THE ROLE
Yes, you read that right – we’re looking for a SUPERSTAR. If the title sounds unconventional, it’s because CAPLINQ is too. We’re looking for that special someone that has not one, but two unique skills – the amazing attention-to-detail of an administrator with the keep-it-on-track mentality of a project coordinator.
As a fast-growing multinational, I’m not ashamed to admit we’re starting to come apart at the seams. Our products and services have found a sweet-spot in the market, and now we’re struggling to maintain the high level of service, support and response that have made us so successful.
Do you describe yourself as a proactive, super-organized, enthusiastic, multitasking superstar that works best with deadlines, schedules and projects? Then I encourage you to read on. If on the other hand, you’re already exhausted reading this, I recommend you take a nap and check out another job post.
Though you will work closely with the sales department, there will be no selling or cold-calling involved. Your leads and projects will all come to you and it will be your responsibility to service, support and coordinate a very diverse range of activities and requests. On the other hand, if you would like to develop sales skills as part of your career path, this is the same starting position of our future outside sales engineers. We are looking for someone who possesses excellent communication and organizational skills and should be ready to contribute to a variety of projects at any given time.
So, what will you be doing?
The position and responsibility will grow along with you. As a small, but growing company, the role will be exciting for you if you like working in a small team and having a lot of freedom to define your roles and responsibilities. No two days will likely be the same.
Broadly speaking, your work will revolve around the following four activities:
1. Inside Sales Administrator (about 40% of your time)
Your leads will come in from customer service (who have pre-screened them), and sales who have new and ongoing projects with new and existing customers. Your role is to ensure that all the information is all in one place and up to date. Furthermore, this list needs to be reviewed monthly and updated as new information becomes available.
Examples of activities:
• Update inquiries into our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools
• Review the list regularly and send updates to customers
• Update and administer the monthly sales report we send to our suppliers
• Update price lists and product availability data
2. Project Coordinator (about 30% of your time)
CAPLINQ is driven by projects, some of which are sales-related and many that are not. These one-off projects will require the same administration and coordination as sales-related one. They may also require the same market research as identified above.
Examples of projects:
• We have 8 customers in Poland now. Does it make sense to set up a warehouse there? Go!
• USA customer asks to consolidate 3 shipments into one warehouse? How much do we charge? Go!
• A new supplier needs us to store products at ‑40°C. Should we do that in-house or externally? Go!
• A customer just got a box that was totally squished on delivery, how could that have happened? Go!
3. Market Researcher/Analyst (about 20% of your time)
Though you don’t need an analytics degree, we expect you to have a high level of curiosity about the work and products you are supporting. Why are customers asking for this product/service? What makes them different/similar to other customers? What industries are they in? What similar customers might benefit from the same products?
Examples of activities:
• Google companies you support to understand what products they make and industries they serve
• Google our products/services and see how they are the same or different to other companies
• Google the projects you are working on to see what other companies are doing similar work
• Collecting this info into PowerPoint presentations for marketing, sales, and even for your customers
4. Order Handling (about 10% of your time)
We handle about 20 orders/samples per week from our office. In the beginning, you will handle half of these to learn what our product look like, how they need to be packed and how they need to ship.
Examples of activities:
• Pack orders into boxes for pickup and delivery
• Prepare samples for customers
• Coordinate samples and orders with suppliers and customer service
DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
What mindset do you require?
Skills can be learned. Mindsets, though they can be learned too, are more often a part of who you are. We value the mindset at least if not more than either experience or hard skills.
1. Curiosity – We want a person who is curious. Google is your best friend, and you might be secretly addicted to getting as much information as you can. Sometimes you Google too much 😉
2. Attention to Detail – We want a person who crosses their t’s and dots their i’s. Read the information provided and do what is asked. Hint! Don’t forget to read the last paragraph of this vacancy 😉
3. Organized Coordinator – Project coordination is at the core of the function. We need someone who can pull together all the missing pieces and make sure we keep the project moving forward
4. Data-driven – Our culture encourages and rewards decisions that are made with data as opposed to seniority, intuition or personal experience.
5. Continuous Improvement – People and processes can always get better. We’re looking for someone who questions every process to see if there’s not room for improvement. Likewise, if you want to improve yourself, we offer money to support your continuous learning journey.
6. Courage – Bosses make mistakes and colleagues aren’t always fair. That’s life. We’re looking for someone who may be afraid to confront these issues, but does it anyways.
What skills do you NOT need?
Before we list the skills you do need, it is important that you know what we skills or experience we do NOT require:
1. Product knowledge: You do not need to know anything about any of the products we sell, nor any of the services we provide. All will be taught on the job.
2. Technical degree: Our products are technical. Though a technical degree could be very useful, if you are curious and interested enough in our products, you can still be very successful.
3. Lots of work experience: This is meant to be an entry-level position where you will learn “knowledge” on the job. What we can’t teach – and value enormously is someone that is organized, analytical, curious, dedicated and can keep our projects organized and on track
4. Dutch: Our staff comes from all over the world and we speak mostly English in the office. To the outside world most of our communication is also English.
What skills do you require?
We don’t even have any hard skills that are required. The ideal candidate would be one who:
• Has a university (HBO) education and similar problem-solving skills
• Asks questions, then asks more questions, then asks even more questions
• Is very organized, and likes to have a place for everything and everything in its place
• Is a strong planner and organizer and thrives in getting things done
• Is very computer literate, and knows their way around Mirosoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint
• Is a Google power-user, forever asking Google questions for answers he/she doesn’t know
• Very good spoken and written English (at least 7/10)
• Is optimistic, energetic and loves to smile
• Pays attention to detail. The very last paragraph of this job vacancy has very important information. Be sure you read it twice before applying.
Skills not required, but that get bonus points (any of them count):
The job we have in mind may not require these skills, but they sure come in handy around here.
1. A Technical Degree: You do not need a technical degree, but our products are by nature technical, so you will need to be able to grasp the concepts. If you want to learn, we’re able to teach.
2. Online writing: Can you see yourself writing blog articles or FAQs about our products or services? Do you have a knack to inspire people with what you write? We can use that!
3. Loves market research: There is always so much to learn in our industry. If you love to dig into the details and then can summarize what you’ve learned in PowerPoint or similar, we can use that too!
There is no need to send your CV unless it looks awesome and you want to impress us with how it looks. Otherwise, we will use your LinkedIn profile (better make sure it is complete!).
Instead, candidates wishing to apply are requested to send an email to hr@caplinq.com that includes:
1. A link to your LinkedIn profile (not a CV)
2. A one-page, personal cover letter
Let me repeat that last part in a different way… We are looking for people who stand out from the crowd with a well-written, enthusiastic one-page letter telling us why this position speaks to you and what you could bring to the team.
If all you do is send a CV (we told you not to), and no cover letter your application will be discarded without even being read.