A truck arrives late, two shift supervisors call in sick and a customer wants yesterday’s order explained. Sorting that out, and then changing the process so it does not repeat next week, is the work of an operations manager. The trouble for anyone writing this job description is that the same title covers a plant head’s deputy, a warehouse network lead, the person running a support floor and a generalist at a startup, and those people share very few day-to-day skills.
So this page starts with a way to scope your role, then gives a template you can adapt, and goes on to levels, screening checks, ad mistakes and hiring terms.
Operations manager job description template
Scope the role before you edit the template by answering four questions. What does this person run: a plant, warehouse, delivery hub, service floor or a cross-functional business process? How big is it, in sites, shifts, headcount and vendors? Which two or three KPIs decide whether they had a good month? And which systems do they live in? Write those answers into the brackets, and pick the matching KPI line below.
If you run a plant, the KPIs are likely to be output, yield and downtime. A warehouse or logistics operation would use OTIF, inventory accuracy and cost per order. A service operation uses SLA adherence, backlog and quality scores. If nobody can name the KPIs, the role is not ready to post.
About the role
[Company] operates [plant / warehouses / delivery hubs / service centres] serving [customers]. Our Operations Manager will run daily execution at [site or sites] across [number] shifts, leading [team size] people and [number] vendors. You will answer for [KPI one, KPI two and KPI three], report to [COO / General Manager / Founder], and work mainly from [location].
Responsibilities
- Plan capacity, manpower and shifts against the forecast workload.
- Write, maintain and enforce SOPs for [core processes].
- Review [named KPIs] on a daily and weekly dashboard, and act on deviations.
- Own the cost budget for [site or function], including overtime, consumables and vendor charges.
- Manage vendors and contractors against agreed service levels.
- Handle escalations from customers and internal teams, tracing each to its root cause.
- Lead continuous improvement work using Lean or Kaizen methods.
- Coach supervisors and team leads, and keep their rosters and training records up to date.
- Ensure site safety, statutory and audit requirements that apply to [your industry] are met, working with [HR, compliance or EHS].
- Report performance, risks and improvement plans to leadership each month.
Requirements
- [X] years in [manufacturing / warehousing / logistics / service] operations, including [X] years leading supervisors or shifts.
- A record of owning measurable KPIs, with examples of moving them.
- Hands-on use of [SAP MM / Oracle SCM / Microsoft Dynamics 365 / WMS or TMS tools].
- Advanced Excel skills, and comfort reading dashboards in Power BI or a similar tool.
- Experience managing budgets and vendor contracts.
- Calm decision-making during disruptions and fair handling of people on the floor.
- Willingness to work [shift pattern] and travel to [sites].
Nice to have
- A Lean or Six Sigma qualification, with a completed project behind it.
- Experience opening a new site or line.
- Familiarity with e-way bills and dispatch paperwork, for goods movement roles.
What we offer
- [Salary range], [performance bonus] and [benefits].
- [Shift allowance, transport or relocation support].
- [Scope for growth to multiple sites].
How the operations manager role changes by level
Assistant operations manager or shift lead
This person runs one shift or process inside a system designed by others. Their day is attendance, task allocation, floor problems and shift handovers. Ask for steady supervision experience and reliable reporting, and do not expect budget ownership yet.
Operations manager
The manager owns one site or function and answers for its KPIs and costs. They decide on staffing and process changes, deal with vendors directly and present results upward. Requirements should mention improvements the person personally led, as well as the size of the team they handled.
Senior operations manager or head of operations
At this level, the job covers several sites or a whole region. The work is standardising processes across locations, planning network capacity, developing managers and making the case for capital spending. Past this point, a COO role takes on company-wide strategy, finance and functions beyond operations, so write that as its own job.
Operations skills that matter most, and how to check them
- KPI ownership. Ask which number they were accountable for in their last job, where it started and what they did to shift it. Strong candidates know the definition behind the metric, including how OTIF or inventory accuracy was calculated on their site.
- Root cause thinking. Describe a repeat problem, such as missed dispatch cut-offs. Listen for how they would gather facts before assigning blame, and whether the fix changes the process or only adds a reminder.
- Capacity planning. Give them a simple case with next week’s workload, staff available and absenteeism. Ask them to build a shift plan on paper or in Excel and explain the trade-offs.
- Cost control. Ask which costs they cut in the past and what suffered as a result. People who have held a budget will talk about overtime, rework, vendor rates and service levels together.
- People leadership. Ask how they handled a good supervisor who kept breaking an SOP. Site visits help here too: if you can, walk the candidate through your floor and hear what they notice.
Ask for an SOP or dashboard they created, with sensitive details removed. A real document shows the level of detail they work at, and whether frontline staff could follow it.
Common operations manager job description mistakes
- Posting a generic title with no industry. A plant manager and a service delivery lead will both apply, and neither may fit. Fix: put the setting in the title or first line, such as Warehouse Operations Manager.
- Listing every duty and no KPIs. Long task lists hide what success looks like. Fix: name the two or three numbers the person will answer for.
- Confusing the role with a supply chain analyst. Analysts study data and recommend, whereas this role runs people and sites. Fix: if the job is mostly reports and models, retitle it.
- Treating it as project management. Project managers deliver a change with an end date, while operations continues daily. Fix: separate a one-off rollout from ongoing ownership.
- Understating shift and site demands. Night shifts, weekend peaks and multi-site travel decide who accepts. Fix: state them plainly in the ad.
Contract, contract-to-hire or permanent: which suits an operations manager
A contract is a good fit for a time-bound situation: starting up a site, running a seasonal peak, covering a sudden exit, or standardising SOPs before an audit. Define the handover at the start, so the improvement outlasts the person who made it.
Contract-to-hire lets you observe how someone leads your supervisors and adapts to your site before you hand over full authority. It works best when the role has real decision rights in the trial, because a manager without them cannot show much.
Permanent hiring suits most site-owning roles, where people trust and process knowledge take time to build. Zilo AI can hire operations managers in India on contract, contract-to-hire or permanent terms, screening on the ERP, WMS and TMS tools they have used, KPIs they owned and fit with your shifts and sites. Procurement, planning and warehouse roles sit with the rest of our non-IT talent categories.
Frequently asked questions
What should an operations manager job description include?
State the setting, sites, shifts, team size, vendors, systems and the KPIs the person owns. Reporting line and travel matter too, since these decide the real scope of the job.
How is an operations manager different from a warehouse manager?
A warehouse manager runs inbound, storage and dispatch in one facility. An operations manager may hold a broader remit across functions or sites, and in some companies the warehouse manager reports to them.
How is an operations manager different from a COO?
An operations manager runs execution in a defined area. A COO shapes how the entire company operates and sits on the leadership team, usually with several functions reporting in.
Do we need Lean or Six Sigma certification?
Only in specific settings, such as process-heavy manufacturing. For most roles, ask what improvement the candidate led and what changed afterwards, and treat a certificate as supporting evidence.
Would you like candidates who have already run a site like yours? Contact our team with your sites, shifts and KPIs, and Zilo AI will scope the search with you.