What Does an Operations Manager Do?
Operations managers oversee the daily operations of a business or organization. These professionals are responsible for managing staff, ensuring that operations run smoothly and efficiently, and developing strategies to increase productivity and profitability. They also work to ensure the company’s operations meet legal specifications and regulations.
An operations manager must be able to demonstrate strong leadership and problem-solving skills, as well as experience managing staff and overseeing complex operations. As well as excellent communication skills, they should be able to work well under pressure. They should also have a solid understanding of finance and accounting principles, along with project management and process improvement experience.
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National Average Salary
Operations manager salaries vary by experience, industry, organization size, and geography. To explore salary ranges by local market, please visit our sister site zengig.com.
The average U.S. salary for an Operations Manager is:
$68,400
Operations Manager Job Descriptions
It’s important to include the right content in your job description when hiring an operations manager. The following examples can serve as templates for attracting the best available talent for your team.
Example 1
As a fast-growing company, [Your Company Name] is looking for professionals who want to grow with us. We need leaders who are passionate about being a leader and managing a team of people. We’re searching for an expert operations manager to help take care of daily operations, communicate effectively, and deliver exceptional results. As an ideal candidate, you have proven experience in an operations role. Your ability to evaluate and analyze complex information is second to none, and you have natural leadership skills that help motivate and inspire employees.
Typical duties and responsibilities
- Assess and analyze line budget
- Set individual and team targets
- Assist in planning, implementation, and follow up of manufacturing lines
- Identify potential problems and work to find solutions
- Develop, implement, and maintain quality assurance protocols
- Create initiatives and further the company’s goals
- Oversee materials and inventory management
- Monitor daily deliveries, create reporting metrics, and actively review information
- Coordinate different teams to exchange ideas
- Manage communications throughout departments
Education and experience
- Bachelor’s degree in business administration, operations management, or related field
- Two years of related experience in operations management
Required skills and qualifications
- Strong organizational skills
- Impeccable attention to detail
- Strong and proven experience leading field or manufacturing in a fast-paced environment
- Ability to convey instructional information across audiences
- Solid understanding of budgeting and financial principles
- Ability to problem solve, prioritize multiple projects, and adhere to strict deadlines
Preferred qualifications
- Working understanding of management software programs
- Strong IT skills
- Financial and accounting reporting
- Appropriate state licensing
- Ability to work evenings or weekends on request
- Bilingual communication skills.
Example 2
Responsibilities
- Work closely with the national sales teams as well as other internal sales support teams to develop, build, evaluate, and manage media plans during the request for proposal (RFP)/inventory availability process
- Ensure that media plans align with client or company objectives, using internal best practices based on historical performance of digital media products to maximize client ROI
- Partner with Business Operations Team to ensure media plans are maintained in Order Management System to accurately invoice and book accurate revenue
- Maintain knowledge of the client’s business and ensure all media requirements are executed in a timely and accurate manner
- Work with analytics, trafficking, ad-serving, and finance departments as part of the media management process
- Manage day-to-day plan changes and maintenance of media plans
- Adhere to and promote sales team compliance around all corporate driven pricing/inventory management initiatives
- Own data accuracy in sales workflow systems/tools
- Determine the optimal media mix given the nature of each particular opportunity and the client’s business, historical data, budget and preferred advertising media, while taking into account current company inventory situations and priorities
Qualifications
- 2+ years experience in developing strategy for interactive media campaigns
- Solid understanding of interactive metrics and data, media math, requests for proposal processes, insertion orders, and Microsoft Excel
- Understanding of Ad Servers and Order Management Systems a plus
- Ability to influence peers and co-workers to utilize and maximize return on current inventory and assets
- Ability to use qualitative and quantitative information to develop successful solutions and proposals
- Ability to set priorities and manage time to complete tasks and meet deadlines
- Ability to communicate verbally and in writing via various communication channels to multiple stakeholders
Example 3
Essential duties and responsibilities
- Oversee agency accounting and reporting of financials
- Manage the filings and renewals for the risk purchasing group
- Annual policy renewals for the risk purchasing group
- Reporting and payment of insurance premium taxes
- Review customer marketing and websites
- Collect and file new client agreements
Competencies
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Education or experience
- 3+ years accounting experience, required
- 3+ years of insurance experience, required
- High School diploma or recognized equivalent, required
- Compliance experience a plus but not required
Technology skills
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
Other qualifications
- Able to work independently and enjoy a high degree of interaction with team members
- Ability to contribute to a collaborative environment by consistently demonstrating teamwork, high motivation, positive behavior, and effort to achieve goals and objectives
- Self-motivated and driven
- Maintain a sense of urgency and ability to work with and meet deadlines
- Demonstrate effective written and verbal communication, including the ability actively listen, and problem solve with minimal assistance
- Demonstrates excellent time management and prioritization skills
- Attention to detail and commitment to a high level of accuracy
- The ability to multitask, prioritize, work independently, and use discretion surrounding sensitive information
- Ability to maintain a professional demeanor and positive attitude
Example 4
This role is for an Operations specialist to oversee and manage support function to the Portfolio Management team running a quant-based strategy.
