| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Operations |
| Level | Manager |
| Reports to | Operations Manager |
| Direct reports | Operations Supervisor, Senior Operations Executive, Operations Executive |
| Experience | 5 to 8 years in operations, including 1 to 2 years as a supervisor or team leader |
Assistant Operations Manager job description template
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Job title: Assistant Operations Manager
Department: Operations
Reports to: Operations Manager
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
An Assistant Operations Manager is the first manager-level role in operations, running one shift, one process or a small site under the operations manager. The role handles daily allocation of work, staff attendance and discipline, quality checks and reporting, and covers for the operations manager when needed. A good assistant manager keeps the shift on plan without being told and raises problems early, with data.
Key responsibilities
- Plan the shift at start by checking attendance, allocating work to supervisors and executives and adjusting for absentees.
- Monitor hourly output, backlog and quality against targets, and move people between tasks when a queue builds up.
- Decide team leave, shift swap and attendance correction requests within the operations manager's guidelines.
- Conduct sample quality checks on completed work and give feedback to the executives concerned on the same day.
- Handle first-level escalations from customers or other departments, and pass on those that need a policy decision.
- Prepare daily and weekly MIS on productivity, quality and attendance for the operations manager.
- Train new joiners on SOPs and systems, and sign off when they are ready to work independently.
- Enforce discipline on attendance, breaks and process adherence, and document warnings as per company policy.
- Suggest small process fixes that remove repeated errors or waiting time, and test them with one team first.
- Stand in for the operations manager in meetings and reviews during leave or travel.
Requirements
- Graduate in any discipline
- A PGDM or MBA is an advantage but not essential at this level
- Lean or Six Sigma Yellow Belt is an advantage
- 5 to 8 years in operations, including 1 to 2 years as a supervisor or team leader
KRAs and KPIs for a Assistant Operations Manager
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Shift plan adherence | Daily output plan achieved on 95 percent or more of working days in the month |
| Quality | Errors found in sample checks below 1.5 percent of cases audited |
| Attendance and discipline | Unplanned absence in the team under 5 percent each month |
| Reporting | Daily MIS shared before 10 am with no data corrections needed |
| New joiner readiness | New joiners certified on SOPs within 15 working days of joining |
| Escalations | First-level escalations closed within one working day |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: MS Excel, Process or workflow system, Attendance and roster reports, Quality audit sheets, Email and team chat.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Operations Manager, Branch Manager
Interview questions for a Assistant Operations Manager
- Six of your twenty staff are absent at shift start and the backlog is high. What do you do in the first 30 minutes?
- How do you decide which cases to pick for quality sampling?
- A senior executive keeps taking long breaks. How do you handle it?
- How would you lay out a daily MIS for this process?
- Tell me about a small change you made that removed a repeated error.
- How do you train someone who has failed the SOP test twice?
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What does an Assistant Operations Manager do?
An Assistant Operations Manager runs a shift, process or small site under the operations manager. They allocate work, watch output and quality through the day, handle team attendance and discipline, train new joiners, prepare MIS and deal with first-level escalations. They also stand in for the operations manager when needed.
What is the difference between an Assistant Operations Manager and an Operations Supervisor?
A supervisor leads one team on the floor and focuses on the tasks of that shift. An assistant operations manager oversees several supervisors or a complete process, approves leave and corrections for the team, owns the MIS and deputises for the operations manager. It is the first rung of management rather than supervision.
What is the next role after Assistant Operations Manager?
The usual next step is Operations Manager, after two to four years of consistent results. Some move to Branch Manager in multi-location companies, or into planning, quality or process excellence roles if they have shown strength with data and improvement projects.