Operations Manager resume examples & templates

Every business that is reliant on tight processes and complex operations needs an operations manager. Operations managers are the mechanics of any production organization. They ensure the cogs keep turning. While operations managers are most common in manufacturing, retail, transport, and warehousing operations, they are also prevalent in vertical industries, such as the food and legal industries.

An operations manager's resume must touch on the five core areas of the profession: people, core operations, budgeting, projects, and strategy. Operations managers understand the subtle connections between the different parts of their company, and the resume should convey a sense of control. But how do you write a resume that tells the story of your operational excellence?

This operations manager resume writing guide will teach you how to create a resume that stands out. Let's get started with this in-depth look at how to create an efficient operations manager resume.

Resume guide for an operations manager resume

You’ll find over 500 professions in our resume examples section. Plus, you can use our resume builder to customize your resume so that it catches the eye of a hiring manager. Let Resume.io’s expertise and state-of-the-art tools land you an interview. 

This guide and the corresponding operations manager resume example will discuss the following sections in greater detail:

• How to write an operations manager resume
• Choosing the right resume format for operations management
• How to add your contact information
• Using summaries
• Adding your operations management experience
• Listing education and relevant experience
• Picking the right resume design/layout

How to write an operations manager resume

While every resume will be different, certain sections should be included in every resume. Take a look at the various sections you should include in your resume below:

• The resume header
• The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
• The employment history section
• The resume skills section
• The education section

Lots of things can go wrong in business—especially when products, people, and processes are concerned. An operations manager ensures that this is minimized. When a company entrusts you with control over so many moving parts of its business, it wants to find someone who is calm, measured, and process-driven. Your resume should demonstrate clarity for decision-making, an insightful mind, and a disciplined approach to organization.

Your resume should showcase your unique selling proposition while staying focused and relevant. When crafting your resume, keep in mind to… 

• Cover every aspect of the operations management process and your unique skills—with real examples.
• Ensure your resume focuses on how your judgment and influence make a crucial difference in the companies you work with.
• Demonstrate your ability to make key financial decisions, oversee operational budgets, and provide superb quality assurance and compliance results.
• Take steps to get past ATS screening software where specific keywords are important to your role. Our ATS resume templates can help with this part.

How to choose the best resume format for operations manager roles

Setting yourself apart is important when you are applying for operation manager roles, and that all starts with the resume format you choose. You want one that allows you to show off your skills and experience in a memorable way.

In most cases, using a reverse chronological format where your employment section is listed at the top and you work backward from your most recent role is the best option. You’ll find an example of this format below.

However, another great option is the functional format where you focus more on your skills and education than your employment history. For those who are new to this type of role or who are making a career change, this might be a better option.

To help make things super easy, be sure to check out our resume examples section. There, you will find many resume templates that you can then customize as your own.

Tips for including your contact information

Regardless of which format you choose, the first thing you will see on your resume is the header. This is the section where you will include all of your contact information. When designing your header, make sure you keep things consistent and use the same format and design for your cover letter and your resume.

You should also make sure you include all the key information a hiring manager will need to contact you. Here’s a look at what you should (and should not) include in your resume’s header.

• Name & title. The first thing a hiring manager should notice on your resume is your name and title.
• Professional email address. If you don’t have a professional email address, such as firstname.lastname@gmail.com, you may want to consider building one to include on your resume.
• Phone number. Along with including your phone number, be sure to update your voicemail message to a professional one.
• Location. You won’t need to include your full address, so your city and state are all you need. If you don’t currently reside in the area, you can make a note that you are “ Willing to relocate.”
• LinkedIn. Most employers turn to social media to learn more about a candidate, so a LinkedIn profile with your basic career information is a must.

Don’t include:

• Date of birth. Leave off your birthdate to help avoid age discrimination issues.
• Personal details. You should also remove mention of hobbies, marital status, social security number, etc.

Writing an effective summary

While the rest of your resume sets out the main operational challenges you encountered in each role, the resume summary (sometimes called a profile or personal statement) offers operations managers a chance to say exactly how they overcame some of the biggest challenges in their careers. Everyone has a different approach to problem solving and different approaches suit different types of businesses. Matching up your style of operational management with the culture of your employer is a critical first step in seeing whether there is a fit.

This section should be short, preferably 2-3 sentences. Make sure that you are not only specific with samples of what you have done, but also try to make sure that what you share is a fit with the sorts of challenges that you will face with your future employer. There is nothing like a hiring manager thinking “Yes, that is impressive, and if they have done that before, they can do that again.”

The goal is to catch the hiring manager’s attention right from the start with a powerful statement that sums up your career and skills. “Highly skilled operations manager with extensive experience overseeing diverse teams and managing complex logistics. Committed to ensuring operational excellence, safety, and efficiency.”

You can find adaptable operations manager resume summary examples below:

Detail your operations management experience: a finely tuned engine driving success

While the summary sets out your operations manager persona, your work experience needs to double down on what you have done. Can you solve your employer’s problems? Many business leaders rarely take a peek under the operational hood of their business—they prefer to focus on outcomes rather than mechanics.

