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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Operations Officer

💰 $ - $

OperationsManagementAdministration

🎯 Role Definition

The Operations Officer is responsible for ensuring day-to-day operational excellence across administrative, logistics, facilities, procurement, and process management functions. This role focuses on designing and executing efficient workflows, enforcing compliance and risk controls, managing vendors and supply chains, and delivering measurable improvements in cost, quality and delivery through data-driven decision making. The ideal candidate combines hands-on operational experience with strong analytical capability, stakeholder management and project execution skills to support business continuity and scale operational capacity.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Operations Coordinator / Operations Assistant
  • Administrative Manager or Office Manager
  • Supply Chain / Logistics Coordinator

Advancement To:

  • Senior Operations Officer / Operations Manager
  • Head of Operations / Director of Operations
  • Chief Operating Officer (for larger enterprises)

Lateral Moves:

  • Program / Project Manager
  • Procurement / Vendor Management Lead
  • Facilities & Workplace Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead and manage day-to-day operations across multiple functional areas (facilities, procurement, logistics, inventory, vendor performance and administrative services), proactively identifying bottlenecks and implementing sustainable process improvements to increase throughput and reduce operational cost.
  • Develop, track and report on operational KPIs and dashboards (e.g., on-time delivery, inventory turnover, cost per transaction, SLA compliance) using Excel, Power BI or other BI tools; translate metrics into recommended actions and monthly executive summaries.
  • Own procurement cycles end-to-end: define requirements, solicit bids, negotiate contracts and terms, evaluate vendors for performance and cost-effectiveness, and maintain approved vendor lists and contract repository.
  • Design, document and maintain standard operating procedures (SOPs), policies and playbooks for core operational processes and ensure consistent adoption via training and periodic audits.
  • Manage facilities and workplace services including office upkeep, security, lease management, space planning, vendor contracts for cleaning/maintenance, and coordination of move or expansion projects to maintain a productive work environment.
  • Plan and administer budgets for operations functions, performing forecasting, variance analysis and cost-control initiatives to meet financial targets and improve margin contribution.
  • Coordinate logistics and supply chain activities including inbound/outbound shipments, customs clearance support, third-party logistics relationships, inventory reconciliation and demand planning alignment with procurement.
  • Lead cross-functional projects that improve operational scalability such as ERP/CRM implementations, automation of manual workflows, digital forms, and integration of third-party tools, ensuring milestones, budgets and stakeholder buy-in.
  • Ensure operational compliance with internal controls, corporate policies and applicable local, national or industry regulations (e.g., health & safety, data privacy), preparing the organization for internal and external audits.
  • Oversee the full cycle of vendor and third-party supplier management including onboarding, performance reviews, SLA monitoring, dispute resolution and contract renewals to mitigate service risk and ensure value delivery.
  • Direct incident and business continuity response activities, maintain disaster recovery plans, coordinate crisis communications and perform tabletop exercises to minimize downtime and operational impact.
  • Supervise, coach and develop a small operations team; set performance objectives, conduct reviews, manage capacity planning and recruit to fill gaps to maintain service levels and team morale.
  • Handle invoice validation, purchase order reconciliations and payment escalations in coordination with finance to guarantee accurate and timely vendor payment and accounting reconciliation.
  • Manage customer service handoffs for operational issues by triaging incidents, establishing root cause analyses, and implementing corrective actions to prevent recurrence and improve customer satisfaction.
  • Implement and manage inventory control processes including cycle counts, stock audits, SKU rationalization and loss prevention techniques to reduce shrinkage and improve accuracy.
  • Conduct regular operational risk assessments to identify exposure, propose mitigation plans and work with legal/compliance stakeholders to remediate gaps in policy or practice.
  • Drive continuous improvement initiatives using Lean, Six Sigma or other process improvement methodologies to eliminate waste, reduce lead times and optimize resource allocation.
  • Prepare RFPs, evaluate supplier bids and lead procurement review committees to ensure best-in-class sourcing decisions aligned to total cost of ownership and service quality objectives.
  • Coordinate cross-functional change management activities for operational process updates, ensuring stakeholder communication plans, training materials, and post-implementation support are in place.
  • Maintain accurate operational documentation, runbooks and knowledge base articles to reduce single points of failure and support faster onboarding of new hires.
  • Collaborate with IT to define requirements for automation, integrations and system enhancements to streamline workflows and reduce manual intervention.
  • Monitor and manage compliance with workplace health and safety standards (e.g., emergency procedures, ergonomics, contractor safety) and lead safety training and inspections.
  • Serve as the operational point of contact for internal and external stakeholders, providing timely updates, status reports and escalation when critical operational issues arise.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
  • Assist in vendor onboarding documentation and background checks.
  • Facilitate operational onboarding for new hires including systems access, workspace allocation and initial training schedules.
  • Support marketing and events logistics by coordinating supply needs, vendor setup, and post-event reconciliation.
  • Provide backup coverage for related administrative and finance tasks during peak periods or staff absences.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Operations management: demonstrated experience managing day-to-day operations, facilities, procurement and logistics across multi-site environments.
  • Process improvement methodologies: practical application of Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen or continuous improvement techniques to deliver measurable efficiency gains.
  • Procurement and vendor management: creating RFPs, negotiating contracts, managing SLAs and supplier performance reviews.
  • Budgeting and financial controls: forecasting, variance analysis, cost control and working knowledge of P&L impacts.
  • ERP and systems: hands-on experience with ERP/finance systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, NetSuite) and CRM tools (e.g., Salesforce).
  • Data analysis & reporting: advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP), Power BI/Tableau and basic SQL for operational reporting and insights.
  • Inventory & supply chain management: demand planning basics, inventory reconciliation, warehouse operations and third-party logistics coordination.
  • Regulatory & compliance knowledge: familiarity with relevant regulations (health & safety, GDPR/data privacy, export compliance) and audit readiness.
  • Project management: proven ability to manage cross-functional projects, build timelines, manage risks and deliver milestones (PMP/Prince2 or Agile experience is a plus).
  • Contract management and legal liaison: understanding of contract terms, service-level agreements and basic commercial negotiation techniques.
  • Incident & continuity planning: business continuity, disaster recovery planning and crisis response coordination.
  • Systems automation & integrations: experience specifying requirements for process automation, RPA or workflow tools and working with IT to deploy solutions.

