Operations & Project Coordinator / Executive Assistant

Operations & Project Coordinator / Executive Assistant
Adobe Illustrator Skills Required | Full-Time | Long-Term

We are a U.S.-based product development, sourcing, and manufacturing company working with apparel, merchandise, accessories, packaging, and consumer products for major Youtubers in the US.

Our work involves coordinating between U.S. clients, our China team, factories and suppliers, printers, warehouses, designers, and logistics partners.

We often have many products and projects moving at the same time, each with its own artwork, samples, approvals, production dates, invoices, payments, and shipping deadlines.

I am looking for a highly organized, detail-oriented person who can become my right hand for operations, project management, and administration.

This is not a basic virtual assistant role, and it is not primarily a graphic design role.

The most important part of this position is making sure:

Nothing gets forgotten.
Deadlines are clearly tracked.
People are followed up with.
Files are organized.
Invoices and payments are correct.
Projects continue moving forward.

What You Will Be Responsible For
1. Project Management & Deadlines

You will help manage multiple active product-development and production projects at the same time.

Responsibilities include:

Maintain project timelines and deadlines
Track samples, approvals, production, QC, shipping, and delivery dates
Keep a clear list of what is pending
Know who is responsible for each outstanding item
Follow up before deadlines become urgent
Follow up with suppliers, factories, printers, warehouses, designers, and tea ---------- mbers
Make sure client comments and approvals are properly documented
Identify potential delays before they become problems
Make sure projects continue moving even when I am busy
Maintain clear daily and weekly priority lists

I do not want to have to remember every follow-up myself.

If someone promises something by Wednesday, you should know that it is due Wednesday and follow up if we do not receive it.

2. Organization & Google Drive

You will help keep our company organized.

This includes:

Organizing Google Drive folders
Making sure files are saved in the correct project folders
Maintaining consistent file names
Making sure we are using the newest version of each file
Organizing tech packs, artwork, purchase orders, invoices, shipping documents, approvals, and product information
Maintaining Google Sheets and trackers
Keeping project records clean and easy to understand
Taking information from emails, messages, spreadsheets, and PDFs and organizing it into one clear place

You should naturally enjoy keeping things organized.

3. Adobe Illustrator & Artwork Support

Because we work heavily with apparel, merchandise, printing, and manufacturing, Adobe Illustrator experience is required.

You do NOT need to be an advanced creative graphic designer.

However, you should be comfortable enough with Illustrator that we do not need to send every small production-related task to a designer.

You should be able to:

Open AI, EPS, PDF, and vector artwork files
Understand the difference between vector and raster artwork
Check artwork dimensions
Resize artwork
Separate designs into individual files
Make simple text changes
Make simple color changes
Check Pantone/color information when provided
Organize artwork by product, color, SKU, or project
Prepare clean artwork files for printers and factories
Export files correctly
Compare artwork against client-approved files
Check whether the correct artwork version is being used
Identify obvious artwork or resolution problems
Make simple placement adjustments
Help organize print-production files

This position is not responsible for creating complicated original artwork from scratch.

Think of this as production artwork support, not full-time graphic design.

4. Invoice & Payment Tracking

You will help me stay organized financially.

Responsibilities include:

Track supplier invoices
Track customer invoices
Match invoices against purchase orders
Verify quantities
Verify agreed pricing
Check invoice totals for obvious mistakes
Track deposits and remaining balances
Maintain records of payments already made
Track payment due dates
Remind me when payments need to be made
Remind me when customer payments need to be collected
Organize receipts and payment confirmations
Help prepare simple cost summaries

You will not be the company accountant and you will not make financial decisions.

However, you must be comfortable working carefully with numbers.

If an invoice says 1,250 units and our purchase order says 1,200 units, I expect you to notice and investigate before we pay it.

5. Executive & Schedule Support

You will also help manage my schedule and priorities.

This may include:

Managing my Google Calendar
Scheduling meetings
Keeping track of important calls
Reminding me of deadlines
Maintaining my daily priority list
Following up on tasks I assign
Helping organize what needs my attention
Separating urgent issues from things that can wait
Making sure important requests do not disappear inside email or messaging apps

One of the most important parts of this role is helping reduce the number of things I personally need to remember.

6. Communication & Follow-Up

Our company operates between the United States and China.

You will communicate with people in different countries and time zones.

