How to hire an operations officer

How to hire an operations officer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step operations officer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an operations officer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new operations officer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an operations officer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The operations officer hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   An operations officer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, operations officers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of operations officers.

   Type of Operations Officer	Description	Hourly rate
   Operations Officer	Top executives devise strategies and policies to ensure that an organization meets its goals. They plan, direct, and coordinate operational activities of companies and organizations.	$10-47
   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... Show more	$23-79
   Customer Service/Operations Manager	A customer service/operations manager is primarily in charge of spearheading and overseeing the efforts of a customer service team, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction. Their responsibilities include setting goals and objectives, establishing guidelines and schedules, managing the employees, creating new programs for customers, and developing strategies to optimize customer service operations... Show more	$23-47

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Security Operations
   • Logistical Support
   • Risk Management
   • CI
   • PowerPoint
   • Combat
   • Emergency Operations
   • Human Resources
   • Law Enforcement
   • DOD
   • Training Programs
   • HUMINT
   • Operational Support

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead a detachment of 14 sailors and oversee a $45k operational budget and $3M in equipment.
   • Manage USAF base grind electronic telecommunications and data center operations.
   • Manage battalion-level resource allocations to include training facilities, ranges, and ammunition requirements.
   • Manage portfolio of lean projects initiate to improve nuclear operations support mission inspections and establish executive council to provide oversight.
   • Manage SharePoint data system for facility safety inspections and inventory tracking; develop organizational plan and access for over 3K personnel.
   • Manage payroll distribution process ensuring timeliness, accuracy, and confidentiality to protect client's privacy and prevent liability of exposure.

   More operations officer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the operations officer job description is a good way to get more applicants. An operations officer salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for an operations officer in Nevada may be lower than in New York, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level operations officer. Additionally, an operations officer with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average operations officer salary

   $46,813yearly

   $22.51 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level operations officer salary

   $22,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average operations officer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$95,894	$46
   2	District of Columbia	$89,249	$43
   3	Maryland	$84,797	$41
   4	Virginia	$80,235	$39
   5	North Carolina	$73,268	$35
   6	Michigan	$71,031	$34
   7	Minnesota	$67,077	$32
   8	Massachusetts	$65,584	$32
   9	California	$63,939	$31
   10	Wisconsin	$62,582	$30
   11	Pennsylvania	$61,991	$30
   12	Texas	$57,810	$28
   13	Illinois	$57,300	$28
   14	Colorado	$53,531	$26
   15	Georgia	$49,285	$24
   16	Missouri	$44,611	$21
   17	Arizona	$43,405	$21
   18	Florida	$42,426	$20
   19	Kansas	$40,172	$19
   20	New Mexico	$40,160	$19

   Average operations officer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Baker McKenzie	$216,021	$103.86
   2	Berkeley Research Group	$139,211	$66.93	1
   3	Bloomberg	$133,264	$64.07	16
   4	Open Bank	$131,502	$63.22	1
   5	Citi	$131,219	$63.09	64
   6	Santa Clara Valley Water District	$119,993	$57.69
   7	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$112,459	$54.07	248
   8	HSBC Bank	$107,447	$51.66	8
   9	Red Gate Group	$107,027	$51.46	4
   10	Xator	$106,990	$51.44
   11	BNP Paribas	$101,723	$48.91	1
   12	State Street	$101,424	$48.76	49
   13	Take Care Private Duty Home Health Care	$98,613	$47.41
   14	Booz Allen Hamilton	$97,919	$47.08	33
   15	GPAC	$97,682	$46.96
   16	Westpac	$93,874	$45.13
   17	Stratos International	$93,165	$44.79
   18	Bank of the Ozarks	$92,106	$44.28	4
   19	Broadway Bancshares Inc	$91,732	$44.10
   20	Davivienda	$89,014	$42.80

4. Writing an operations officer job description

   A good operations officer job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of an operations officer job description:

   Operations officer job description example

   1. Support and troubleshoot all matters associated with retail branch operations, including but not limited to:

   • Deposit account maintenance

   • New account opening

   • Core system issues

   • Computation error

   • Customer complaints

   • Incompliance of disclosures

   • Questions on Internet Banking and Bill Pay

   2. Coordinate retail branches to review, consolidate and submit daily disposition of uncollected fund, non-sufficient fund, overdrafts and non-post items to NYR clearing department.

   3. Handle fraudulent items and investigation.

   4. Reporting (remitting) of unclaimed properties to the California State Controller Office

   5. IRA (Individual Retirement account) administration

   • Liaise with third party vendor – Wolters Kluwer

   • Contribution/transfer/rollover

   • Distribution

   • Regulatory disclosures, reports deliver to customers

   • Report interest earning and all related activities to Wolters Kluwer

   • Other account maintenance

   • IRA account reconciliation

   • IRA account trouble shooting

   6. Maintain and manage the Merchant Remote Deposit Capture services

   7. Handling disputes of POS and ATM claim (per Regulation E)

   8. Liaise with the Compliance Department and frontline staff to resolve BSA issues and deficiencies.

   9. Maintain banks operational policies, procedures and practices to ensure adherence to operational risk management, and banking regulations.

   10. Report operational risk incidents and non-compliance, including counterfeit, bank fraud, robbery, hold-up, break-in and power failure etc.

   11. Coordinate with auditors, regulators for audit and examination at Branches, rectify audit findings.

   12. Coordination of legal process handling– levies, garnishments and subpoenas

   13. Perform surprise cash count and branch operational directive audit

   14. Process SSA/SSI asset verification requests.

   15. Review and coordinate the NRA account opening applications witnessed by ICBC China branches

   16. Provide operations-related trainings to branch staff as needed

   17. Prepare various financial and management reports

   18. Provide other supports and assist Regional Operations Manager, as needed.

   Competencies:

   In order to perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

   1. Customer Service - Manages difficult or emotional customer situations; Responds promptly to customer needs; Solicits customer feedback to improve service; Responds to requests for service and assistance.

   2. Interpersonal Skills - Maintains confidentiality.

   3. Oral Communication - Speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations.

   4. Written Communication - Writes clearly and informatively.

   5. Teamwork - Balances team and individual responsibilities; Contributes to building a positive team spirit.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right operations officer for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your operations officer job on Zippia to find and recruit operations officer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit operations officers, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new operations officer

   Once you've decided on a perfect operations officer candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new operations officer. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire an operations officer?