Soft Skills

  • Leadership and people management: ability to motivate, mentor and evaluate team members while fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
  • Stakeholder management: strong interpersonal skills to work effectively with executives, cross-functional teams and external vendors.
  • Analytical thinking: structured problem-solving ability and comfort turning data into actionable recommendations.
  • Effective communication: clear written and verbal communication to produce SOPs, reports and executive summaries.
  • Attention to detail: thorough approach to contract review, invoicing, inventory reconciliation and compliance documentation.
  • Adaptability and resilience: ability to perform under pressure and handle shifting priorities in fast-paced environments.
  • Time management and prioritization: capacity to balance urgent operational tasks with strategic initiatives.
  • Negotiation and influence: skill in negotiating favorable terms, resolving disputes and aligning stakeholders to common goals.
  • Customer service orientation: focus on internal and external service delivery to improve satisfaction and reduce escalations.
  • Change management: capability to lead teams through process or system changes with empathy and clear communication.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Finance, Engineering, or related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree with professional certifications (Lean Six Sigma, PMP, CIPS) or Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) or related discipline.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Business Administration
  • Operations Management
  • Supply Chain & Logistics
  • Industrial Engineering
  • Finance / Accounting
  • Project Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 3–7 years of progressive experience in operations, facilities, procurement or supply chain roles.

Preferred:

  • 5+ years in an operational role with responsibility for multi-functional processes, demonstrated success in process improvement projects, vendor management, and budget oversight; prior experience with ERP systems and data-driven operational reporting preferred.
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