What does a line manager do?
As line managers, they oversee other employees and the business operations while reporting to a higher manager. They play a significant role in the operation of the business from supervising and managing workers daily and acting as a link to upper management and employees. It is part of their responsibility to recruit and hire talent to fill team positions, provide training and learning to new hires, and ensuring that the employees are doing their jobs effectively and efficiently.
Line manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real line manager resumes:
- Lead the team in successfully meeting FDA and GMP requirements.
- Manage project developing integration and process flows for fab expansion doubling the area and moving to a larger wafer.
- Manage team of database administrators, database technicians and systems administrators responsible for maintaining all production, development and QA systems.
- Define and enforce GMP's to subordinates.
- Train in FDA standards for food industry.
- Establish and measure KPI's ensuring all departments maintain the highest levels of performance.
- Focus operations on meeting and exceeding company goals as well as tracking performance against customers' KPI's.
- Develop risk mitigation strategies in response to medical operations contingencies as well as interact with NASA Medevac providers and DOD.
- Keep up-to-date production, downtime, changeover, preventative maintenance, training and other records; ensure compliance with FDA inspections.
- Used POS systems and Microsoft programs need for the business as well as using online programs to generate information to corporate.
- Direct public relations, production of POS materials, advertising, promotions, wholesale equipment pricing, and monthly equipment promotions.
- Maintain QS-9000 and ISO certification requirements
- Lead multiple Kaizen implementation events.
- Keep equipment operating by enforcing operating instructions troubleshoot breakdowns.
- Inspect equipment for preventative maintenance and troubleshoot equipment for emergency repairs.
Line manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Line Managers are proficient in Client Facing, Continuous Improvement, and Service Line. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Leadership skills, and Management skills.
We break down the percentage of Line Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Client Facing, 11%
Conducted key client facing meetings and resolving conflicts within project team.
- Continuous Improvement, 7%
Initiated regular meetings with Quality Management in an effort to drive for continuous improvement and maintain open lines of communication.
- Service Line, 6%
Collaborated with Service Line Directors to develop physician satisfaction action plans
- Customer Satisfaction, 6%
Eliminated the lost problem and lack of accountability regarding problem ownership resulting in higher customer satisfaction and faster problem resolution time.
- Direct Reports, 5%
Conducted performance appraisals and developed individual development plans for all direct reports.
- Process Improvement, 4%
Performed frequent reviews of Operating Procedures-identifying and implementing process improvement recommendations to mitigate risk and avoid gain/loss situations.
Most line managers use their skills in "client facing," "continuous improvement," and "service line" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential line manager responsibilities here:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a line manager to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "top executives must be able to convey information clearly and persuasively." Additionally, a line manager resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "establish and drive communication rhythm with key stakeholders at the customer end, customer relationship management. "
Leadership skills. Many line manager duties rely on leadership skills. "top executives must be able to shape and direct an organization by coordinating policies, people, and resources.," so a line manager will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways line manager responsibilities rely on leadership skills: "direct influence on coaching and developing direct reports; nine directs were successfully promoted into leadership roles. "
Problem-solving skills. line manager responsibilities often require "problem-solving skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "top executives need to identify and resolve issues within an organization." This resume example shows what line managers do with problem-solving skills on a typical day: "managed customer relations consistently and effectively, and provided positive conflict resolution during extreme and challenging situations. "
Time-management skills. A commonly-found skill in line manager job descriptions, "time-management skills" is essential to what line managers do. Line manager responsibilities rely on this skill because "top executives do many tasks concurrently to ensure that their work gets done and that the organization meets its goals." You can also see how line manager duties rely on time-management skills in this resume example: "managed 24/7 operations of multiple production lines to ensure compliance with customer's specifications and deadline requirements. "
The three companies that hire the most line managers are:
- Raising Cane's162 line managers jobs
- CarMax37 line managers jobs
- Car Max Inc25 line managers jobs
Compare different line managers
Line manager vs. Assistant manager of operations
An assistant operations manager is responsible for supervising staff performance and operation processes under the guidance of an operations manager. The assistant operations manager ensures the efficiency and accuracy of project management to boost client satisfaction, drive revenues, and achieve the company's objectives and profitability goals. They also help with developing strategic procedures to increase productivity and identify business opportunities to build a strong company reputation. An assistant operations manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills, especially when meeting with existing and potential clients, close partnerships, and lead teams towards project goals.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between line managers and assistant manager of operations. For instance, line manager responsibilities require skills such as "client facing," "continuous improvement," "service line," and "iso." Whereas a assistant manager of operations is skilled in "cash handling," "store associates," "cleanliness," and "pos." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, assistant managers of operations reach similar levels of education than line managers. Assistant managers of operations are 1.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Line manager vs. General manager of operations
General managers of operations are employed to oversee the overall operations of businesses. Their responsibilities include the improvement of the efficiency of the operations and overall management. They coordinate the primary performance goals for direct reporting functions and set the strategies for the organization. It is their responsibility to communicate strategy as well as results to employees. They also engage with the corporate officers in the strategic planning and development of the organization or enterprise.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that line manager responsibilities requires skills like "client facing," "service line," "customer satisfaction," and "qa." But a general manager of operations might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "customer service," "develop team," "financial statements," and "logistics."
General managers of operations earn similar levels of education than line managers in general. They're 2.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for line managers in the next 3-5 years?
Eric Olsen
Professor, Industrial Technology and Packaging, Orfalea College of Business
Line manager vs. Operations manager, district
A district operations manager is a managerial professional who manages the daily operations of stores within the assigned district as well as provides support to managers in ensuring quality and budget performance. The district operations manager must work with the store management to create and implement action plans to address deficiencies discovered during a store audit. They are required to evaluate areas of operational concern and provide support during the implementation of solutions. District operations managers must also create a cooperative environment between operations and sales departments to motivate all employees to enhance customer service.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, line managers are more likely to have skills like "client facing," "continuous improvement," "service line," and "qa." But a operations manager, district is more likely to have skills like "oversight," "succession planning," "team training," and "store management."
Operations managers, district typically earn similar educational levels compared to line managers. Specifically, they're 1.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Line manager vs. Service operations manager
Service operations managers are responsible for overseeing all aspects of service-oriented businesses. Typical duties of a service operations manager include hiring, training, and managing employees, developing and approving organizational policies and budgets, and managing all aspects of marketing. Additional duties include ensuring the successful and effective management of productivity, labor and quality control, communicating job expectations, and planning and reviewing compensation actions. Service operations managers are also expected to analyze space and employee requirements and process workflow, and to ensure that a safe and healthy work environment is maintained.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between line managers and service operations managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a line manager might have more use for skills like "client facing," "service line," "qa," and "career development." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of service operations managers require skills like "customer service," "patients," "related training," and "service operations. "
The average resume of service operations managers showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to line managers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 2.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.4%.Types of line manager
Updated January 8, 2025
