WHAT DOES A FULFILLMENT SPECIALIST DO?
Updated: Jun 13, 2025 - The Fulfillment Specialist manages all aspects of technical and creative projects, including planning, execution, troubleshooting, and ensuring quality and cost efficiency. This role involves coordinating with internal and external teams to support business needs, maintain productivity, and manage resources effectively. The specialist also assists with financial processes, trade show coordination, and cross-functional project support.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Fulfillment Specialist
1. Fulfillment Specialist Job Description
- Order Processing: Process orders for material or merchandise received by mail, telephone, or personally from customers or company employees.
- Software Data Entry: Enter orders into fulfillment software for customers or internal clients.
- Clear Communication: Communicate customer specifications in a detailed and clear manner.
- Customer Interaction: Communicate with customers to meet client expectations.
- Customer Support: Answer all phone calls/emails within a set timeframe, following up if necessary.
- Order Modification: Modify and/or cancel orders.
- Customer Information Sharing: Inform customer of unit prices, shipping date, anticipated delays, and any additional information needed by customer.
- Order Follow-up: Follow up on orders to ensure delivery by specified dates.
- Packaging Recommendations: Recommend special type of packing or labeling needed on order.
- Return Processing: Request return shipping labels.
- Portal Management: Create/update items and users in fulfillment portals.
- Complaint Investigation: Receive and investigate customer complaints.
2. Fulfillment Specialist Overview
- Order Fulfillment: Pulls orders for shipment from warehouse inventory.
- Shipment Accuracy: Verifies the accuracy of all shipments.
- Order Preparation: Stages and prepares orders for shipment while making sure the items are packaged neatly.
- Stocking: Fills stocking areas to keep products available for pulling orders.
- Rack Maintenance: Maintain neat racks and bin areas.
- Warehouse Cleanliness: Maintains the cleanliness of the warehouse and grounds.
- Pallet Organization: Organizes pallets and stacks in a safe area.
- Material Staging: Stages all material in the proper area.
- Shipping Documentation: Completes all shipping paperwork on time and notifies the salesperson if the material is short.
- Quality Control: Counts, weighs, measures, or examines packaging and contents of items for conformance to company specifications.
- Skid Wrapping: Wraps skids, tapes them up, identifies them, and loads them onto the correct truck.
- Punctuality: Reports for work on time and regularly.
3. Order Fulfillment Specialist Details and Accountabilities
- Order Entry: Enter sales orders and other data in the system.
- Account Setup: Set up new accounts.
- Order Validation: Validate the information on customer purchasing orders.
- Team Coordination: Coordinate and follow up on activities between the operations, procurement, logistics, and finance teams within the company.
- On-Time Delivery: Ensure on-time delivery to customers by proactively working the daily backlogs.
- Backlog Monitoring: Monitor and follow up on backlogs to meet and exceed customers’ requirements.
- Post-Sales Management: Manage post-sales delivery requests and issues that would affect the delivery of goods to customers.
- Sales Collaboration: Closely collaborate with the sales department for any post-sales activities and escalate problematic items that require immediate attention.
- Problem Solving: Proactively identify alternatives and solutions for problematic orders.
- Change Management Assistance: Assist the internal departments for any change management requests required by the customers or the sales team.
4. Fulfillment Specialist Tasks
- Material Distribution: Print and/or email sales and marketing materials for Sales Executives and brokers.
- Training Material Preparation: Prepare agency onsite training materials for all departments and Sales Executives.
- Brokers Communication: Correspond directly with Brokers and Warner Pacific Sales Executives via email and phone.
- Response Management: Respond/acknowledge emails and phone messages within 2-4 hours.
- Shipment Coordination: Determine the best method of shipment, utilizing knowledge of shipping procedures, routes, and rates.
- Fulfillment and Shipping Support: Perform the daily activities of the Fulfillment Specialist and/or Shipping Coordinator.
- Shipment Verification: Verify and keep record of incoming and outgoing shipments.
- Shipping Preparation: Prepare items for shipment using various vendors.
- Vendor Communication: Communicate directly with outside vendors such as FedEx, UPS, and USPS drivers.
- Shipment Inspection: Unpack and examine incoming shipments, routing them to the appropriate departments.
- Inventory Management: Maintain inventory of shipping materials and supplies.
- Copier Maintenance: Make sure all copiers are stocked and full.
- Shred Bin Management: Make sure all shred bins have been emptied.
