Operations Associate - Order Management

Please read this first

We use AI agents. That does not mean the work is automated. We are a startup, and most of what this job is today is manual: chasing suppliers by phone, re-keying orders when systems don’t talk, digging through emails for a tracking number, and fixing things the agents got wrong. The AI handles volume; you handle everything the AI can’t — and right now that’s a lot. If you’re looking for a job where the software does the work and you supervise, this is not it. If you like being the person who makes a messy operation actually run, keep reading.

About Arbor

Arbor Home is an AI-native B2B building materials marketplace serving contractors, builders, multifamily operators and designers across the US. Headquartered in Palo Alto with fulfillment centers in Phoenix and Atlanta. A very small core team owns the suppliers, the exceptions and the quality of what the agents do. You’d be one of them, reporting to the founder, Farshad.

About the role

The core of this job is ownership. When a supplier goes silent, freight shows up damaged, or an agent sends a customer the wrong answer, you don’t log it — you fix it, that day, usually by phone. You own orders from PO to delivery and the customer from confirmation to “it arrived.” You’re the link between suppliers, carriers, customers and our Phoenix warehouse team — you don’t pick or pack, you make sure the right thing ships and the customer knows what’s happening.

What you’ll actually do

• Chase suppliers, by hand. Place POs, call when they don’t confirm, call again when they don’t ship, find an alternate when they’re out. Many of our vendors have no portal — it’s email and phone.
• Own the customer side. Keep contractors informed; resolve backorders, splits, damage and wrong SKUs. Phone first, email second, same day.
• Fix what the agents miss. Review agent emails, quotes and updates daily; correct errors, spot patterns, feed fixes back.
• Coordinate with the warehouse. Give the FC team clear priorities, get answers on what’s in stock and what shipped, and resolve discrepancies between the system and the floor.
• Do the scrappy work. Spreadsheets, manual reconciliations, hunting down a missing BOL, calling a carrier three times. Nothing is beneath this job.
• Build what’s missing. If the tracker is bad, replace it. You use AI tools as a matter of course.

What we’re looking for

• Ownership, demonstrated. 2–4 years running an order desk, logistics coordination or e-commerce ops at a company that moved real volume — 3PL, distributor, marketplace, DTC brand — where you personally called vendors and customers. Not one step of someone else’s process.
• Resourcefulness. You find the answer rather than wait for it. You’ve fixed a process nobody asked you to fix.
• Clarity. You can explain your last job and your own process in two sentences, with specifics.
• Composure and pace. Five things open, a vendor not replying, a contractor on the line — and you stay organized.
• Stamina for the unglamorous. You’ve done repetitive manual work at a startup and didn’t need someone to make it exciting.
• Tools. Shopify, a ticketing system (Zendesk/Intercom/Gorgias), spreadsheets; daily AI user.

Evidence of these matters more than titles. Building materials or construction supply experience is a plus; unusual paths are welcome.

Why take this

You’ll run a real order operation end to end with direct access to the founder and real authority from week one. You’ll also be the one who decides what gets automated next, because you’ll know better than anyone where the manual pain is.

Practical expectations — please read before applying

• Hybrid: 3 days/week at our Phoenix location; Pacific business hours.
• Heavy phone work with vendors and customers. Fast on email.
• A lot of the work is manual and repetitive today. It gets better as we automate, but you are hired for now, not for the future version.
• No dedicated support team behind you. You are the support team.
• Based in the Phoenix metro.