- Median time to fill a non-executive role: 39 calendar days (SHRM, 2026)
What does an operations manager do in a smaller company?
In a business with 11 to 200 employees, the operations manager usually runs the work that keeps the company delivering: scheduling, vendors, inventory, processes, facilities and often a team of coordinators. The scope varies a lot from one company to the next, so define it before you post.
Operations manager or general manager?
A general manager usually owns the whole business or a location, including profit and loss. An operations manager owns how the work gets done and reports to the owner or general manager. Hire the title that matches the authority you plan to give.
How do you define the role?
List the areas this person will own outright, the areas they will support and the numbers they will be judged on. Examples include on-time delivery, cost per job, customer complaints or staff turnover. If you can't name three measures, the role isn't ready to post.
What should you pay an operations manager?
Pay varies by state and city, and with how much of the business the role owns. A manager who runs operations under an owner is usually paid less than a general manager who runs the whole business. Contact us for a current salary benchmark for your state and role.
Where do good operations managers come from?
Many come up through the business: a lead coordinator, a project manager or a supervisor who has taken on scheduling, vendors and people. Others move from a larger company where they ran one function well. Ask which kind you need: someone who has built processes in a small company, or someone who has run a mature process at scale.
What experience should you look for?
- Experience in a business of a similar size, where they had to build processes, not just follow them
- Industry familiarity, if your work involves job sites, inventory or regulated processes
- A record of managing people, including hiring and difficult conversations
- Comfort with numbers: budgets, margins and basic reporting
- Examples of a process they changed and the result in figures
How do you interview an operations manager?
Use scenarios from your own business. Describe a real problem, such as a late supplier or a scheduling conflict, and ask how they would handle the first week. Good candidates ask questions before answering, and talk about people as well as process.
Ask each candidate for one process they built from nothing. Then ask what it cost, how long it took and what they would change.
What should you ask their references?
- What did the business look like before and after they arrived?
- How did they handle a team member who was underperforming?
- How did they work with the owner or CEO when they disagreed?
- Would you hire them again for the same role?
What does it cost to hire an operations manager through RecruitJet?
Direct hire is 25% of first-year compensation, paid on placement, with no upfront fee. Compensation means base salary plus any bonus agreed at offer. You typically meet a shortlist of interviewed, reference-checked local candidates within 10 business days of kickoff, and every placement carries a free 90-day replacement guarantee.
Sources
Hire a project manager
Local direct hire: interviewed, reference-checked candidates, and one fee when your hire starts.
