Operations & Administrative Coordinator – Assistant to the Director of Operations
NRP Manufacturing | PureGard
Location: Blockhouse, Nova Scotia
Employment Type: Full-time, on-site
Work Schedule: Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., including a 30-minute unpaid lunch (35 paid hours per week)
Reports To: Director of Operations
Compensation & Benefits
- Hourly wage: $25/h-$28/h, based on qualifications and experience
- RRSP matching program
- Health benefits
- Performance-based bonus structure
Mandatory Qualification: AI Proficiency
Candidates must demonstrate practical proficiency with artificial intelligence tools and their application in a professional environment. AI competency will be assessed during the hiring process.
About the role
PureGard is seeking an organized, dependable assistant to support its Director of Operations. This role takes ownership of routine administrative, purchasing, shipping coordination and sales data organization tasks, follows up until work is complete, and keeps information organized and accessible.
The purpose is to free the Director of Operations to focus on department leadership, planning and decisions. The successful candidate will manage agreed tasks independently, flag problems early and bring clear information when a decision is needed. This is a practical role in a manufacturing business, with hands-on support across the office and warehouse when needed.
Key Responsibilities
Direct support to the Director of Operations:
- Carry out priorities set by the Director of Operations, maintain a clear task list and track deadlines and follow-ups.
- Gather information, prepare routine documents and updates, and follow through without repeated reminders.
- Keep the Director of Operations informed of delays, supply shortages and other issues requiring attention.
Purchasing and supplier follow-up:
- Communicate and order operating supplies.
- Monitor supply needs with the warehouse team; track orders, delivery dates, shortages and discrepancies.
- Follow up with suppliers and maintain organized purchasing records, working within the purchasing authority set by the Director of Operations.
Portals and administration:
- Maintain assigned retailer, vendor and shipping portals; complete routine updates and upload required operational documents.
- Support shipment bookings, shipping paperwork, tracking and carrier follow-ups as assigned.
- Help resolve routine delivery issues and coordinate accurate shipment information with the warehouse, sales support and account owners.
Office Administration
- Receive, sort, organize and route incoming mail and documents; flag time-sensitive items.
- Maintain orderly digital and physical records and keep shared information current.
- Complete routine data entry, document preparation and other small administrative tasks assigned by the Director of Operations.
Sales data and administrative support
- Organize and maintain sales spreadsheets, customer lists, account records and shared sales files.
- Complete routine data entry and cleanup, including identifying duplicate, missing or inconsistent information.
- Compile existing sales data into simple summaries, reports or meeting materials as requested.
- Coordinate record updates with sales support and account owners, and flag discrepancies for the appropriate person to resolve.
Warehouse and team support
- Work closely with the warehouse team to keep supplies, paperwork and shipment information aligned.
- Assist with packing, packaging checks, receiving, shipment preparation and other hands-on tasks as needed.
- Follow established safety, quality and order-fulfilment procedures and help keep work areas organized.
Working relationships and accountability
The Director of Operations is this position’s direct manager and sets priorities, including requests for routine sales data and administrative help. Sales requests are coordinated through the Director of Operations so the assistant’s workload supports operational priorities. Existing sales and account owners retain responsibility for sales decisions and approving changes to their records. The warehouse team’s planned responsibilities in the new year include day-to-day retail order fulfilment, receiving incoming shipments, organizing outgoing shipments and checking packaging. The assistant supports that work through administration, coordination and practical help. The Director of Operations retains overall oversight.
The assistant follows established procedures and delegated authority. Routine portal and shipping work is coordinated with the employees responsible for order entry and key-account relationships. Questions involving spending outside delegated limits, commercial commitments or changes to established procedures go to the appropriate decision maker.
Proposed candidate requirements
- Relevant administrative, operations, purchasing or shipping support experience, with evidence of reliable follow-through.
- Strong organization, attention to detail and the ability to manage several tasks and changing priorities.
- Clear written and verbal communication with colleagues, suppliers and carriers.
- Strong computer skills, including organizing and checking spreadsheet data, email, shared files and online portals; ability to learn unfamiliar systems.
- Experience with Google Workspace, Shopify, ShipStation or comparable order and shipping systems is an asset.
- Good judgment, discretion and the ability to work independently while recognizing when to ask for direction.
- Willingness to provide hands-on warehouse support and work flexibly as part of a small team.
AI proficiency and practical demonstration - mandatory
Candidates must already be proficient in using AI tools such as ChatGPT for practical administrative and operational work. They must be able to frame clear prompts, provide relevant context, refine outputs and use AI to complete tasks efficiently and accurately.
Use company-approved AI tools to organize sales and operational data, summarize documents, draft routine correspondence, prepare task lists and improve recurring workflows. Check outputs against source records, identify missing information and errors, and protect confidential company and customer information.
Candidates will be required to demonstrate these skills during the hiring process using supplied sample data and documents. Example tasks include cleaning and organizing a customer list, drafting a supplier follow-up and turning a shipment update into a clear action list. Candidates must explain their approach, show how they check the results and identify when human review or a decision is required.
Assessment will focus on accuracy, useful outputs, efficient working methods and sound judgment. Saying that you use AI, without demonstrating practical competence, is not sufficient.
What success looks like
- Routine tasks are completed accurately and on time, with fewer reminders and less detailed involvement from the Director of Operations.
- Supply orders, portal updates and shipment follow-ups are tracked and completed, with issues identified early.
- Mail and records are organized, and the warehouse team has the administrative information and supplies needed to keep fulfilment moving.