- Workload Allocation: Initiate, evaluate, and balance/reallocate case load assignments to help staff members achieve department and individual performance objectives.
5. Fulfillment Specialist Roles
- Project Participation: Participate in and complete other Department projects as assigned in an efficient, cooperative, and timely fashion.
- Cross-Department Support: Provide back-up or assistance in other areas within the Department/Company.
- Kitchen Maintenance: Ensure the front and back kitchens are stocked, clean, and properly arranged at all times.
- Inventory Management: Maintain and order inventory for all kitchens and copiers.
- Workplace Evaluation: Continually evaluate work environment, identifying areas where assistance is required and opportunities for process improvement.
- Communication: Maintain and foster positive, open communication channels with all affiliated internal service areas.
- Adaptability: Embrace change with a positive attitude and motivate others in the Department to do the same.
- Proactive Work: Independently seek out additional work from current or other departments as time permits.
- Project Participation: Positively participate in other projects/activities as assigned.
- Fair Treatment: Treat all employees and customers fairly and with respect, and communicate with other employees consistently in a dignified, positive fashion to encourage and achieve maximum performance results while earning the respect and admiration of co-workers.
- Leadership: Lead by example and regularly review, understand, and comply with all policies and procedures, including those regarding punctuality, attendance, harassment, and discrimination prevention.
6. Fulfillment Specialist Additional Details
- Order Fulfillment: Picks, packs, and ships marketing materials.
- Packet Assembly: Prints and assembles packets.
- Data Entry: Inputs and scans orders into the system.
- Warehouse Cleanliness: Maintains cleanliness of warehouse.
- Supply Coordination: Works with receiving warehouse crew of incoming supplies.
- Customer Interaction: Interacts with customers as they request marketing materials and supplies.
- Shipment Coordination: Confers with production, sales, shipping, warehouse, or common carrier personnel to expedite or trace missing or delayed shipments.
- Report Preparation: Prepares various reports for customers/management.
- Problem Resolution: Identifies and resolves problems promptly.
- Safety Contribution: Contributes to safety goals by maintaining a clean, clutter-free workplace, reporting potentially unsafe conditions, and ensuring that the department meets and exceeds safety requirements.
- Productivity and Quality: Meets productivity and quality standards by completing work in a timely and accurate manner.
7. Print Fulfillment Specialist Essential Functions
- Project Management: Manage all aspects of assigned technical and creative projects, including project planning, research, execution, time management, functionality, troubleshooting, quality, and cost savings potential.
- Project Ownership: Take direct ownership of planning and monitoring assigned projects throughout their lifecycles.
- Resource and Vendor Management: Manage resource and vendor assignments.
- Maintenance Support: Support the department by managing various maintenance-type projects and troubleshooting issues for internal business partners.
- External Team Collaboration: Partner with external fulfillment teams using daily updates and touchpoints.
- Service Quality Assurance: Ensure the highest level of service, quality, and productivity services are met.
- Process Optimization: Operationalize processes for efficiency and effectiveness in support of business needs as they evolve.
- Invoice and Purchase Management: Assist in invoice processing, purchase requisition submissions, purchase order tracking, and reconciliation of billing variances.
- Event Coordination: Coordinate and manage tradeshow materials for corporate events and tradeshows.
- Cross-functional Support: Assist team leadership with significant cross-functional tasks and/or projects.
8. Order Fulfillment Specialist Role Purpose
- Shipment Processing: Build shipments and process payments on orders or groups of orders shipping to customer addresses.
- Customer Relationship Management: Partner with Account Executives and Sales Support Specialists to achieve maximum results from all customer relationships.
- Customer Requirement Understanding: Maintain a complete understanding of the customer requirements/guidelines in a specified category/geographic area of focus.
- Order Processing Knowledge: Maintain a thorough understanding of order processing from quote to order fulfillment, including the allocations and order confirmation processes.
- Container and Backlog Monitoring: Monitor all incoming containers and order backlogs to prioritize shipment building and maximize onboarding efficiencies.
- Operational Performance Optimization: Maximize customer operational performance by providing resources and technical advice.
- Process Improvement: Maintain and improve the shipment building process by resolving problems, identifying customer guideline trends, evaluating processes to determine system/process improvements, and implementing change.
- Relationship Building: Develop and maintain strong relationships with all Four Hands departments, providing exceptional internal and external customer service.
- System Implementation Participation: Participate in the implementation of new systems and processes.
- Core Values Adherence: Uphold Core Values and be a valuable member of the Four Hands Team.
Relevant Information