Full-Time
Whisky Coordinator
Posted on 8/14/2025
Sotheby’s
1,001-5,000 employees
Global auction house handling fine art
Compensation Overview
$50k/yr
New York, NY, USA
In Person
 Operations & Logistics (2) |
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- Degree in business administration or equivalent field preferred but not required
- At least 1+ years’ experience in business administration and/or client service
- Exceptional client service skills including strong verbal and written communication skills
- Competencies in legal, finance and/or project management
- Operationally minded with an appetite for technology
- Ability to multi-task, prioritize and manage challenging deadlines
- Creative problem solver with ability to act quickly and effectively under pressure
- Highly organized and detail oriented
- Self-motivated, enthusiastic, and able to work both independently and as part of a team
- Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office – prior experience with SAP or other Sotheby’s systems is preferable
- Manage the daily administration of the Spirits department, including organizing files, cleaning and maintaining digital directories, and supporting departmental initiatives and projects.
- Oversee pre- and post-sale auction processes, including estimate and proposal preparation, contract management, data entry, and client communication.
- Distribute, track, and file auction contracts, purchase orders, consignment agreements, IC disclosures, and relevant documentation to ensure compliance and legal accuracy.
- Maintain comprehensive auction files including consignor records, sale packages, and documentation for house property, canceled sales, and re-offers.
- Manage starting bids, reserves, and selling reserves in ADM; process missed reserves and post-sale adjustments.
- Compile and report auction or private sale results, ensuring accuracy and timely distribution to internal stakeholders.
- Serve as a key point of contact for clients throughout the consignment lifecycle, addressing enquiries, resolving issues, and facilitating transactions to ensure high levels of satisfaction.
- Provide clients with pre- and post-sale documentation, shipping details, and updates on their consignments.
- Coordinate on-site and off-site client property collections, ensuring professional service and proper documentation.
- Ensure legal and compliance documentation is complete, including photo ID, proof of address, payment instructions, and W8/9 forms.
- Review pre-sale compliance reports (AML, ALR), complete High-Value Lot (HVL) forms, and liaise with Legal and Business Managers/Directors on complex sales involving extended payment terms, guarantees, or irrevocable bids.
- Support due diligence and compliance resolution processes in collaboration with Specialists, Compliance, and Shipping teams.
- Liaise with clients, shipping coordinators, and global offices to manage inbound shipments, customs clearance, export licenses, and catalogue deadlines.
- Coordinate movement of property internally and externally, including to third-party services (e.g. restorers, authentication committees, external experts, and photographers).
- Monitor and process House Property and Temporary Admission (TA) property; support inventory management initiatives.
- Assist with property inspections at the warehouse and client premises; pack property for sale in line with internal preservation and presentation standards.
- Coordinate the transfer and display of property for exhibitions, ensuring proper handling, setup, and presentation.
- Manage photography requests and conduct occasional property photography for cataloguing and promotional use.
- Help prepare and set up the saleroom for live auctions and tastings.
- Organize and support events, including liaising with venues, managing guest lists, and coordinating menus.
- Ensure glassware is clean and appropriately prepared for tastings and client-facing events.
- Manage warehouse-related responsibilities, including ordering of packing materials (e.g. boxes and supplies) to meet sales and logistics needs.
- Work with Operations and Specialists to meet inactive inventory targets and ensure smooth logistical workflows.
- Degree in business administration or equivalent field preferred but not required
- Prior experience with SAP or other Sotheby’s systems is preferable
1) What it does: Sotheby’s runs high-end auctions and private sales of fine art, luxury items, and collectibles for global collectors and investors. 2) How its products work: It holds live and online auctions where items are sold to the highest bidder, and also facilitates private sales directly between sellers and buyers. Revenue comes from commissions on final sale prices and service fees such as appraisals; it also provides online estimates to help sellers gauge value. 3) How it’s different: It combines a global auction network with discreet private sales, strong appraisal expertise, and curated collections, allowing access to both broad, open bidding and private, personalized transactions. 4) Goal: To connect sellers with buyers in the high-end market, maximizing value for items and delivering trusted, expert valuation and sales services for rare and valuable possessions.
Company Size
1,001-5,000
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
New York City, New York
Founded
1744
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Sotheby's posted $53 million pre-tax profit in 2025 after years of losses.
- Sotheby's secured $900 million ArtFi securitization and $100 million KKR facility.
- Credit agencies upgraded Sotheby's outlook due to improved performance.
What critics are saying
- Cushman & Wakefield sues Sotheby's for $10.2 million commission unpaid from 2025 sale.
- Sotheby's delays seller payouts with 7% interest, driving consignments to Christie's.
- $825 million bonds refinance $765 million debt due 2027, risking default on sales dip.
What makes Sotheby’s unique
- Sotheby's auctions Stephen Curry's 75-lot sneaker collection from 2025-2026 season.
- Sotheby's partners with De Beers for 'earth to art' diamond sales starting April 2026.
- Sotheby's offers private sales and global auctions in New York, London, Hong Kong.
