Sorting by Custom Array

I'm trying to sort a Google Sheet (sample) by where one column's data ('Leads and Onboarding'!D7:D', the column heading "STATUS") falls within a custom array ("lead_status_sort!B5:B"). In this case, I want Partnerships first, then Onboardings, then Connectings, then Leads, then Abandoneds.

I've tried to write a bound Google App Script to do that. Here's the entire function (question continues below).

function sortLeads() {
  var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet(); // gets bound spreadsheet
  var sheet = ss.getSheetById("547710831"); // gets leads sheet

  console.log("Getting List...");
  var list = ss.getSheetById("1696685410").getRange("B5:B").getValues().filter(String).flat(); // gets the list in lead_status_sort
  console.log(list); 
  list = list.reverse(); // We reverse the list, because we're going to iterate through the sheet moving matching rows to the top

  var firstRow = ss.getSheetById("1940886045").getRange("B6").getValue(); // This gets the row immediately following the row with "ORG" in the B column. 
  var rowCount = ss.getSheetById("1940886045").getRange("B7").getValue(); // This gets the number of rows with organizations in them
  var lastRow = firstRow + rowCount - 1; // This is the last row with an organization
  console.log("Sorting Leads Sheet Rows " + firstRow + " to " + lastRow)  
  var statusList = sheet.getRange("D" + firstRow + ":D" + lastRow).getValues().flat(); // gets the array of statuses

  for (let i = 0; i < list.length; i++) {
    console.log("Checking Array for Status = " + list[i]);
    for (let j = 0; j < rowCount; j++) {
      console.log("    Checking Row " + (firstRow + j));
      if (statusList[j] == list[i]) {
        console.log("    True");
        var rowSpec = sheet.getRange("A" + (firstRow + j) + ":" + (firstRow + j));
        try {
          console.log("    Moving Row");
          sheet.moveRows(rowSpec, firstRow);
          // LOCATION A
        } catch (error){
          
        }
      } else {
        console.log("    False");
      }
    }
  }
  console.log("pause");
  Utilities.sleep(5000);
}

It seems to make sense. In fact, if you manually change the i values, for example,

for (let i = 1; i < 2; i++) {

... and so on, it works great! The problem is, when I allow it to iterate through the entire for-loop, I've realized that it doesn't actually move the rows when the script reaches LOCATION A (see the middle of the for-loop section). It moves the rows at the end of the script. (I wrote in a pause to be sure.)

So, the script is queuing actions that it then executes at script-end. And, it doesn't seem to execute them in order (or, it tries to, but Google Sheets doesn't move fast enough to do it in the order the script reads them).

How do I solve this problem? Am I going about it in entirely the wrong way?

The easiest way to organize that data would be to use a Group by view. That won't show the data in the custom order described in the question though.

You can implement a custom sort order with a plain vanilla spreadsheet formula without resorting to scripting. The formula adds a numeric column that acts as the sort key, and you use the new column to sort the sheet to the custom order you wanted.

Put this formula in cell M6:

=vstack( 
  "Sort key", 
  arrayformula(ifna(match( 
    D7:D, 
    vstack("Partnership", "Onboarding", "Connecting", "Lead", "Abandoned"), 
    0 
  ))) 
)

Then click cell M6 and choose Data > Sort sheet > Sort Sheet A to Z.

The same can be done in Apps Script, although there seems to be little point doing so. Get the data range with Sheet.getrange(), get the data with Range.getValues(), sort the data with Array.sort() with a custom compareFunction, and finally put the sorted data back with Range.setValues(), like this:

function sortLeads() {
  const sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActive().getSheetByName('Leads and Onboarding');
  const statusRange = sheet.getRange(`A${sheet.getFrozenRows() + 1}:L`);
  const data = statusRange.getValues().filter(row => row.join(''));
  const _index = v => ['Partnership', 'Onboarding', 'Connecting', 'Lead', 'Abandoned'].indexOf(v);
  data.sort((a, b) => _index(a) < _index(b) ? -1 : _index(a) > _index(b) ? 1 : 0);
  statusRange.setValues(data);
}

Cannot test that because the sample spreadsheet is set to prevent copying.