Operations Manager

About the Company

Our client is a founder-led wellness brand creating science-backed, non-drug solutions for common health issues. Its flagship product is a seaweed-based supplement designed to help people manage heartburn and acid reflux through a physical barrier mechanism rather than acid suppression. The client sells through its own Shopify store (one-time and subscription orders) and Amazon. It is a small, fast-growing team, and it is AI-forward: everyone is expected to use AI tools to work faster and more accurately.

Role Overview

This is a full-time Operations Manager (Supply Chain & Inventory) role, remote from Latin America, working Pacific Time business hours, as a full-time independent contractor. This person will own inventory, purchasing and fulfillment logistics for the flagship supplement, and will own operations end to end: inventory, purchase orders, the contract manufacturer, suppliers and 3PL, plus coordination with the Amazon agency on FBA inventory. The job is to make sure the right product is always in the right place, at the right cost, and that nothing slips.

This person will work directly with the COO, who will hand day-to-day execution over. It's a manager-level role for someone who takes full ownership, needs little oversight and makes the business run more smoothly every month.

AI is central to this role. This person will build and run AI agents and automations that handle routine operations work, such as inventory monitoring, PO and deadline tracking, supplier follow-ups and reporting, so the function scales without adding headcount.

Responsibilities

- Inventory management: Maintain accurate inventory positions across the 3PL, Amazon FBA and in-transit stock. Track sell-through, weeks of cover and reorder points, and flag stockout or overstock risk weeks in advance.

- Purchase orders: Prepare and issue POs to the contract manufacturer and packaging suppliers. Track deposits, production timelines and delivery dates, and follow up until every PO is closed.

- Supplier negotiation: Negotiate pricing, minimum order quantities, lead times and payment terms, hold suppliers to what they agreed to, and escalate issues early.

- Manufacturer and supplier sourcing: Find, vet and qualify new contract manufacturers and suppliers when needed. Gather quotes and samples, verify certifications and capabilities, and bring a clear recommendation.

- Key dates and deadlines: Keep a master calendar of order dates, production slots, deposit and payment due dates, and inbound ship dates. Make sure no deadline is missed.

- Quality and compliance documents: Collect Certificates of Analysis, batch records and specs for every production run, and check them against the approved formula before inventory is released. Maintain lot and expiration tracking.

- 3PL coordination: Manage inbound receiving, SKU and kit setup (including a pre-kitted 3-pack), inventory discrepancies, shipping issues and monthly invoice audits.

- Amazon FBA coordination: The Amazon agency manages FBA shipments and fulfillment. This person coordinates between the agency and the 3PL so inbound shipments are prepped, sent and received on schedule and FBA stock matches the inventory plan, flags discrepancies and confirms reimbursement claims are filed.

- Forecasting support: Keep the demand forecast current with Shopify (including subscriptions) and Amazon sales data, and prepare monthly reorder recommendations for review.

- Landed cost and COGS: Collect freight quotes, calculate landed cost per unit and keep COGS current in the financial model.

- AI agents and automation: Set up and maintain AI agents and automated workflows for operations: inventory and reorder alerts, PO and deadline tracking, supplier follow-up drafts, invoice checks and weekly reporting. Document every recurring process as an SOP so it can be automated or handed off.

Who They're Looking For

- Dependable. Does what they say they'll do, on time. People stop checking their work because they don't need to.

- An owner. Treats operations as theirs, sees what needs doing and gets it done with minimal direction.

- AI-first. Reaches for AI before doing work by hand, has built agents, automations or AI workflows that saved real hours, and keeps looking for the next one.

- A strong relationship manager. Builds trusted relationships with US vendors and manufacturers, and holds them to their commitments without damaging the relationship.

- Highly organized. Tracks every order date, deadline and detail, and nothing falls through the cracks.

- Candid and coachable. Takes feedback well and acts on it, and also raises problems quickly, even uncomfortable ones, with a recommendation, not just the issue.

- E-commerce fluent. Understands how inventory, fulfillment, subscriptions and marketplaces connect in a DTC business.

What They'll Need

- 5+ years in operations, supply chain or inventory for an e-commerce or DTC brand (supplements, food or beauty preferred).

- Working knowledge of Amazon FBA inventory and inbound shipments.

- Direct experience managing relationships with US-based suppliers, contract manufacturers and 3PLs.

- Advanced Google Sheets or Excel skills: lookups, pivot tables and basic forecasting.

- Strong written and spoken English, and clear, proactive updates without being asked.

- High attention to detail, catching the quantity mismatch or the missing COA before it becomes a problem.

- Hands-on experience building AI agents or automated workflows (e.g., with Claude, ChatGPT, Zapier, Make or n8n) that took real work off a team's plate.

- A reliable internet connection and a quiet workspace for video calls.

Bonus Points

- Experience with dietary supplements, food or beauty, including cGMP, COA review or lot tracking.

- Experience with Shopify, Recharge, 3PL portals or inventory planning tools.

- Freight, customs or landed-cost experience.

- Familiarity with bookkeeping tools such as QuickBooks or Finaloop.

Terms

- Full-time, long-term independent contractor engagement.

- Fully remote, with flexible time off arranged in advance.

- Direct work with the founders and real ownership of a core function at a growing brand.