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Benefits
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Life Insurance
Disability Insurance
Paid Vacation
Paid Sick Leave
Paid Holidays
401(k) Company Match
Professional Development Budget
Company News
The sale of the Jwaneng 28.88 diamond later this month marks the start of a collaboration between De Beers and Sotheby's. Together they aim to "present exceptional diamonds as works of art," although no details on the terms or scope of the agreement have been made public. The collaboration centers on joint marketing and storytelling, going beyond a standard consignment, in which the miner selects an auction house. Both companies co-create a branded narrative - "earth to art" - to promote across their channels The flawless D-color unmounted Jwaneng 28.88 - cut from a 114.83-carat rough recovered at Botswana's Jwaneng mine (Debswana, De Beers' 50-50 government venture) -leads the auction at Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels & Jadeite sale in Hong Kong on 23 April. It carries an estimate of HKD 17 million to HKD 22 million (USD 2.2 million to USD 2.8 million). Other De Beers diamonds from Jwaneng will be offered at the same sale, including a solitaire ring and a pair of diamond earrings.
True gem bought in London and now coming home to Mallorca. Centuries old Mallorca map bought by island council. The Council of Mallorca has completed the acquisition of Pere Rossell's portolan chart at Sotheby's London, in a transaction that adds this exceptional piece to the island's public heritage. The document, dated 1447, is considered one of the most valuable works of medieval Mallorcan cartography and represents a milestone in the recovery of the island's historical legacy. The map, signed by the Mallorcan cartographer Pere Rossell - known as Petrus Roselli - is the oldest of the author's known works and one of the most notable examples of the cartographic tradition developed in Mallorca between the 13th and 15th centuries. Drawn on vellum and written in Latin and Catalan, it depicts the Mediterranean world with great precision, including hundreds of place names written in Gothic script in black and red ink. During the signing ceremony, the president of the Council of Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, noted that the purchase "marks a milestone for the island and for the preservation of heritage," further emphasising that it allows for the recovery of "a key piece of our history that reinforces Mallorca's role as a leading figure in medieval cartography." Most viewed. For her part, the Vice President and Minister of Culture and Heritage, Antònia Roca, described the work as "a true gem" that reflects the talent and international influence of medieval Mallorca. Stay connected with the majorca daily bulletin. Be part of its growing community! Follow Majorca Daily Bulletin on social media - Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube - to keep up with the latest updates and share your views. You can also subscribe to its WhatsApp and Telegram channels to receive daily highlights of the most important news. It's free and easy to stay informed directly from your mobile phone!
Cushman sues Sotheby's over $10M commission tied to HQ sale. posted on Apr. 11, 2026 at 3:16 am Sotheby's stiffed Cushman & Wakefield on a $10 million commission tied to the auction house's blockbuster Upper East Side headquarters sale, the brokerage claims. In a lawsuit filed Thursday in New York State Supreme Court, Cushman accuses Sotheby's of breaching a commission agreement connected to the October 2025 sale of 1334 York Avenue to Weill Cornell Medicine. Cushman claims it spent years brokering a 200,000-square-foot lease at the building on behalf of Weill Cornell that ultimately paved the way for the $510 million sale. At the time of the 2023 lease signing, Cushman says both sides inked a separate agreement entitling the firm to a 2 percent commission on any sale to Weill Cornell during the 30-year lease term. But Sotheby's never informed the brokerage it was weighing a sale a few years later, the complaint alleges, and Cushman first learned of the deal through news reports. The brokerage sent Sotheby's a $10.2 million commission bill in December, but the brokerage refused to pay it, "choosing instead to retain those funds to address its deteriorating financial condition," the suit alleges. "This lawsuit is baseless and completely meritless," said a Sotheby's spokesperson in a statement. "We will defend ourselves vigorously in court and we are confident that when the facts come out, we'll be vindicated." News reports at the time of the sale credited JLL's David Giancola, Geoff Goldstein and Steve Klein with representing Weill Cornell in the sale and CBRE's Doug Middleton and Mary Ann Tighe with advising Sotheby's. The complaint paints a picture of a financially strained Sotheby's seeking to shed debt tied to the property, including a $175 million mortgage. Cushman says the lease it arranged with Weill Cornell was "a financial life-preserver to Sotheby's" that boosted the property's value and ultimately helped Sotheby's command a hefty sale price; the building traded for almost 40 percent more than the auction house paid in 2009. Sotheby's itself acknowledged the financial upside. Following the sale, Sotheby's CEO Charles F. Stewart told staff in an e-mail the move would be "very financially beneficial," noting proceeds would be used to reduce debt and fund investments, according to an article from the trade publication The Art Newspaper cited in the lawsuit. The transaction capped a run of real estate moves by the auction house. In 2023, Sotheby's bought the landmark Breuer Building from the Whitney for about $100 million, a year after it picked up a converted office building in Long Island City for $82 million.
