Customer Operations Partner, Chicago (Software Startup)

Customer Operations Partner, New Logo Operations - London - VC Backed Software Startup

Location: USA - Chicago (Hybrid 3-5 days per week in office) IL 60661,

Team: Commercial (Growth)
Compensation: $60,000 - $70,000

About Opply

Opply is modernising how scaling food and consumer goods brands buy ingredients, solving a £1 trillion market inefficiency that's been overlooked for decades.

Right now, SMB brands waste 70% of stock and pay 40% above market rate because they lack access to enterprise-level supplier networks and smart automation. We've built an AI-powered platform that changes this entirely: automated ordering, predictive forecasting, supplier matching, and embedded credit that lets brands sell before they pay.

We're a scaling, VC-backed by Index Ventures, Anthemis, and Chalfen Ventures, with unicorn angels from GoCardless, Flow.io, and Trouva. We've won StartUp of the Year and Supply Chain Specialists of the Year, and we're scaling fast across the UK and internationally.

This is category-defining work in a massive, underserved market.

The Role

As a Customer Operations Partner, you'll be the person a set of Opply's customers know as an extension of their own team. From the day we onboard their first supplier through to running their account day to day. Supply chain operations are changing fast, and this role is built for where it's going, not where it's been: you'll spend as much time prompting and improving AI agents as you will speaking directly with customers and suppliers, and you'll be trusted with real commercial and financial decisions, not just admin.

This isn't a queue-clearing job. It's a relationship, a fleet of agents, and a genuine say in what we build next.

Key Responsibilities

Owning your accounts Operations

Be the named point of contact for a portfolio of customer accounts, carrying them from onboarding through to steady-state operation

Understand each account's nuances: their suppliers, their credit position, their quirks, well enough to anticipate problems before they land in your inbox

Act as first point of contact for inbound queries relating to orders, deliveries, payments, and the platform itself, including flagging and helping resolve bugs

Speak directly with suppliers to finalise orders, pricing, and terms

Manage customer credit limits and clearance decisions, balancing risk against keeping orders moving

Book and negotiate freight where needed, coordinating carriers and brokers directly

Own and maintain compliance and certification documents for your accounts, keeping them current and audit-ready

Investigate the root cause of delivery and quality exceptions, not just resolve the ticket in front of you, understand why it happened and whether it will happen again

Running the machine — AI, automation & Continuous improvement

Prompt, configure, and maintain the AI agents that run your accounts' routine workflows, chasing suppliers for documents, monitoring deliveries, reconciling invoices, and know when to let the agent run versus step in yourself

Continuously look for the next piece of your own workload worth handing to an agent, and build it

Monitor and report on key operational metrics including OTIF, invoice accuracy, payment turnaround time, and supplier onboarding cycle time, using AI wherever possible.

Identify and implement process improvements, working closely with product and tech

What Experience You Have

• We care far more about how you think and work than about a specific career history. Some of our best people have come from sales, account management, or fast-moving startups rather than traditional supply chain backgrounds.

• That said, you'll likely have 1-3 years in a role that required you to manage multiple stakeholders and processes at once: Customer Success, Operations, Account Management, Purchasing, Logistics etc

• You're already comfortable using AI tools like Claude or ChatGPT in your day-to-day work, and ideally you can point to a time you built or configured something (a workflow, a prompt, a script, an automation) that made your own job easier

• Exposure to food, consumer goods, or supply chain/logistics industries is a plus, but genuinely not required

• Comfortable having real commercial conversations: negotiating a price, holding a line on a credit decision, not just administering someone else's

Who You Are

• You're excited by AI agents, not threatened by them. You see them as leverage, and you're always looking for the next task worth handing off

• You are obsessed with detail; if something's off, you spot it before anyone else

• You don't just react, you own problems and drive them to resolution without being asked

• You're laser-focused on delivering excellent customer experiences and believe every interaction is a chance to build trust

• You're a natural at juggling multiple workstreams without dropping the ball

• You're solutions-driven: you always find a way to make things work

• You thrive in dynamic, ambiguous environments and bring structure where others see chaos

• You communicate clearly and respectfully, whether negotiating with a supplier or aligning with product

• You're a team player who lifts others up and collaborates across departments

What We Offer

• Competitive base salary ($60-$70)

• 33 days holiday (inclusive of national holidays)

• Flexible hybrid working (balance autonomy with collaboration)

• Regular team socials and global offsites to connect, collaborate, and celebrate

• Pension scheme