Business and administration

Operations manager

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Managing teams and projects in line with a private, public, or voluntary organisation's operational or departmental strategy.

Summary

This occupation is found in small, medium, large, and multinational organisations in private, public, and third sectors across all areas of the economy.

Operations managers perform leadership and management duties with teams and senior managers to ensure that teams fulfil their roles and meet organisational goals. They are essential to all business models that have an operational area or department with a workforce to lead, manage, and support.

The broad purpose of this occupation is to provide leadership, with both operational and project responsibilities. An operations manager is responsible for managing individuals or a team, offering direction, instructions, and guidance to achieve set goals. They are crucial for the smooth functioning of all departments within an organisation and ensure that their functions are administered and maintained in accordance with legislation and the organisation’s policies and procedures. Operations managers provide clear and inclusive leadership and direction within their area of responsibility. This typically involves setting, managing, and monitoring the achievement of core objectives aligned with the organisation’s overall strategic goals. In smaller organisations, they are also likely to contribute to the execution and achievement of these strategic objectives. 

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with colleagues from various internal departments, including operations, human resources, finance, legal, IT, sales and marketing, and project groups. Operations managers also engage with external stakeholders such as customers, clients, and suppliers. They may work in diverse environments, including offices, onsite locations, or remotely, demonstrating a high level of flexibility and adaptability to meet organisational needs.

An employee in this occupation is responsible for leading and managing their operational function. This includes being accountable for developing team members, managing projects, planning and reviewing workloads and resources, delivering operational plans, resolving problems, and building relationships both internally and externally.

An operations manager may work as part of a network or in a team setting. They operate within agreed budgets and available resources, reporting to senior leaders. They are responsible for decision-making and guiding or influencing the decisions of others. This includes applying business continuity principles, collecting and interpreting data to identify trends, analysing resources, and finding ways to improve efficiencies.

Operations managers understand how their role supports the broader organisational structure. They apply codes of practice, legislation, and regulations relevant to their organisation’s operations. This encompasses legal and ethical responsibilities, as well as equity, diversity and inclusion, health and safety, and the sustainability impacts of the organisation.

Typical job titles include

Knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs)

• Knowledge
• Skills
• Behaviours