While there isn’t resume space to detail all of your activities for every employer, it probably makes sense to focus on a few main achievements. You should tailor your resume for each job and include the most relevant achievements for each role.

An operations manager's resume should read like a practical account of what it would be like to be alongside you as you go about your job. Take the reader on a journey of how you make your decisions, using action verbs to make them feel what it’s like to work with you and show why you are the one to take charge of company operations. Here are some examples of statements you should avoid:

• “Completed daily operations duties.”
• “Wrote out operational strategies.”
• “Hired and trained new employees.”

These statements let a hiring manager see what type of work you have experience with, but they do nothing to show off the results you had in your roles. Instead of choosing something generic, include quantifiable achievements that show hiring managers what type of impact you’ll have on their company. Here’s what reworking the examples above might look like:

• "Successfully managed daily operations, resulting in 15% increase in overall efficiency and 10% reduction in operational costs."
• "Developed and implemented operational strategies that led to 20% improvement in process efficiency and 25% decrease in operational costs."
• "Recruited and onboarded 30 new employees, reducing training time by 40% and increasing team performance metrics by 18%."

To learn more, see the operations manager employment history resume sample below:

Adding relevant key skills to make your operations manager resume effective

There are so many areas where an operations manager can make a difference. It is important to show on your resume that you have the skills toolkit to cover every base. The role of an operations manager is so skill-dependent that your future employer needs to see evidence of nearly every skill needed to keep the machine running. 

Spreading your skillset across your resume is entirely acceptable, with your most recent roles occupying most resume real estate. Make sure that the skills that are most in-demand with your potential employer are included in your last couple of roles, as this will make them more visible. There is a resume section for shorter-form skills words and phrases, but you can also include longer descriptions of skills within the body of the employment section and career summary.

See the table below for an example of what your operations manager skills box could look like if you use our resume template. 

As mentioned earlier, it isn’t just the skills box where you’ll want to include your skills. Both your summary and your work experience sections should show a hiring manager what types of skills you have mastered. 

Here are some examples of what you might include in your work history section to show off your skills:

• Supervised the procurement department, delivering an annual average of 8% cost savings.
• Oversaw annual health and safety audits with relevant authorities, receiving the highest awards.
• Ensured continuity of inventory planning through many disruptive global events.
• Managed an operations team of 20, five warehouses, and multiple distribution partners.
• Offered strategic input at board level and delivered transformational projects regularly.
• Upgraded quality assurance certifications, with compliance well above industry standards.
• Created and maintained an operations dashboard to ensure accountability to our colleagues.

Each job is different, so refer to the job description to decide which skills you should focus on when writing your resume.

Adding your education to your operations manager resume

While many operations managers list a bachelor’s degree in a business-related field in their education section, many choose to focus this resume section on continuous learning. While a bachelor’s degree in a business qualification is preferred, most operations managers will have copious experience on the job, and it's important to list any certifications or other distinctions you've earned in your field. 

Just as you did with your work history section, list your education in reverse chronological order. Along with official degrees, you can also add specific training and certifications you’ve earned along the way. For example:

• Certifications and training that are relevant to your role or industry can be invaluable for an operations manager role.
• Volunteer work experience. Internships and volunteer programs are great additions for someone new to the industry or who has just finished their degree.
• Organizations that showcase your expertise and networking capabilities can also be added to this section.

If you find that your education, training, and certifications outweigh your work history, consider going with a functional resume that lists this section first. Doing so lets you emphasize the areas that matter most for you.

Choosing the best resume layout and design for an operations manager

Your resume’s layout and design should make it easy for a hiring manager to follow your experience. If there is a constant block of text with no white space and chaotic formatting, a reader’s eyes will not know where to focus and some of the message will be lost. 

Don’t make it too technical. Lists of skills and projects are fine, but you should include elements of your career story and deeper behavioral considerations alongside the dry facts of what you have done. So, what layout is best for an operations manager's resume? The resume of an operations manager is likely to be heavy on projects, so make sure that you choose a layout that allows them to stand out. Bulleted lists will work well in this respect, and use bold type to signpost what needs to be highlighted.

You should also consider the branding and tone of potential employers when choosing a format for your operations manager resume. Would they appreciate a modern design or is it safer to stick with a classic, professional format? 

If you don't have the time or skills to struggle with designing your CV, resume templates can help make formatting much easier. Resume.io's collection of template samples comes in four main categories: creative, simple, modern, and professional. Choose the one that works best for your operations manager resume and customize the layout. Or, try as many different resume templates as you'd like using our resume builder tool.

Operations manager resume example

Key takeaways for building an operations manager resume

Demonstrate awareness of the employer’s industry niche by sharing your relevant experience, and summarize your elevator pitch with your biggest operational achievements. Include the most important skills to create a rounded picture of what you have done on your resume. Also, Ensure that the layout of your resume is practical and easy to follow and shares what, how, and why your achievements are ones a hiring manager should be excited about.

To make things even simpler, utilize our online resume builder to ensure you build a resume that captures a hiring manager’s attention immediately.