Operations Manager

Explore employment trends, required job duties and skills for this career. ASU offers a variety of degrees that can help you prepare for and meet your career goals. Visit ASU's Career and Professional Development Services to learn how to develop your career plan.

Find related programs

Potential job titles in this career

Client Services Administrator, Logistician, Production Planner, Supply Management Specialist

* Additional schooling, certification, or degrees maybe be required for some of the potential careers that are listed.

What will I do?

Maintain and develop positive business relationships with a customer's key personnel involved in, or directly relevant to, a logistics activity.

Develop an understanding of customers' needs and take actions to ensure that such needs are met.

Manage subcontractor activities, reviewing proposals, developing performance specifications, and serving as liaisons between subcontractors and organizations.

Develop proposals that include documentation for estimates.

Review logistics performance with customers against targets, benchmarks, and service agreements.

Direct availability and allocation of materials, supplies, and finished products.

Redesign the movement of goods to maximize value and minimize costs.

Explain proposed solutions to customers, management, or other interested parties through written proposals and oral presentations.

Direct team activities, establishing task priorities, scheduling and tracking work assignments, providing guidance, and ensuring the availability of resources.

Perform managerial duties such as hiring and training employees and overseeing facility needs or requirements.

In this career, it is important to know

Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

It's useful to be good at

Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

Employment trends

Location	Pay period	2022
Location	Pay period	10%	25%	Median%	75%	90%
United States	Hourly	$22.24	$28.86	$37.27	$47.79	$59.64
United States	Yearly	$46,260	$60,020	$77,520	$99,400	$124,050
Arizona	Hourly	$21.94	$27.40	$32.45	$42.53	$51.90
Arizona	Yearly	$45,640	$56,990	$67,500	$88,460	$107,950

2022 Median%
United States	$37.27 Hourly	$77,520 Yearly
Arizona	$32.45 Hourly	$67,500 Yearly

Employment (2022)

208,700 employees

Projected growth (2022 - 2032)

Much faster than average (11% or higher)

Projected job openings (2022 - 2032)

21,800

* Data obtained from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) under sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA).

What are accelerated programs?

Accelerated programs allow students the opportunity to expedite the completion of their degree.

3 year programs

These programs allow students to fast-track their studies after admission and earn a bachelor's degree in three years or fewer while participating in the same high-quality educational experience of a 4-year option. Students should talk to their academic advisor to get started.

Accelerated master's

These programs allow students to accelerate their studies to earn a bachelor's plus a master's degree in as few as five years (for some programs).

Each program has requirements students must meet to be eligible for consideration. Acceptance to the graduate program requires a separate application. Students typically receive approval to pursue the accelerated master’s during the junior year of their bachelor's degree program. Interested students can learn about eligibility requirements and how to apply.

What are concurrent programs?

Concurrent degrees allow students to pursue their own personal or professional interests, earn two distinct degrees and receive two diplomas. To add a concurrent degree to your existing degree, work with your academic advisor.

What are joint programs?

Joint programs, or jointly conferred degrees, are offered by more than one college and provide opportunities for students to take advantage of the academic strengths of two academic units. Upon graduation, students are awarded one degree and one diploma conferred by two colleges.

What constitutes a new program?

ASU adds new programs to Degree Search frequently. Come back often and look for the “New Programs” option.

What are online programs?

ASU Online offers programs in an entirely online format with multiple enrollment sessions throughout the year. See https://asuonline.asu.edu/ for more information.

What is the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE)?

The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) is a program in which residents of western states (other than Arizona) may be eligible for reduced nonresident tuition. See more information and eligibility requirements on the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) program.