Operations manager
Oversee the delivery of products and services, balancing quality, cost and safety.
Salary
Cited figures only: median full-time weekly earnings for the ANZSCO unit group Other Specialist Managers (1399) from Your Career (Jobs and Skills Australia), and where available the QILT graduate starting salary for the matching study area.
| Figure | AUD | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Median full-time weekly earnings | $2746 | Your Career (2026-09-23) |
What an operations manager actually does
Operations managers run the delivery side of a business. The day usually starts on the floor or in a daily team huddle to review safety, output and any overnight issues. From there it shifts to a mix of walking the operation, working through staffing and rosters, reviewing performance against KPI targets, and meeting with suppliers, customers or the senior leadership team. Afternoons often go to continuous improvement projects, costing exercises and reporting. Most operations managers work 45-50 hours a week with on-call coverage outside hours in 24/7 operations such as manufacturing, logistics or service delivery. Workload peaks during seasonal demand, audits, ERP go-lives, and during incidents. The role is heavily on-site rather than purely desk-based.
Typical tasks
- Lead operational teams and shifts.
- Manage budgets, schedules and capacity.
- Drive continuous improvement programmes.
Skills you'll use
- Lean and continuous-improvement methods (5S, Kaizen, A3)
- Budgeting, costing and variance analysis
- Safety and quality systems (ISO 9001, WHS, HACCP where relevant)
- Rostering, capacity planning and demand forecasting
- Clear written and verbal communication with frontline teams
- Coaching and developing supervisors and team leaders
- Reading and acting on operational data and KPIs
How to become one
- 1Finish Year 12 with English; Maths Standard is fine for most business degrees
- 2Complete a Bachelor of Business, Bachelor of Commerce, or a degree in engineering, supply chain or operations management (3-4 years); a Diploma of Leadership and Management is a strong alternative pathway from the operations floor
- 3Build a foundation through supervisor, team leader, or planner roles where you learn the operation hands-on
- 4Step into assistant operations manager or production manager roles after 3-5 years of frontline experience
- 5Continue with a Graduate Certificate or MBA later in your career if you want to step toward general management
Where you can work
- Manufacturing and food-and-beverage plants
- Warehousing and 3PL distribution centres
- Construction and infrastructure delivery firms
- Hospitals, aged-care and community services
- Retail head office and store-operations teams
- Tech and SaaS customer-operations teams
- Mining and resources processing operations
Career progression
Typical stages and roles. Years of experience are a rough guide; pay at each stage depends on the employer, award or agreement.
- Team leader / supervisor0-4 yearsTypical roles: Team leader, Shift supervisor, Production planner
- Operations manager5-10 yearsTypical roles: Operations manager, Production manager, Service delivery manager
- Head of operations / COO10+ yearsTypical roles: Head of operations, General manager, operations, Chief Operating Officer
Is this for you?
You might love this if
- You like solving operational problems on the floor as well as in a spreadsheet
- You can hold people accountable without becoming a pushover or a bully
- You're comfortable being on-call when something serious goes wrong
- You enjoy continuous-improvement work that takes months to land
- You can read a P&L and link it back to a daily decision on the floor
This might not suit you if
- You want a pure desk role with no time on the operations floor
- You can't tolerate being called outside hours during incidents
- You dislike dealing with frontline staffing and safety issues
- You want fully remote work with no site presence
Ways in
Uni and TAFE routes for operations manager. We only list pathways that actually lead to this occupation.
University
Bachelor degrees that lead to this career.
TAFE / VET
Nationally accredited Certificate and Diploma qualifications.
Sources
ExamExplained does not publish predictive salary figures. For current Australian earnings data check Your Career (yourcareer.gov.au) directly. Career classifications follow the ABS ANZSCO 2022 release.