Commercial Operations Specialist

Tierra Biosciences, a venture capital backed life science company, has pioneered a novel high-throughput protein production platform that produces hundreds of custom proteins on-demand. Our platform can make proteins faster than other technologies and has the potential to onboard novel methods quickly. We use cell-free synthetic biology to bring the power and throughput of genomics technologies into protein production. Our diverse range of customers engage in the creation of pioneering products in therapeutics, chemistry, biotechnology, agriculture, and food. At Tierra Biosciences, we play a pivotal role in expediting our customers' scientific exploration, enabling them to swiftly transform ideas into market-ready, life-changing innovations.
 
We are looking for a Commercial Operations Specialist to play a pivotal role in identifying and maintaining the tools and systems required for order processing. Reporting to the VP of Product and Marketing, this position will be responsible for managing all orders from initiation to invoicing. This dynamic position emphasizes order management, while working collaboratively with all our internal teams and external end users.
Requirements
This position will start as a part-time position (approximately 25 hours per week with no benefits), and may move into a full-time, regular position.
JOB DUTIES
Support the commercial, operations, and finance teams by managing the systems required for order initiation, order tracking and invoicing.
Assist customers with processing and completing orders, canceling/editing order information, reviewing/approving customer purchase orders, and payment completion.
Manage the custom quoting process, including approving custom quotes generated by the sales team.
Enter sales orders upon receipt of purchase orders for non-custom and custom products, review the order to ensure accuracy, create manufacturing folders/files for operations, and submit order confirmation to customer.
Report any issues customers encounter through the ordering/payment process and work with the order portal contractor and finance to improve the order process.
Work closely with the operations team (using the manufacturing dashboard) to communicate order status as needed, highlighting risks to customers and the sales team in a timely manner.
Engage frequently with sales, operations, and finance teams to assist with questions, process improvements and complex sales workflows.
Contribute to various day-to-day activities and manage projects within the commercial team, and other departments as needed.
Liaison between our internal engineering team and the order portal contractor to update pricing, product availability, ordering, other aspects of the online user experience.
POSITION REQUIREMENTS
BA/BS or equivalent degree in business, life sciences or other technical fields.
A minimum of 6 months working experience in sales operations or marketing operations.
Self-motivated and able to work with minimal supervision.
Strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
Expertise in Excel, using tables to manage, track, and display data.
Excellent customer relationship management skills.
Highly organized with excellent time management skills and strong attention to detail.
PREFERRED SKILLS
A minimum of 2 years work experience in the life sciences environment.
Ability to manage multiple priorities and projects in a fast-paced environment with shifting demands.
Exceptional communication and collaboration skills with the ability to navigate early-stage organizational structures, building credibility and relationships across functions and levels.
Benefits
This job initially will be on a part-time basis with no benefits. It may move into a full-time, regular position.  Legal authorization to work in the U.S. is required. We are not able to sponsor individuals for employment visas for this job. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire. This position is based in our San Leandro, CA location.