Responsibilities
- Oversight of several key functions such as daily extracts, reconciliation, performance, corporate actions, market data, and reporting
- Maintain and develop business through account set up, implementing new products, prioritizing development, and day to day support with internal partners and external vendors
- Daily Production support, supervision of SLA timings, data integrity, and open queries from our business partners
- Day-to-day liaising with IT, Legal, Business Units, and Vendors in resolving discrepancies
- Implementation and management of relevant system enhancements and products through best project management practices
- Evolving of policies and procedures, including the designing and documenting of process flows across multiple functions
- Creating and maintenance of various Operating Models
- Provide updates and status checks across various levels of management, as well as, single point of contact for the Portfolio Management product
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree with minimum 5 years of industry experience
- General product knowledge (Equities, FX, Options); Wealth Management experience a plus)
- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills and proficiency in full MS Office suite of products – MS Excel, MS Word, and MS PowerPoint
- High level of comfort reviewing large amounts of data within strict timeframes
- Strong communication (Written/Oral) across functional teams and interpersonal skills
- Exposure to large scale change in business programs and Project management skills a plus
- Proven experience of escalations across multiple layers of management and business areas
- Strong problem-solving, analytical and technical aptitude
- Keen eye for detail and the ability to manage multiple complex tasks in a team oriented environment
Candidate Certifications to Look For
- Certified Manager. This certification is offered by the Institute of Certified Professional Managers. For this certification, an exam is required as well as attending continuing education to maintain the certification.
- Program Management Professional. Program Management Professional (PMP) is the world’s leading program management certification and can help set candidates apart in their future careers. A PMP certification exam is required to be certified.
- Certified Supply Chain Professional. Operations managers responsible for supply chain strategy or design, demand planning and management, customer relation management, supply chain financial management, or managing and assessing risk in the supply chain, should consider becoming a Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP). There are different methods to earning this certification, such as self-study, instructor-led, instructor-supported, and corporate/group training. An exam must be passed to become CSCP certified.
Sample Interview Questions
- What motivated you to become an operations manager, and what experience do you have with complex operations?
- What strategies do you use to ensure that your employees are meeting their goals and responsibilities?
- Are you familiar with finance and accounting principles, and what steps do you take to ensure financial records are accurate and current?
- How do you identify areas for improvement based on your experience with process improvement methodologies?
- What techniques do you use to keep a positive work environment, and what are your strategies for dealing with conflicts among employees?
- Are there any tools you use to measure success when it comes to developing and implementing strategies to improve productivity and profitability?
- What steps do you take to ensure projects are completed on time and within budget, based on your experience with project management?
- What techniques do you employ to prioritize tasks in the face of competing demands on your time?
- Would you be able to describe a time when you had to make a difficult decision, and how you handled it?
- What methods do you use to ensure successful and professional communication with executives, employees, and clients?