Operations Leader

Aqua Home Supply
Job Posting — June 2026

Operations Leader — E-Commerce (Remote, Full-Time)
Company: Aqua Home Supply
Location: Remote (Philippines-based preferred)
Schedule: Full-time | Must overlap with US Central Time business hours

About Aqua Home Supply
Aqua Home Supply is a US-based e-commerce company specializing in water filtration, purification, and softener systems. We sell through our Shopify storefront and fulfill orders through a network of US suppliers. Our team is small, remote, and high-trust — everyone owns their lane and executes without constant direction.

We are hiring an Operations Leader to own the back half of the business and systematically make it better. That means taking what currently runs on tribal knowledge, manual effort, and escalation habits — and replacing it with clean processes, documented SOPs, and automations that run without anyone having to think about them.

The Role
We are at a stage where the business needs to run with less involvement from the Leadership Team in day-to-day decisions, and the team needs to operate with less hand-holding. This role exists to fix both. You will inherit a capable but dependent team and a set of manual processes that should not be manual. Your job is to close both gaps — build the structure, build the automations, and build the team's ability to execute without constant intervention.

This is not a maintenance role. We are not looking for someone to manage the current state. We are looking for someone who sees a manual process and cannot leave it alone — someone who has done this before, brings a clear point of view on how operations at this scale should run, and has the technical skills to build it themselves.

What You'll Own
Before anything else, your job is to audit what we do manually and automate as much of it as possible. Every section below represents an area where there is room to build. We want someone who walks in, maps the current state, identifies the waste, and starts eliminating it. The task lists below are the starting point — not the ceiling.

Vendor Management & Fulfillment Tracking
Currently manual. We need automated.
Audit the full vendor communication workflow and identify every step that can be triggered automatically — delay alerts, claim follow-ups, shipment confirmations
Build automations in Zapier to route vendor-related triggers (tracking updates, delay thresholds, RMA status changes) into Slack and Zendesk without manual intervention
Own all vendor communication end-to-end: delays, damage claims, RMAs, missing parts, and cancellations — and systematically reduce the manual effort required to manage them
Conduct daily order tracking audits until automations make them unnecessary; log all outreach in order comments
Coordinate freight brokers for oversized, pallet, and freight-class shipments and returns
Build cooperative, long-term working relationships with all supplier contacts

Returns & Order Issues
Currently ad hoc. We need a system.
Map the entire returns process from first customer contact to vendor resolution and identify every manual touchpoint
Build automations to trigger RMA requests, update return status, and notify customers without someone manually chasing each step
Act as the escalation point for all returns, tracking issues, damage, and cancellations routed from the CS team
Determine return shipping responsibility — vendor error vs. customer remorse vs. outside return window — and document the decision framework so the team can apply it independently
Follow up with vendors within 1-2 business days on all open claims; maintain current status across all return records
Escalate to the Leadership Team only when outside policy, freight complexity, or vendor disputes require it

Customer Escalation Handling
Currently reactive. We need a playbook.
Build documented escalation playbooks so the CS team knows exactly how to handle difficult situations without escalating to you or leadership
Handle threatening customer situations personally — acknowledge professionally, de-escalate, log the full Zendesk thread
Escalate to the Leadership Team only when a customer threatens a dispute, bad review, BBB complaint, or legal action
Track escalation patterns and use them to identify training gaps or process failures upstream

CS Team Supervision & Training
Currently dependent. We need self-sufficient.
Supervise Philippines-based CS Reps; own their development, accountability, and day-to-day performance
Audit why escalations are happening — identify the root cause (unclear SOPs, missing training, no decision framework) and fix it at the source
Build the documentation and training structure that lets reps handle their lane without leaning on you or the Leadership Team
Train reps on workflow, escalation handling, and operational standards — then hold them to it
The goal: a team that handles its scope cleanly and escalates only what genuinely requires it

Reporting & Admin
Currently manual. We want it automated where possible.
Build automated reporting wherever possible — order status notifications, aged order alerts, fulfillment milestone triggers
Produce a weekly aged order summary with at-risk orders flagged for Leadership Team review until the process is automated
Maintain the COGS worksheet with weekly invoice data entry after orders ship; identify opportunities to automate data capture

Process Improvement — The Through-Line of Everything
This is not a separate workstream. It is the lens through which you approach every area above.
Use Zapier and Claude to build and maintain automations across fulfillment, returns, vendor communication, and customer-facing order status notifications
Write and own SOPs for every process in your area — document it well enough that someone new could execute it without asking questions
Build escalation frameworks that reduce the number of decisions requiring Leadership Team involvement
Bring a point of view — if you see something inefficient that is not in your lane, flag it
Track what you have built, what it replaced, and what the impact was

Must-Have Experience
Supervising and developing customer support teams in the Philippines
Building automations in Zapier that eliminated real manual work — you can point to specific examples
Overseeing e-commerce business operations end-to-end
Diagnosing team dependency issues and implementing the structure and accountability to resolve them
Tracking financials including COGS worksheets
Using AI tools (Claude or equivalent) to build workflows and drive process improvement
Working directly with external vendors — claims, RMAs, disputes, and relationship management
Making independent escalation decisions without defaulting upward to leadership
Filing and managing freight damage claims and coordinating returns logistics

Tech Stack — Required (Non-Negotiable)
Shopify
Zapier
Gmail
Slack
Google Sheets
Claude (Anthropic)

Nice to Have
Zendesk
HubSpot
QuickBooks
Calendly or equivalent scheduling tool
Experience with online freight brokers (Priority1 or similar)

What We're Looking For
The right person loves this kind of problem. They walk into an operation running on manual effort and tribal knowledge and see opportunity everywhere. They have done this before — taken a small, dependent team and built the structure that made them self-sufficient. They know how to write a process that people actually follow, how to build an automation that eliminates a recurring task, and how to hold people accountable without micromanaging them.

You do not wait to be told what is broken. You find it, fix it, and document it so it stays fixed. You bring prior experience and a clear point of view — not just a willingness to execute. If the idea of walking into an operation like this and putting your fingerprints all over it excites you, this role is for you.

To Apply
Read these instructions carefully — they are part of the application process.

Subject Line: Your application must include the following subject line exactly as written:

"Aqua Home Supply Operations Leader - Available to Start 6/22/26"

Applications submitted without this exact subject line will be immediately deleted, no exceptions.

Your submission must include all four of the following:

Your CV/resume.

A personalized video — record a short video (1-2 minutes) addressed specifically to Aqua Home Supply. Tell us who you are, what you know about our business, and why you believe you are the right fit for this role. Generic videos that could have been recorded for any company will not be considered. The video must mention Aqua Home Supply by name.

A written note — not a template, not a cover letter. A brief, specific paragraph describing an operational problem you personally identified and solved in a previous role. What was the problem, what did you do, and what was the outcome?

Your interview availability — provide at least three specific time windows during the week of June 15-19, 2026. All times must be stated in Central Standard Time (CST).

Applications missing any of these four elements will be deleted without review. We are looking for someone who follows instructions precisely and executes with attention to detail — this process is the first test of exactly that.