Roles › Chief Executive Officer › Chief Operating Officer › Manufacturing / Service Delivery

Operations

What does a Operations Manager do?

Produces the product or delivers the service at quality and scale.

Steady demand Team: Manufacturing / Service Delivery Reports into: Chief Operating Officer

What they actually do

Production scheduling, quality control, safety.
Continuous improvement (Lean, Six Sigma).
Capacity planning.

Hiring demand

Steady demand. Regular postings, but fewer than the busiest roles. Expect a longer search or more specialization.

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Who they work with

Supply chainQualityEngineeringFinance

Typical tools

MESERPQuality systems

Skills to get there

Process engineering
Leadership
Problem solving

Title ladder

Common titles for this role at each level. Companies vary; see Role titles decoded.

Level	Typical titles
Entry	Junior / Associate Operations Manager · Operations Manager I
Mid	Operations Manager · Operations Manager II
Senior	Senior Operations Manager · Lead Operations Manager
Expert (IC track)	Staff / Principal Operations Manager
Management track	Manager, Manufacturing / Service Delivery → Director of Manufacturing / Service Delivery → VP

See the free training path →

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How to get here

Salary (US) as of 2026-11

Median$106K

Typical range$79K–$137K

Sources:

Range uses Glassdoor 25th-ish and the top of a 2026 manufacturing posting; BLS 90th ($253K) is inflated by large-company executives. Plant-level roles map to Industrial Production Managers. Senior IC/manager figure from BLS Industrial Production Managers (11-3051) median: $126,060.

Experience to get here

Entry level3-5 years (as supervisor or team lead)

Typical title5-10 years

Bachelor's in business, operations, or engineering is typically required; MBA or master's preferred in larger plants. Experience can substitute in some shops.

Typical prior roles

Production SupervisorShift LeadContinuous Improvement / Process EngineerPlanner / SchedulerQuality Supervisor

Must have

5+ years in a manufacturing or service-delivery environment
People leadership of hourly teams
Lean and Six Sigma (DMAIC) working knowledge
ERP familiarity (e.g., BAAN, SAP)
Cross-functional work with EHS, HR, quality

Milestones people hit first

Ran a shift or line and hit throughput, safety and quality targets
Led a kaizen or DMAIC project with documented savings
Owned production scheduling or capacity planning for a site

Certifications

Certified Six Sigma Green Belt (CSSGB)ASQ

Preferredin postings: often

Exam fee	$483
Training	self-study $0-300; prep courses vary; retake $283
Renewal	ASQ recertification every 3 years
Typical total	$400-2,000 (member exam $383 / non-member $483)

Time: 4h18m, 110-question open-book exam; 2-4 months study
Prerequisites: 3 years full-time paid experience in the body of knowledge

Green Belt 'preferred' and Six Sigma knowledge 'required' in 2026 ops manager postings.

Certified in Planning and Inventory Management (CPIM)ASCM (APICS)

Nice to havein postings: sometimes

Exam fee	$545
Training	self-study $435-545 per part; Part 1+2 bundle $1,860
Renewal	maintenance application every 5 years
Typical total	$1,860-2,500

Time: two exams within 3 years
Prerequisites: none

Covers MRP, scheduling and capacity planning that ops managers own.

Project Management Professional (PMP)PMI

Nice to havein postings: sometimes

Exam fee	$555
Training	35 contact hours required; self-study $0-300; prep courses vary
Renewal	60 PDUs / 3 years
Typical total	$600-2,500 incl. PMI membership/prep (member exam $405 / non-member $555)

Time: 3-6 months
Prerequisites: 36 months leading projects (4-year degree) or 60 months; 35 hours PM education or CAPM

Helps for plant expansions, line installs and systems rollouts; PMI reports a 32% US pay premium.

Training & learning

Introduction to Operations Management FREE Wharton / Coursera · course · free to enroll; certificate paid · ~16 hoursProcess analysis, capacity and queueing fundamentals in one short course.
Lean Enterprise Institute: Lean Post, podcast, webinars FREE LEI · community · free articles; books $20-60 (e.g., Learning to See $60) · ongoingThe primary source for lean practice; 'Learning to See' is the standard value-stream-mapping text.
ASQ Six Sigma learning resources FREE ASQ · course · free · a few hoursDMAIC, Lean Six Sigma and case studies from the certifying body.
Gemba Academy video library Gemba Academy · learning path · $3,995/yr site license (no individual plan listed) · 2,000+ short coursesWhat many plants use for Lean/Six Sigma training; ask your employer for access.
OSHA 30-Hour Outreach Training OSHA-authorized trainers · course · varies by trainer · 30 hoursThe supervisor-level safety course most plants expect leaders to hold.

Sources & notes

ASQ Black Belt is omitted though postings sometimes list it. ASQ Green Belt page did not state recertification rules; '3 years' is ASQ's standard cycle. OSHA Outreach is not a certification (OSHA says so) but is commonly expected. Coursera audit availability is implied by 'Enroll for free' but not explicitly confirmed on the page.

Figures are US, from the sources listed, and change often; verify before deciding.

Related roles

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