What does a business operations consultant do?
Business Operation Consultants are individual contributors recruited by companies to work with them on consultancy engagement projects. They typically have high business acumen and solid years of experience in the industry. Business Operations Consultants should have a proven track record of helping companies achieve their goals. They must be able to help a company develop ways to improve their business operations. As consultants, they do not necessarily implement solutions themselves. Instead, they are involved in ideation exercises and in designing new operations models. They also guide the company throughout the process and help them evaluate the results.
Business operations consultant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real business operations consultant resumes:
- Manage the day to day operations of an architectural steel fabrication business in the UK for several months.
- Manage new partner identification, partnership structuring, contract negotiations and partnership oversight.
- Manage business intelligence and analytics projects and new initiatives for various business units/divisions at AHM; e.g.
- Direct process development and maintain project management oversight creating and implementing numerous enhancements to the sales process.
- Establish low cost Asian manufacturing center with local supply chain and logistics support.
- Reduce cost and time to launch for new products through close collaboration with outsource logistics partner.
- Provide independent healthcare operations consulting services for free-standing specialty clinic and third-party administrator manage care organization.
- Acquire strong working knowledge of cGMP's, HACCP, ISO, GFSI and AIB requirements.
- Improve efficiency by recommending new billing, payroll, and accounting software.
- Implement a plan of clean up and working the A/R.
- Develop a regression model that are used to verify energy savings for items identify by an external consultant.
- Authore and execute technical, unit, functional, regression test scripts and execute quality assurance testing for pharmacy applications.
Business operations consultant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 21% of Business Operations Consultants are proficient in Strong Analytical, Data Analysis, and Project Management. They’re also known for soft skills such as Leadership skills, Management skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Business Operations Consultants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Strong Analytical, 21%
Used strong analytical and communication skills to ensure productive results.
- Data Analysis, 13%
Present data analysis to senior level Managers.
- Project Management, 13%
Contract negotiations and project management oversight.
- Business Operations, 9%
Represent Patient Access and Business Operations' interests and concerns in medical centers and business operations process improvements and initiatives.
- Business Processes, 5%
Streamlined business processes by eliminating the need for non-centralized data manipulation for reporting purposes which allowed for headcount reduction.
- QA, 4%
Created and expedited documentation approval by Engineering, Regulatory, Marketing and QA for FDA 510(k) submission.
Most business operations consultants use their skills in "strong analytical," "data analysis," and "project management" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential business operations consultant responsibilities here:
Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of business operations consultants is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday business operations consultant duties, as "management analysts must be able to convey information clearly in both writing and speaking." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "developed and implemented business management systems for sales, marketing and communications programs. "
Problem-solving skills. A big part of what business operations consultants do relies on "problem-solving skills." You can see how essential it is to business operations consultant responsibilities because "management analysts must be able to think creatively to solve clients’ problems." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical business operations consultant tasks: "guide teams on business operations and on-going problem-solving and change management skills. "
Time-management skills. A commonly-found skill in business operations consultant job descriptions, "time-management skills" is essential to what business operations consultants do. Business operations consultant responsibilities rely on this skill because "management analysts often work under tight deadlines and must use their time efficiently to complete projects on schedule." You can also see how business operations consultant duties rely on time-management skills in this resume example: "delivered vendor management oversight, resulting in service compliance and on time invoicing and payment. "
Analytical skills. Another skill commonly found on business operations consultant job descriptions is "analytical skills." It can come up quite often in business operations consultant duties, since "management analysts must be able to interpret information and use their findings to make proposals." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day business operations consultant responsibilities: "remediated store and hq financial reports to include sap data and improved end user experience. "
The three companies that hire the most business operations consultants are:
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Compare different business operations consultants
Business operations consultant vs. Business advisor
Business Advisors are consultants responsible for implementing business strategies to improve financial and operational efficiency. They are involved in preparing financial budgets, recommending a change in the operational process, identifying new business opportunities, evaluating a marketing strategy, and reviewing supplier and labor contracts. Business advisors also help to manage risk by performing risk analysis and consumer behavioral analysis. They are involved in report preparation and work to maintain open communication with different departments to implement change.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, business operations consultant responsibilities require skills like "data analysis," "business processes," "qa," and "management system." Meanwhile a typical business advisor has skills in areas such as "customer service," "healthcare," "real estate," and "business strategies." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Business advisors tend to make the most money working in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $92,206. In contrast, business operations consultants make the biggest average salary, $144,567, in the professional industry.business advisors tend to reach similar levels of education than business operations consultants. In fact, business advisors are 3.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.9% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Business operations consultant vs. Senior director, operations
The senior director of operations generally works with other managers to set goals for the future of the company and evaluates performance to check whether certain goals are achieved. They are responsible for making sure that operational processes are within the prescribed budget and timeline. Also, they oversee, implement, and evaluate operation processes and procedures to see if they comply with the set standards and procedures of the company. Additionally, they lead in developing strategies and implementation plans to enhance and standardize all units of operations.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, business operations consultant responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "strong analytical," "data analysis," "sql," and "cash management." Meanwhile, a senior director, operations has duties that require skills in areas such as "customer service," "oversight," "sr," and "direct reports." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, senior directors, operations earn a higher salary than business operations consultants. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, senior directors, operations earn the most pay in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $155,611. Whereas business operations consultants have higher pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $144,567.In general, senior directors, operations achieve similar levels of education than business operations consultants. They're 1.0% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.9% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Business operations consultant vs. Business partner
A business partner is an individual who is involved in a legal business partnership with other individuals to manage a business as co-owners. Business partners invest their money into the business, and each partner benefits from any profits and sustains part of any losses. They must file with the state in which they do business and are governed mostly by state laws. Business partners can also be either liable or not for the actions taken by the company.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from business operations consultant resumes include skills like "data analysis," "business processes," "qa," and "cash management," whereas a business partner is more likely to list skills in "analytics," "customer service," "performance management," and "excellent interpersonal. "
Business partners make a very good living in the technology industry with an average annual salary of $94,676. On the other hand, business operations consultants are paid the highest salary in the professional industry, with average annual pay of $144,567.business partners typically earn similar educational levels compared to business operations consultants. Specifically, they're 3.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Business operations consultant vs. Business leader
Business Leaders are considered trailblazers in their field. They are innovative thinkers who often introduce solutions to their industry's challenges. They inspire people pursuing careers in their field and even those outside the industry to strive harder and create their paths to success. Employees often look up to Business Leaders, which is why they must be motivating. They also oversee their business operations and often set long-term targets and strategies to achieve these targets. They think outside the box to set their business apart from their competitors.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between business operations consultants and business leaders, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a business operations consultant might have more use for skills like "strong analytical," "business processes," "shared services," and "sql." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of business leaders require skills like "digital transformation," "analytics," "customer service," and "business process. "
Business leaders enjoy the best pay in the pharmaceutical industry, with an average salary of $128,816. For comparison, business operations consultants earn the highest salary in the professional industry.The average resume of business leaders showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to business operations consultants. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 0.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.5%.Types of business operations consultant
Updated January 8, 2025
