Project-Based Airtable & Google Automation Builder

Compensation

$8–$15 USD per hour, depending on demonstrated experience, technical ability, communication, and quality of prior work.

Applicants should state:

* Their normal hourly rate for similar Airtable and automation projects
* Their requested rate for this project

The lowest rate will not automatically be selected. Relevant experience, reliability, communication, and ability to build a maintainable system will be more important.

Job Type

This is a project-based contract, not currently a guaranteed part-time or full-time position.

The initial project is expected to require approximately 20–40 hours, likely completed over approximately 2–3 weeks.

There may be occasional paid maintenance, troubleshooting, or additional automation work later, but ongoing hours are not guaranteed.

The selected candidate will begin with a paid trial of up to five hours.

The trial includes checkpoints and may conclude before five hours if the candidate’s work, communication, attention to detail, or demonstrated skill level is not a fit. The candidate will be paid for all approved time actually worked.

Do not exceed approved hours without written permission.

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Project Overview

I operate an Amazon online-arbitrage business and need a system for researching and documenting whether specific retailers are authorized to sell specific brands.

The system will use:

* Airtable
* Airtable Interfaces
* Gmail
* Google Drive
* Google Apps Script
* AI-assisted research and email preparation

The first version should be simple, reliable, maintainable, and easy for nontechnical users to operate.

The core workflow is:

Research ? Review email ? Approve and send ? Detect reply ? Classify result ? Save evidence ? Update dashboard

A detailed project specification has already been developed and will be provided to shortlisted candidates.

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What the System Needs to Do

1. Airtable database

Create four connected Airtable tables:

1. Suppliers
2. Brands
3. Verifications
4. Outreach

The system must support this situation:

* One supplier may carry many brands.
* One brand may be carried by many suppliers.
* Each individual supplier–brand combination needs its own authorization status, dates, notes, outreach history, and evidence.

The builder should understand:

* Linked records
* Lookup fields
* Rollups
* Formulas
* Status fields
* Filtered views
* Many-to-many relationships

2. Airtable Interface

Create a simple and user-friendly Airtable Interface with approximately three primary pages:

Supplier Dashboard

A user should be able to open one supplier and immediately see:

* Whether VAs may source from that supplier
* Which brands have been confirmed
* Which brands have been denied
* Which inquiries are pending
* When each result was last updated
* Links to supporting evidence
* Current instructions for the sourcing team


Email Review Queue

AI will prepare email inquiries, but a human must review each message before sending.

The review page should show:

* Brand
* Supplier domain
* Recipient
* Source of the contact information
* Proposed subject
* Proposed email body
* Relevant public evidence
* Current queue status

Action and Exception Queue

This page should show items such as:

* Replies requiring review
* Follow-ups due
* Web forms requiring manual completion
* Ambiguous responses
* Invalid contacts
* Timed-out inquiries
* Missing evidence
* PDF-generation errors

3. Gmail sending workflow

The human will review and approve each email.

After approval:

1. Google Apps Script sends the email through a dedicated Gmail account.
2. The Gmail message ID and thread ID are written back to Airtable.
3. The Airtable record is updated to Sent.
4. The system prevents the same message from being sent twice.

The system should use a controlled sending queue rather than sending large batches at once.

4. Reply detection

The system should identify replies to tracked inquiries and place them into the Airtable action queue.

It must account for replies that may:

* Remain in the original Gmail thread
* Arrive from a different customer-service address
* Use a changed subject line
* Arrive through a ticketing system
* Arrive after the inquiry was previously marked as timed out

Replies that cannot be matched confidently should be placed into an Unmatched Reply queue rather than ignored.

Human review and final classification are acceptable in the first version.

5. Google Drive evidence and email PDFs

Supporting evidence will be stored in Google Drive and linked from Airtable.

The system must prove that a stored Gmail thread ID can later be used to:

1. Retrieve the complete email conversation
2. Create a readable PDF
3. Save the PDF to Google Drive
4. Save attachments when applicable
5. Write the Drive file link back to the correct Airtable record

The PDF process does not necessarily need to run automatically for every email on the first day, but retroactive batch PDF generation must be proven during the pilot.

I do not want to manually save each email conversation as a PDF.

6. Testing and documentation

The builder must test:

* Duplicate-send prevention
* Gmail message and thread ID capture
* Sending limits and queue behavior
* Normal replies
* Replies with changed subjects
* Replies outside the original Gmail thread
* Late replies after timeout
* PDF generation
* Google Drive evidence links
* Airtable formulas and status calculations
* Correct linking among suppliers, brands, verifications, and outreach records

The completed project must include:

* Written documentation
* Apps Script source code
* Explanation of Airtable fields and relationships
* List of automations and triggers
* Troubleshooting instructions
* A Loom walkthrough

The system should remain maintainable by the client, another builder, or an AI coding tool after the project is finished.

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Required Experience

Please apply only if you have meaningful experience with most of the following:

* Designing Airtable systems
* Airtable linked records
* Airtable Interfaces
* Airtable formulas, lookups, and rollups
* Airtable API
* Google Apps Script
* Gmail automation
* Google Drive automation
* Email-thread handling
* PDF generation
* Workflow queues and status systems
* Duplicate-processing prevention
* Technical documentation

Experience entering data into an existing Airtable base is not enough.

