting while adhering to data privacy and customer confidentiality standards.
  • Participate in cross-functional projects to implement new order-entry tools, ERP enhancements, or e-commerce integrations; contribute process knowledge and user acceptance testing feedback.
  • Audit historical orders to identify recurring errors, root causes, and opportunities for system configuration or process changes to reduce manual rework.
  • Enforce compliance with export controls, hazardous materials shipping regulations, and company policies when entering orders that include restricted or controlled products; coordinate with compliance and logistics teams as needed.
  • Track and strive to meet KPIs such as order accuracy percentage, average order entry time, order cycle time, and exception resolution SLA to support continuous improvement goals.
  • Maintain detailed documentation of order-entry procedures, quick reference guides, and escalation matrices to ensure continuity and support onboarding.

Secondary Functions

  • Assist in the design and implementation of automated order validation rules and data quality checks in ERP/OMS to reduce manual review work.
  • Generate and analyze weekly and monthly order fulfillment reports to identify bottlenecks and propose process or staffing adjustments.
  • Work with IT and third-party integrators to test and validate new EDI mappings, web-store order feeds, and API integrations before production rollout.
  • Participate in customer account reviews or client onboarding calls to advise on preferred order submission methods and reduce future exceptions.
  • Support continuous improvement efforts by documenting standard operating procedures (SOPs), participating in root-cause analyses (RCAs), and recommending corrective actions.
  • Provide cross-coverage for customer service inquiries during peak seasons or staffing shortages, including responding to order status inquiries and scheduling expedited shipments.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Proficient with ERP and Order Management Systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, Infor) for order entry, invoicing, and fulfillment workflows.
  • Hands-on experience processing EDI transactions (850, 855, 856, 810) and working with EDI translators or VAN providers.
  • Strong Microsoft Excel skills for reconciliation, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, pivot tables, and managing order and inventory spreadsheets.
  • Familiarity with CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce) and integrating order information between CRM and ERP.
  • Experience with order portals, e-commerce platforms, and web store order ingestion (Shopify, Magento, custom APIs).
  • Knowledge of billing and invoicing processes, credit holds, and basic AR principles.
  • Basic understanding of shipping/carrier systems, freight terms (FOB, CIF), and generating packing lists and BOLs.
  • Ability to read and apply customer contracts, pricing matrices, and discount schedules during order processing.
  • Comfortable using ticketing or help desk platforms to manage order exceptions and customer inquiries.
  • Exposure to basic SQL or reporting tools (Power BI, Tableau) is a plus for generating ad hoc order reports and analytics.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional attention to detail and a high degree of accuracy when transcribing order data and validating pricing or contract terms.
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills to interact professionally with customers, sales reps, warehouse staff, and finance.
  • Customer-service orientation with a sense of urgency and ownership for resolving order-related issues.
  • Problem-solving mindset and the ability to triage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
  • Excellent time management and organizational skills to manage high volumes of orders and meet SLAs.
  • Collaborative team player who builds relationships across cross-functional teams.
  • Adaptability to changing business needs, system upgrades, and seasonal order volume spikes.
  • Discretion and integrity when handling sensitive customer and financial information.
  • Continuous improvement mindset with openness to process change and automation opportunities.
  • Coaching and mentoring aptitude to support junior staff development.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • High school diploma or equivalent.

Preferred Education:

  • Associate degree or Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, Logistics, or a related field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Business Administration
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Logistics and Transportation
  • Information Systems

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 1–5 years of progressive order entry, customer service, or order management experience in distribution, manufacturing, retail, or e-commerce environments.

Preferred:

  • 3+ years working with ERP systems and processing EDI/web orders, with demonstrated accuracy metrics and experience handling high-volume order flows.
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