Covalent is a modern analytical services and engineering consulting company based in the San Francisco Bay Area (Sunnyvale). Our mission is to accelerate materials science innovation by serving as a problem-solving partner for technology leaders of all sizes and providing access to outstanding data generated quickly and cost-effectively.
Role Overview
The Sales Operations Lead is a full backfill of an existing, fully-loaded Sales Operations role, now also carrying direct management of the Customer Service Administrator. This role owns the senior half of the Sales Ops book of work — financial and PO processing, contracts and legal documentation, HubSpot and systems administration, and automation/AI projects — while supervising the Administrator's day-to-day inbound inquiry, intake, and client coordination work. It is accountable for the full client engagement lifecycle and the judgment calls that get escalated upward, with direct exposure to commercial leadership. This role will also own our HubSpot roadmap as we significantly expand our usage, with real input into which Hubs, tiers, and integrations we invest in next.
Key Responsibilities
Team Leadership & People Management
Directly manage and coach the Customer Service Administrator — set priorities, review work quality, and hold overall accountability for the Sales Ops inbox (process, standards, and quality) while the Administrator executes daily volume.
Build and maintain the Sales Ops SOP library, lead onboarding/training for new team members, and proactively document and share process knowledge so coverage and handoffs stay seamless
Client Onboarding, Intake & Service Request Coordination
Own new client account setup and guide clients through service request submission, forms, and workflow steps, including judgment calls not yet delegated to the Administrator.
Track service requests, project timelines, and order-structure exceptions (e.g., splitting/canceling lines); monitor stalled or incomplete threads and escalate/drive resolution as needed.
Client Communication & Experience
Serve as the escalation point for complex client calls and inquiries, providing clear updates, next steps, and expectations via approved channels (including phone/Teams).
Support client satisfaction tracking and outreach initiatives, and partner on Data Portal live client training sessions as needed.
CRM, Portal, & Systems Administration
Own day-to-day HubSpot administration and drive our HubSpot roadmap as usage scales — pipeline configuration, workflows, custom properties/objects, lead scoring, database health, and reporting/dashboards — and maintain accurate client records across the CRM, portal, and internal tracking systems.
Support client troubleshooting on portal use and resolve client data access issues, including root-cause/system-level cases escalated from the Administrator
Contracts, Vendor Forms & Legal Documentation
Review and redline customer legal documents (NDAs, MSAs, MTAs, ARPAs), run initial conflict checks, and administer ContractSafe and DT contract records.
Process vendor setup forms and service agreements, ensuring documentation is complete, accurate, and properly stored, coordinating with Sales and Finance as needed.
Financial & PO Processing/Billing
Own PO review (including monthly end-of-month close-out), purchase orders, and blanket/parent BPOs for key accounts.
Handle prepayments, invoicing, net terms, and credit line decisions; support Finance on Financial Hold items and own overall Sales Financials management for the function.
Automation, AI, & Process Improvement
Own AI inbox management/automation tuning (e.g., Watchdog-style tooling) and drive SalesOps-side implementation of AI-driven intake processes, partnering with Software/Engineering to test and validate.
Own ongoing automation projects (e.g., N8N, Slack notifications), scope new opportunities, and contribute to AI feature brainstorming for the Sales Inbox.
Identify recurring patterns and drive process improvements (routing rules, templates, checklists), and build/maintain client-facing resources (FAQs, training materials, chatbot content).
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Qualifications
Bachelor's degree or equivalent applicable experience, plus 3+ years in sales operations, customer success/service, or business operations combining client coordination with financial or contract administration; prior experience leading or mentoring a teammate strongly preferred.
Hands-on HubSpot experience across Sales Hub, Marketing Hub, or Operations Hub is required — you've built and scaled workflows, custom properties/objects, deal and pipeline automation, lead scoring, and custom reporting/dashboards, and are comfortable working with the HubSpot API and native integrations. HubSpot certification (Sales Software, RevOps, or Marketing Software) strongly preferred.
Comfort with financial/billing-adjacent tasks (POs, invoicing, credit terms) and sound judgment on when to escalate; experience reviewing or redlining standard business contracts (NDA/MSA-type), or strong willingness to be trained into this.
Demonstrated experience designing or implementing process automation (CRM workflows, no-code/low-code tools, or AI-assisted tools), and proficiency with Microsoft 365 and CRM/portal tools.
Strong organizational and communication skills with high attention to detail — this role carries financial, contractual, and people-management responsibility with limited day-to-day oversight.
Experience in a B2B services, lab/testing, manufacturing, or technical/scientific environment is a plus, but not required.
Key Competencies
People leadership and delegation; process discipline and documentation accuracy; client-focused communication; cross-functional coordination and escalation judgment; independent decision-making; and a continuous improvement mindset.
What Success Looks Like in the First 90 Days
Fully ramped on PO review, PO/BPO processing, and HubSpot administration, with a working management rhythm established with the Customer Service Administrator (regular 1:1s, clear priorities, delegated ownership of routine inbox/intake volume).
Independently handling standard contract reviews/redlines (NDA/MSA) with legal escalation only for novel terms, and active ownership of the automation/AI project backlog with at least one initiative in progress.
Established working relationships with Finance, Legal (OMM), Project Operations, and BI/Data stakeholders
Acknowledgement
This job description reflects the essential responsibilities of the role and does not limit the organization's ability to assign additional duties as needed.
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