You need to be comfortable:

Following up professionally
Asking clear questions
Getting missing information
Following up more than once when necessary
Communicating through email and messaging apps
Summarizing complicated information clearly
Escalating problems when necessary

You should not be afraid to say:

“We are still missing this information and we need it by tomorrow in order to stay on schedule.”

Professional persistence is important.

The Person I Am Looking For

You may be a great fit if you are:

Extremely organized
Detail-oriented
Proactive
Reliable
Comfortable managing many projects simultaneously
Good at remembering deadlines
Strong at following up
Comfortable with numbers
Strong with Google Sheets
Comfortable using Adobe Illustrator
Good at written English
Comfortable communicating internationally
Comfortable asking questions when something does not make sense
Able to work independently
Able to learn quickly
Good at identifying inconsistencies
Someone who enjoys creating systems and organization

I especially value someone whose natural thought process is:

“What are we missing?”

and:

“What needs to happen next?”

Rather than simply:

“I finished the task I was assigned.”

Tools We Use

You should already know or be willing to quickly learn:

Google Sheets
Google Drive
Gmail
Google Calendar
Adobe Illustrator
---------- or similar project-management software
WhatsApp
WeChat
PDFs
Purchase orders
Invoices
Tech packs
ChatGPT / AI tools

Strong Google Sheets skills are highly valued.

Experience That Is Helpful

Experience in any of these areas is a plus:

Project coordination
Project management
Executive assistance
Operations
Supply chain
Manufacturing
Apparel
Fashion
Merchandise
Product development
Printing
Graphic-production support
Procurement
Purchasing
Logistics
E-commerce

You do not need experience in every area.

I care more about your organization, intelligence, attention to detail, ownership, and ability to learn.

Working Hours

This position must have some overlap with both:

China business hours
and
U.S. Pacific Time

Because you would be working from the Philippines, the schedule may require later working hours.

The exact schedule can be discussed with the right candidate.

Please only apply if you are comfortable working a schedule designed around international operations.

Long-Term Opportunity

This is a long-term full-time position.

I am not looking for someone for a temporary project.

My goal is to find someone who can learn our company extremely well and eventually understand:

Our clients
Our products
Our suppliers
Our factories
Our printers
Our warehouses
Our processes
Our deadlines
Our pricing
Our files
Our projects

Over time, I want this person to take ownership of a significant portion of our day-to-day operational coordination.

There will be room to grow as the company grows.

How to Apply

At the very beginning of your application, write:

STARFISH

Applications that do not include this word may not be reviewed.

Please answer all of the following questions:

1.

Tell me about a previous job where you had to manage many projects, deadlines, people, or moving parts at the same time.

2.

Imagine you are responsible for 15 active product-development projects.

Each project has:

Artwork
Samples
Client approvals
Production deadlines
Supplier payments
Shipping dates

How would you organize everything so nothing is forgotten?

3.

A supplier tells you on Monday:

“I will send the sample tomorrow.”

It is now Wednesday and there has been no update.

What would you do?

4.

You receive an invoice showing 1,250 units, but our purchase order says 1,200 units.

What would you do?

5.

Your manager has 20 things happening at the same time and occasionally forgets who he asked to do something.

How would you create a system to prevent things from being forgotten?

6.

Rate your Adobe Illustrator skill from 1–10.

Then explain specifically what you can do in Illustrator.

Please do not simply write “graphic design.”

Tell me whether you are comfortable with things such as:

Vector files
Resizing artwork
Separating artwork
Changing colors
Editing text
Exporting files
Checking dimensions
Preparing production files
7.

What project-management tools have you used?

8.

How would you rate your Google Sheets or Excel skills from 1–10?

Please give examples of what you know how to do.

9.

Are you comfortable working a schedule that overlaps with both China and U.S. Pacific Time?

10.

Please describe your internet connection and your backup plan if your internet or electricity goes down.

Shortlisted Candidates

Shortlisted candidates may be asked to complete a small paid test.

The test may include:

Organizing a small project
Identifying missing information
Checking an invoice against another document
Creating a simple project tracker
Performing basic Adobe Illustrator artwork tasks

The purpose of the test is not to see how quickly you work.

It is to see how you think, organize information, notice details, and solve problems.

If you are someone who loves organization, enjoys keeping projects moving, notices details other people miss, and wants to become an important part of a growing company, I would like to hear from you.