Operations Manager job description
An Operations Manager runs the daily work that delivers the product or service to customers. The role keeps teams, vendors, cost and service quality working together so the business can grow without constant firefighting.
Why the role exists
The Operations Manager sits between the founder or business head and the teams that deliver orders, shipments or service. In a growing Indian business the role often covers warehouse, vendor, customer support and process work, and reports to the owner or the COO.
What the person does
- Plan the day's and week's work with team leads so orders, dispatches or service requests are met on time.
- Review daily MIS from each team and act quickly on delays, backlogs, complaints and repeat errors.
- Write and update standard operating procedures so work is done the same way across shifts and locations.
- Manage vendor and transporter relationships, including rate discussions, service reviews and issue escalation.
- Track operating cost against the budget and flag overruns with the reason and a proposed fix.
- Hold a weekly review with team leads to agree actions, owners and dates, and follow up on open items.
- Coach team leads on handling people issues, attendance gaps and shift planning, and raise serious cases to HR.
- Work with sales, finance and customer support to resolve cross-team problems before they reach the customer.
Skills and tools
- Process mapping and writing clear SOPs that frontline staff can follow
- MIS reporting in Excel or Google Sheets, with pivot tables and simple dashboards
- Working knowledge of ERP, WMS or order management tools used by the business
- Vendor negotiation and service level follow-up
- Capacity and shift planning for peak and low demand periods
- Root cause analysis for repeated service or delivery failures
- Clear communication in English and the local language with floor teams
- Budget tracking and cost control at team level
Education and experience
Preferred, never a bar: equivalent experience counts.
- Graduate in any stream, with a business or operations management qualification preferred.
- Experience running a team of supervisors in logistics, e-commerce, retail or services preferred, or equivalent experience.
- Hands-on exposure to ERP or order management systems preferred, or equivalent experience.
- Experience of managing vendors and handling escalations is useful, or equivalent experience.
How the work is judged
- On-time delivery of orders or service requests against the plan the business has set.
- Operating cost held within the budget agreed for the period.
- Quality of service, judged by complaint trends, returns and repeat issues.
- Process discipline, judged by SOP use and audit findings across shifts.
- Team stability, judged by attrition, absenteeism and the strength of the supervisor bench.
Where the role can lead
- Senior Operations Manager or Head of Operations as the business adds locations.
- General Manager or COO, with experience across several functions and P&L ownership.
- Specialist paths in supply chain, customer experience or business excellence.
Interview questions to ask
Ask every candidate the same questions in the same order and score them against written anchors, so the decision rests on the work and not the impression.
- Your orders are delayed in the last two days of every month. How would you find the cause and fix it?
- Tell us about a process you redesigned. What was wrong, what did you change, and how did you check it worked?
- A key transporter starts missing delivery slots. What do you do in the first week?
- How do you decide what to automate or buy a tool for, and what to keep manual in a small team?
- Two team leads blame each other for a recurring error. How do you handle it?
- Which numbers do you look at first every morning, and what would make you change the day's plan?
Hiring tips for this role
- Ask for one process they improved, with before and after details. Strong candidates explain how they measured the change, not just that it improved.
- Test with a short case from your own business, such as a delay or cost overrun. Look for structured thinking and a clear first step.
- Watch for managers who only report numbers and cannot describe floor reality. Ask them to walk through a shift they supervised.
- Check references on how they handled team attrition and vendor disputes. Operations managers who lose supervisors often struggle to hold the process together.
Questions about hiring a operations manager
The role owns the daily delivery of the product or service. It includes planning work, managing vendors, tracking cost, keeping quality steady and fixing process problems before customers notice. In small firms it often covers several functions at once.
Hire when the founder spends most of the day solving delivery problems, when errors repeat across teams, or when a second location or shift is planned. Until then a strong team lead may be enough.
An Operations Manager focuses on how work gets done and delivered. A General Manager usually owns a wider business unit, including sales, people and profit. Many General Managers start as Operations Managers.
GullyHR works on permanent hiring. We agree the job description with you, source and screen candidates against your operations needs, and support the offer stage. The final choice stays with you.
Hiring a operations manager?
GullyHR runs talent acquisition for permanent roles. We agree the job description with you, find and screen candidates against it, and support the offer through to joining. We recruit permanent employees. We do not supply contract or temporary staff.