The Sales Operations Specialist provides operational, process, and execution support to the Water North America sales team.
This role is designed as a developmental pathway into a future sales position, giving high-potential individuals hands-on experience in sales workflows, tools, and customer engagement.
The role combines trade show strategy, lead management, Salesforce execution, and sales development activity. The individual will also gain direct customer-facing experience through structured cold calling and meeting generation.
This role is expected to leverage AI and tools to improve efficiency, build scalable processes, and support continuous improvement across the sales organization.
Business Operations and Sales Support
- Support the Sales Director and sales team in daily operational workflows
Maintain accuracy and completeness of data in Salesforce
Assign and route inbound leads from multiple queues using defined logic
Ensure timely follow-up and resolution of assigned leads
Manually enter leads into Salesforce when required and coach sellers on required data fields
Support development of call lists and target account lists in collaboration with sellers
- Own coordination and preparation for assigned trade shows
Act as the central point of organization across sales, marketing, and program teams
Maintain and distribute all planning documents, timelines, and materials
- Build and manage exhibitor lists for targeted trade shows
Identify which exhibitors are NSF certified and document certification details
Use AI tools and process improvements to increase efficiency of this task
Enrich exhibitor data by incorporating:
Sales team target accounts
Program team input
Coordinate with sales and program leaders to flag exhibitors for:
Targeted visits
Introductions
Specific business discussions
Trade Show Strategy and Execution (Core Responsibility)
- Own coordination and preparation for assigned trade shows
Act as the central point of organization across sales, marketing, and program teams
Maintain and distribute all planning documents, timelines, and materials
Pre-show responsibilities
- Build and manage exhibitor lists for targeted trade shows
Identify which exhibitors are NSF certified and document certification details
Use AI tools and process improvements to increase efficiency of this task
Enrich exhibitor data by incorporating:
Sales team target accounts
Program team input
Coordinate with sales and program leaders to flag exhibitors for:
Targeted visits
Introductions
Specific business discussions
During and post-show responsibilities
Support capture and entry of leads into Salesforce where required
Ensure completeness and accuracy of trade show data
Support calculation and tracking of trade show return on investment using provided tools
- Support the planning of webinars and its communication to targets and compilation of participation interest
- Participate in structured sales development activity as part of role progression
Spend up to 4–6 hours per week in defined cycles conducting cold outreach
Build confidence in pitching NSF services and handling rejection
Generate and qualify meetings for the sales team
Track personal outreach activity and performance
Sales Development (Cold Calling and Pipeline Support)
- Support the planning of webinars and its communication to targets and compilation of participation interest
- Participate in structured sales development activity as part of role progression
Spend up to 4–6 hours per week in defined cycles conducting cold outreach
Build confidence in pitching NSF services and handling rejection
Generate and qualify meetings for the sales team
Track personal outreach activity and performance
Salesforce and Data Management
- Execute day-to-day Salesforce activities including:
- Lead assignment
- Data entry
- Opportunity and account updates
- Build and maintain basic reports and dashboards
- Partner with Commercial Operations and Salesforce IT teams to request updates and improvements
- Escalate system or process issues and help drive resolution
- Continuously improve data quality and process consistency
Meeting and Workflow Support
- Coordinate scheduling for larger team or cross-functional meetings
- Support meeting preparation activities, including rotating responsibilities across team members
- Capture meeting notes and clearly document follow-up actions
- Help ensure accountability on assigned actions
- This role supports team-level workflows and coordination
- This role does not provide individual administrative support such as travel booking
- Be the main point of contact in multiple business initiatives and/or specific projects.
- Support Request for Proposals as defined in the RFP process (*)
- Support as requested the quoting/pricing of proposals
- Support cross-functional collaboration between sales, marketing, and program teams
Identify opportunities to improve processes and recommend enhancements
AI and Process Improvement
- Use AI tools to improve efficiency in workflows and data gathering
- Develop repeatable processes to reduce manual effort
- Support adoption of AI tools within the sales team
- Validate outputs and ensure accuracy and quality
#LI-CB1
- Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, or related field (or equivalent experience)
1–3 years of experience in sales support, operations, or related field
Strong interest in developing into a future sales role
Proficiency in Salesforce and Microsoft Excel
Strong attention to detail and problem-solving skills
Strong verbal and written communication skills
Preferred Qualifications
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
- Experience with CRM systems, especially Salesforce
Experience using data tools or reporting tools
Familiarity with sales prospecting tools (e.g., Cognism or similar)
Experience leveraging AI tools for business workflows
- Advanced Excel skills (Macro, Pivot Tables, VLOOKUP).