Senior Sales Operations Specialist, FM

Barry Callebaut; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Barry Callebaut seeks a Senior Sales Operations Specialist in Chicago to enhance customer experience and streamline operations across cross-functional teams. The ideal candidate will have a bachelor’s degree, extensive experience in sales operations, and proven skills in data analysis and Salesforce. This role is crucial in supporting B2B sales, managing customer forecasts, and driving efficiency, contributing to the overall commercial success of the organization.

Benefits

Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package

Paid time off and generous holiday time

Workplace flexibility

Diversity and inclusivity initiatives

Opportunities for personal and professional growth

Qualifications

• 5+ years in sales operations or customer-focused project coordination.
• Proficient in Salesforce and strong Excel skills required.
• Ability to balance tactical responsibilities with commercial strategies.

Responsibilities

• Serve as operational backbone for the FM Sales team ensuring seamless execution.
• Monitor customer forecasts and identify gaps versus contracted volumes.
• Manage the pricing process and support Account Managers with reporting.

Skills

Sales operations

Cross-functional coordination

Communication

Organizational skills

Data analysis

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business, supply chain, operations, or related field

Tools

Salesforce

Excel

Power BI

Tableau

Job description

Job Description

The Senior Sales Operations Specialist plays a vital role in elevating the customer experience and enabling the commercial team to focus on strategic growth. This position serves as the operational backbone for key food manufacturing accounts—connecting people, processes, and data across Sales, Customer Service, Pricing, R&D, Planning, and Global Business Services (GBS). With a focus on executional excellence, the Senior Sales Operations Specialist ensures that customer initiatives and internal workflows are managed seamlessly, efficiently, and with urgency. This role requires a balance of big-picture thinking and precise tactical execution, supporting business development through proactive coordination, issue resolution, and data-driven insights. By bridging cross-functional gaps and anticipating customer needs, the Senior Sales Operations Specialist contributes directly to delivering best-in-class service and sustained commercial success.

Responsibilities

- Serve as the operational backbone for the FM Sales team, ensuring seamless execution of workflows across Sales, Customer Service, Pricing, Supply Chain, and GBS.
- Monitor customer forecasts, proactively identifying gaps versus contracted volumes and flagging issues for Account Manager follow-up.
- Lead resolution of escalated service issues, including orders, samples, documentation, and other customer-facing needs.
- Manage the pricing process by requesting quotes, coordinating approvals, and ensuring accurate and timely bookings.
- Submit requests to GBS partners (e.g., samples, documentation, master data updates) and follow up to ensure timely and complete execution.
- Support Account Managers with contract management, pricing inputs, item setup, and reporting.
- Generate and maintain sales and customer reports (e.g., volume tracking, pricing files, open orders, contract usage).
- Assist with development and refinement of reporting tools and dashboards that provide actionable insights to the Sales team.
- Track and analyze performance metrics such as opportunity conversion and forecast accuracy to support account reviews.
- Contribute to S&OP and demand planning processes by providing accurate inputs, historical insights, and commercial context.
- Act as a Salesforce champion—ensuring proper pipeline stage management, opportunity entry, and system hygiene.
- Identify process improvements and opportunities to increase team efficiency and customer satisfaction.
- Proactively flag internal or customer-facing execution risks and coordinate cross-functionally to drive resolution.
- Build strong internal relationships and serve as a key resource for operational support, enabling commercial teams to focus on growth.

Qualifications & Experience

- Bachelor’s degree in business, supply chain, operations, or related field.
- 5+ years in sales operations, commercial support, or customer-focused project coordination.
- Proven ability to support B2B commercial teams in a cross-functional environment; food or CPG experience is a plus.
- Proficient in Salesforce or an equivalent CRM tool.
- Strong Excel skills required; proficiency in PowerPoint and data visualization tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau) is a plus.
- Excellent communication and organizational skills with high attention to detail.
- Ability to balance tactical responsibilities while understanding and aligning with broader commercial strategies.
- A strong sense of urgency, accountability, and ownership.

- 3+ years of experience in B2B sales operations, preferably within the food or manufacturing industry.
- Experience supporting B2B sales teams with data, processes, and cross-functional coordination.
- Proven track record of driving efficiency, accuracy, and process improvement.
- Skilled at navigating matrixed organizations and managing competing priorities.
- Familiarity with the chocolate industry or related sectors is a plus.
- Proficiency in Salesforce.com or similar CRM platforms is preferred.

What you can expect from Barry Callebaut:

• Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package
• Paid time off, plus generous holiday time
• Environment that welcomes workplace flexibility
• An atmosphere where diversity is embraced, and inclusivity is second nature. We call it #OneBC! Just ask our champions with the Americas Women’s Forum and the Racial Equality Forum!
• Ability to grow personally and professionally within an organization that values development and internal career growth
• Be part of our mission in making sustainability the norm through Forever Chocolate with priorities centered around prospering farmers, zero child labor, carbon and forest positive, and creating 100% sustainable ingredients in all of our products.