Cushman sues Sotheby's over $10M commission tied to HQ sale. Sotheby's stiffed Cushman & Wakefield on a $10 million commission tied to the auction house's blockbuster Upper East Side headquarters sale, the brokerage claims. In a lawsuit filed Thursday in New York State Supreme Court, Cushman accuses Sotheby's of breaching a commission agreement connected to the October 2025 sale of 1334 York Avenue to Weill Cornell Medicine. Cushman claims it spent years brokering a 200,000-square-foot lease at the building on behalf of Weill Cornell that ultimately paved the way for the $510 million sale. At the time of the 2023 lease signing, Cushman says both sides inked a separate agreement entitling the firm to a 2 percent commission on any sale to Weill Cornell during the 30-year lease term. But Sotheby's never informed the brokerage it was weighing a sale a few years later, the complaint alleges, and Cushman first learned of the deal through news reports. The brokerage sent Sotheby's a $10.2 million commission bill in December, but the brokerage refused to pay it, "choosing instead to retain those funds to address its deteriorating financial condition," the suit alleges. "This lawsuit is baseless and completely meritless," said a Sotheby's spokesperson in a statement. "We will defend ourselves vigorously in court and we are confident that when the facts come out, we'll be vindicated." News reports at the time of the sale credited JLL's David Giancola, Geoff Goldstein and Steve Klein with representing Weill Cornell in the sale and CBRE's Doug Middleton and Mary Ann Tighe with advising Sotheby's. The complaint paints a picture of a financially strained Sotheby's seeking to shed debt tied to the property, including a $175 million mortgage. Cushman says the lease it arranged with Weill Cornell was "a financial life-preserver to Sotheby's" that boosted the property's value and ultimately helped Sotheby's command a hefty sale price; the building traded for almost 40 percent more than the auction house paid in 2009. Sotheby's itself acknowledged the financial upside. Following the sale, Sotheby's CEO Charles F. Stewart told staff in an e-mail the move would be "very financially beneficial," noting proceeds would be used to reduce debt and fund investments, according to an article from the trade publication The Art Newspaper cited in the lawsuit. The transaction capped a run of real estate moves by the auction house. In 2023, Sotheby's bought the landmark Breuer Building from the Whitney for about $100 million, a year after it picked up a converted office building in Long Island City for $82 million. Weill Cornell buys former Sotheby's HQ for $510M Sotheby's buys Breuer Building for $100M Sotheby's auction house buys LIC's Gantry Point for $82M
Sotheby's announces "The Stephen Curry Collection, My Sneaker Free Agency" Auction. Fans speculate that the massive 75-lot auction means that Curry might be nearing a final decision for a new sneaker deal in a post-under armour era. * Sotheby's has officially unveiled "The Stephen Curry Collection, My Sneaker Free Agency," an exclusive online auction running from April 13 to April 28, 2026 * The 75-lot sale highlights an incredible array of dual-signed, game-worn, and tunnel-worn sneakers from Curry's 2025-2026 season, during which he tested out multiple competing brands * Highly coveted lots include game-worn Nike Kobe Protros, Puma Tyrese Haliburton PEs, Li-Ning Jimmy Butler 4s, and a rare 2010 Nike Hyperdunk PE, with top estimates reaching $50,000 USD Stephen Curry's historic and highly entertaining "sneaker free agency" is officially heading to the auction block. Sotheby's has announced a massive new sports memorabilia event, aptly titled "The Stephen Curry Collection, My Sneaker Free Agency." The legendary point guard spent the 2025-2026 NBA season testing the footwear waters, arriving to the tunnel and the court in a vast, unpredictable array of different brands and signature models. Now, 75 of those remarkable pairs are being offered to the public in a dedicated, first-of-its-kind auction. During the 2025-2026 campaign, Curry was spotted in everything from retro Jordans to modern flagship silhouettes from Nike, Reebok, PUMA, Li-Ning, adidas and ANTA. The Sotheby's auction meticulously catalogs this unique footwear journey. Standout pieces from the massive 75-lot collection include the dual-signed Nike Kobe 6 Protro "Mambacita Sweet 16," which Curry notably wore during his warm-ups on the very first night of his highly anticipated sneaker free agency. For serious basketball collectors, the auction features several high-value, historic game-worn grails carrying estimated prices between $30,000 and $50,000 USD. Notable top-tier lots include a dual-signed Li-Ning Jimmy Butler 4 "Dark Knight" worn during a massive 38-point performance, a game-worn Puma Tyrese Haliburton Hali 1 "Hibiscus," and a game-worn Nike Kobe 4 Protro "CHBL" from the night Curry dropped 48 points and 12 three-pointers to officially pass Michael Jordan for the most 40-point games after the age of 30. The collection beautifully showcases Curry's personal appreciation for global footwear culture, heavily featuring "tunnel worn" lifestyle kicks like the Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 Low "Mocha," Reebok Shaqnosis, and Nike Foamposites alongside his high-performance on-court shoes. Beyond the recent 2025-2026 free agency run, the auction also includes a significant piece of early-career history: Curry's dual-signed 2010 "Christmas Day Debut" game-worn Nike Hyperdunk PE. Bidding for "The Stephen Curry Collection, My Sneaker Free Agency" will officially open online via Sotheby's on April 13, 2026, at 10:00 AM EDT, and run through April 28 with all proceeds benefitting the Curry's Eat Learn Play foundation. Fans, sneakerheads, and sports collectors can view the complete 75-lot catalog on Sotheby's official website now.