BUSINESS OFFICE MANAGER
Office Manager | L'uva Bella Winery | Lowellville, Ohio
EMPLOYMENT
Full-time, on-site
REPORTS TO
Ownership / Executive Leadership
SCHEDULE
Primarily Monday-Friday; flexibility as needed
INDUSTRY
Winery, beverage manufacturing & hospitality The Opportunity L'uva Bella Winery is seeking a highly organized, accountable Business Office Manager to lead the day-to-day business office and keep our customers, teams, systems, and financial workflows moving. This is not a purely administrative position. The right person will be a hands-on operator who creates structure, owns follow-through, and connects customers, production, logistics, accounting, and leadership. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys building reliable processes in a growing, entrepreneurial company and can move comfortably between detailed transactional work and higher-level coordination. What You Will Own Business Office & Administrative Operations
- Lead the daily workflow of the business office and ensure priorities, deadlines, records, and follow-ups are consistently managed.
- Serve as a central point of coordination among leadership, production, sales, customers, vendors, distributors, and outside partners.
- Maintain organized company records, shared files, calendars, recurring administrative processes, and key business documentation.
- Identify process gaps and build practical systems, checklists, and standard operating procedures to improve accountability and execution. ERP & Data Administration
- Serve as the primary business administrator and internal resource for the company's ERP system.
- Maintain accurate customer, vendor, item, pricing, inventory, purchasing, and order-related data within the system.
- Support user onboarding, permissions, training, troubleshooting, and consistent ERP use across departments.
- Monitor transaction accuracy and follow through with the appropriate owner when information is missing, late, or inconsistent. Customer Operations, Order Facilitation & Logistics
- Facilitate routine operational interactions with wholesale, private-label, distributor, and other commercial customers after the commercial relationship has been established by the appropriate sales owner.
- Coordinate administrative and operational communication regarding forecasts, purchase orders, order status, product availability, shipping timing, documentation, invoicing, and service needs.
- Receive, review, enter, and confirm customer orders; resolve discrepancies and manage the order from receipt through production readiness, shipment, invoicing, and follow-up.
- Schedule and coordinate inbound and outbound freight; communicate appointments, documentation, changes, and delivery requirements.
- Maintain accurate order, shipping, and customer records and proactively escalate risks that could affect service.
- Provide responsive, professional follow-through while routing pricing, negotiations, new opportunities, and other commercial decisions to the appropriate sales or leadership owner. Purchasing Support, Inventory Coordination & Forecasting
- Collect, maintain, and clarify customer forecasts; translate forecasted demand and confirmed orders into clear requirements for production and purchasing.
- Administer customer forecast information and own juice and key material forecasting in partnership with production and winemaking, communicating changes that affect supply or service.
- Track purchase orders, supplier commitments, lead times, receipts, and open-item follow-up.
- Help reconcile ERP records to operational reality and surface inventory risks before they interrupt production or customer service. Accounting Operations, AR/AP & Financial Reporting
- Own day-to-day accounts receivable and accounts payable administration, including invoice processing, payment application, vendor bills, documentation, and account follow-up.
- Issue accurate customer invoices and statements, monitor aging, follow up professionally on past-due balances, and escalate collection risks to leadership.
- Review vendor invoices for accuracy and proper support, route approvals, schedule payments, maintain vendor records, and respond to vendor account questions.
- Maintain accurate financial transactions and supporting documentation in the ERP/accounting system, including appropriate coding and reconciliation support.
- Prepare recurring financial and operating reports for leadership, including sales, receivables, payables, cash requirements, inventory, purchasing, and customer-order visibility.
- Coordinate month-end readiness with leadership and outside accounting resources by completing reconciliations, resolving discrepancies, and providing requested schedules and documentation.
- Monitor near-term cash inflows and payment obligations and proactively flag variances, overdue receivables, unusual expenses, or other financial risks. People Administration & Onboarding
- Coordinate employee onboarding and offboarding, including documentation, system access, orientation schedules, and internal communication.
