Warranty Operations Specialist

Sterling Lighting•Danville, VA

10d•Onsite

About The Position

Own Sterling’s warranty process from evaluation through resolution, ensuring warranty claims are handled accurately, efficiently, and with the level of service expected from Sterling. Develop a deep understanding of Sterling’s products, warranty standards, repair processes, and recurring product issues while helping build a scalable warranty operation capable of supporting Sterling’s continued growth. This position is intentionally hands-on. The person stepping into it will learn the warranty operation by performing the work themselves, evaluating products, troubleshooting failures, completing repairs, processing replacements, communicating with customers, and documenting results. As Sterling grows, this role has the potential to grow with it. The right person will have the opportunity to help shape the processes, standards, systems, and eventually the team responsible for Sterling’s warranty operation. This role is designed for growth, with opportunities for increased compensation and responsibility as product expertise, operational ownership, and leadership responsibilities develop. Sterling is looking for someone with an Ownership Mentality, Technical & Mechanical Aptitude, Problem Solving skills, Operational Thinking, Attention to Detail, Customer Judgment, Organization & Prioritization, Proactive Communication, and Leadership Potential.

Requirements

Ownership Mentality: Takes responsibility for seeing work through from beginning to end. Does not allow problems to sit simply because the next step belongs to someone else.
Technical & Mechanical Aptitude: Enjoys understanding how products work, troubleshooting problems, working with components, and determining why something failed. Previous lighting experience is not required, but curiosity and the ability to learn technical products quickly are essential.
Problem Solving: Approaches unfamiliar problems logically, gathers the necessary information, tests assumptions, and works toward practical solutions rather than immediately escalating.
Operational Thinking: Sees beyond individual tasks to understand the complete process. Naturally notices bottlenecks, inefficiencies, recurring problems, and opportunities to improve how work moves through the organization.
Attention to Detail: Understands that small errors in product identification, warranty evaluation, repairs, or replacement orders create larger problems downstream.
Customer Judgment: Balances warranty policies, technical realities, cost, and customer experience when determining the appropriate path forward.
Organization & Prioritization: Can manage multiple open claims, physical products, repairs, replacement orders, and follow-ups without losing track of details.
Proactive Communication: Raises questions early, communicates problems clearly, and keeps the appropriate people informed without requiring constant check-ins.
Leadership Potential: Wants increasing responsibility and demonstrates the maturity, initiative, accountability, and communication skills necessary to eventually train and lead others.

Nice To Haves

Participates in the research, evaluation, and development of a potential Sterling refurbishment program targeted for launch in 2027.

Responsibilities

Warranty claims move quickly and consistently from receipt to resolution, including prompt review of incoming claims and returned products, ensuring every open warranty has a clear status and next action, and managing warranty priorities independently.
Warranty decisions are accurate, consistent, and grounded in strong product knowledge, including developing a deep working knowledge of Sterling’s luminaire and component lines, understanding product assembly, installation, servicing, and repair, correctly identifying common product failures and determining appropriate resolutions, and applying warranty standards consistently while recognizing situations requiring escalation.
Repairs and replacement orders are completed accurately and efficiently, ensuring warranty repairs are completed correctly and returned to service, replacement orders contain the correct products, components, quantities, and customer information, identifying required parts and inventory before they become bottlenecks, and ensuring completed warranty replacements move cleanly into fulfillment and shipping.
Customers receive clear and professional communication throughout the warranty process, including informing customers about their warranty status, explaining technical information clearly, escalating difficult or unusual situations appropriately, and reinforcing Sterling’s commitment to supporting lighting professionals.
Warranty information becomes useful operational and product data by consistently documenting warranty claims, categorizing failure types and resolutions accurately, identifying patterns and recurring issues, communicating meaningful product trends to Operations and leadership, and using warranty information to improve products, processes, and future decision-making.
The warranty operation becomes more organized, documented, and scalable by learning existing processes before recommending changes, identifying inefficiencies and unnecessary steps, documenting repeatable processes, organizing tools, workspaces, parts, and information, recommending improvements based on firsthand experience, and participating in the research, evaluation, and development of a potential Sterling refurbishment program targeted for launch in 2027.
Demonstrates readiness for increasing ownership and future leadership by taking responsibility for the overall health of warranty operations, identifying problems and bringing proposed solutions, prioritizing work independently and communicating when additional resources are needed, building processes that could eventually be taught and delegated to others, and demonstrating the judgment, accountability, and communication skills required to lead others as the warranty function grows.