I need someone who has personally designed and built Airtable systems and can clearly explain how they work.

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Important Requirements

* The Airtable workspace, Gmail account, Google Drive folder, and scripts will be owned by my accounts.
* Do not request or store my passwords.
* Connections should use invitations, OAuth, or other appropriate permissions.
* Important code must be documented and accessible.
* Do not add unnecessary features without approval.
* The first version should remain simple and reliable.
* The system should not permanently depend on the original builder.
* Business information must remain confidential.
* Real brand outreach will not begin until testing and safeguards are complete.
* You may use AI tools, but you must personally understand, test, explain, and maintain everything you build.

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Communication

Microsoft Teams will be the preferred communication method for:

* Written updates
* Questions
* Calls
* Screen sharing
* Project decisions
* Sharing Loom videos and links

Please confirm whether you currently have access to Microsoft Teams and are comfortable using it.

If you do not currently have Teams:

* Confirm whether you are willing to set it up.
* If you are not willing or able to use Teams, state which communication platform you prefer and why.

Important requirements and decisions should be documented in writing rather than discussed only during calls.

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Paid Trial

The selected candidate will begin with a paid trial of up to five hours.

The trial contains two checkpoints.

Checkpoint 1: Airtable prototype

Using sample data, create:

* Four connected tables
* Five sample suppliers
* Six sample brands
* At least twelve supplier–brand verification records
* At least five outreach records
* A supplier-detail Interface
* A sample email-review queue

The Interface should show:

* Supplier name
* Canonical domain
* Priority tier
* Operating status
* Authorized count
* Denied count
* Pending or unanswered count
* Linked brand-level results
* Evidence-link placeholders
* Current VA instruction

No real brand email should be sent during Checkpoint 1.

Stop after Checkpoint 1 and provide:

* Access to the prototype
* A short Loom walkthrough
* Time used
* Questions or assumptions
* Estimated remaining project hours

Do not begin Checkpoint 2 without written approval.

Checkpoint 2: Gmail and PDF proof

If Checkpoint 1 is approved, use test email accounts and sample data to prove that you can:

1. Send or retrieve a test Gmail conversation
2. Capture the Gmail message ID and thread ID
3. Receive and detect a test reply
4. Retrieve the conversation using the stored thread ID
5. Generate a readable PDF
6. Save the PDF to a designated Google Drive folder
7. Write the Drive link back to the correct Airtable record
8. Demonstrate protection against duplicate sending

The proof does not need to be fully production-ready during the trial. Its purpose is to confirm technical ability and identify implementation risks.

The trial may end at either checkpoint. You will be paid for all approved time actually worked.

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How to Apply

Use this exact application subject:

Airtable Authorization Builder

Begin your application with this exact line:

SUPPLIER SYSTEM — I read the complete posting.

Please number your responses and answer every question directly.

Applications that omit the required subject, opening line, or several questions may not be considered.

Application Questions

1. Describe the most complex Airtable system you personally built. Explain the tables, linked relationships, formulas, rollups, Interfaces, and automations you created.
2. Provide a link to a 3–5 minute Loom video showing an Airtable system you personally built. You may hide confidential client information. Explain the table relationships and at least one formula, rollup, or automation.
3. Explain how you would organize Airtable for this situation: one retailer may sell many brands, one brand may be sold by many retailers, and each individual retailer–brand combination needs its own authorization status, dates, notes, and evidence. Name the tables you would create and explain how they would connect.
4. A human will review and approve each email before sending. After approval, a script will perform the actual Gmail send. How would you prevent the same email from being sent twice if the script sends it successfully but fails before Airtable is updated?
5. How would you capture the Gmail message ID and thread ID immediately after an approved email is sent?
6. Have you personally built a Google Apps Script that reads Gmail threads, creates PDFs, saves files to Google Drive, or updates Airtable through its API? Explain exactly what it did and which parts you built.
7. Briefly explain how you would use a stored Gmail thread ID to create a readable PDF of the conversation, save it to Google Drive, and return the evidence link to Airtable.
8. How would you detect a customer-service reply that arrives from a different address or with a changed subject and does not remain in the original Gmail thread?
9. What do you believe are the two greatest technical risks in this project, and how would you reduce them?
10. What would you intentionally leave out of the first version to keep the system reliable and maintainable?
11. What is your normal hourly rate for similar Airtable and automation projects?
12. What hourly rate are you requesting for this project?
13. How many hours can you work during the next three weeks?
14. What hours do you normally work in Philippine time?
15. Do you currently have access to Microsoft Teams and are you comfortable using it for messages, calls, screen sharing, and project updates? If not, are you willing to set it up? If not, what platform would you prefer?
16. Confirm that you understand:

* This is currently a project-based role without guaranteed ongoing hours.
* The work begins with a paid trial of up to five hours.
* The trial may conclude at an earlier checkpoint if the fit is not right.
* You will be paid for all approved time actually worked.
* You may not exceed approved hours without written permission.

Please do not submit a generic cover letter. Answer each numbered question specifically.