- Maintain personnel files and recurring administrative records with discretion and confidentiality.
- Support timekeeping, payroll-information collection, benefits administration, recruiting coordination, and other people-related processes in partnership with leadership and outside providers.
- Help create a clear, professional employee experience from offer acceptance through the first weeks on the job. Cross-Functional Execution
- Prepare and maintain operating reports, trackers, meeting materials, action lists, and KPI information for leadership routines.
- Drive assigned projects to completion by clarifying owners, deadlines, dependencies, and next steps.
- Maintain clear handoffs among sales, customers, production, winemaking, accounting, and leadership so commitments and changes are understood.
- Work within clearly defined ownership boundaries: own the administrative customer workflow and business-office processes without serving as the sales or commercial account owner. What Success Looks Like
- Orders, shipments, purchase orders, records, and ERP transactions are accurate, current, and easy to track.
- Routine customer needs are facilitated promptly and accurately; forecasts, orders, shipments, invoices, and service issues are actively coordinated with the appropriate internal owners.
- Receivables, payables, and supporting records are current; aging, cash requirements, and financial risks are visible to leadership.
- Leadership and department owners have reliable information and clear visibility into priorities, risks, and open actions.
- New hires are onboarded consistently and professionally, with required documentation and access completed on time.
- Inventory and material needs are anticipated early enough to prevent avoidable production or customer-service issues.
- Projects do not stall because of unclear ownership or missed follow-up; the right people know what is due and when. Qualifications Required
- Three or more years of experience in business operations, office management, administration, supply chain coordination, customer operations, or a similar role.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple workflows and deadlines with limited supervision.
- Experience working in an ERP, accounting, inventory, order-management, or comparable business system.
- Practical experience with accounts receivable, accounts payable, invoicing, collections, reconciliations, and recurring financial reporting.
- Demonstrated experience facilitating business-customer interactions involving orders, forecasts, documentation, logistics, invoicing, or service needs.
- Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Excel, Outlook, Word, and shared digital workspaces.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, sound judgment, and a high level of confidentiality.
- Strong attention to detail without losing sight of overall business priorities.
- Comfort working on-site in a fast-moving, hands-on manufacturing and hospitality environment. Preferred
- Experience in a winery, food or beverage manufacturer, consumer packaged goods company, distributor, or other inventory-based business.
- Experience coordinating customer forecasts, freight, purchasing, production materials, customer orders, or inventory planning.
- Experience supporting HR administration, payroll inputs, onboarding, or benefits processes.
- Experience documenting processes, implementing systems, or improving cross-functional workflows.
- Associate's or bachelor's degree in business, operations, supply chain, accounting, human resources, or a related field; equivalent practical experience will be considered. The Person We Are Looking For
Accountable:
You take ownership and close loops without repeated reminders.
Organized:
You can create order from competing priorities, incomplete information, and changing timelines.
Proactive:
You anticipate what is coming and surface issues before they become emergencies.
Collaborative:
You work well across departments while respectfully holding others accountable for their commitments.
Practical:
You build processes that people can actually follow and improve them as the business evolves.
Service-minded:
You communicate professionally with employees, customers, vendors, and partners. About L'uva Bella Winery L'uva Bella Winery is a growing Northeast Ohio winery, beverage manufacturer, and hospitality business serving retail, wholesale, private-label, and direct-to-consumer customers. Our environment is entrepreneurial and hands-on. We value accountability, teamwork, responsiveness, and people who are willing to improve the way work gets done. Compensation & Benefits This position offers a base salary of $65,000 annually and eligibility for target annual performance bonus equal to 10% of base salary. How to Apply Please submit your resume and a brief note describing your experience with customer operations, order facilitation, business-office operations, AR/AP, financial reporting, and ERP or order-management systems to sarahm@luvabella.com. L'uva Bella Winery is an equal opportunity employer. We consider qualified applicants without regard to legally protected characteristics.
Pay:
$65,000.00 - $71,500.00 per year
Benefits:
401(k) 401(k) matching Employee discount Health insurance Paid time off
Work Location:
In person