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The differences between service managers and operations managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a service manager and an operations manager. Additionally, an operations manager has an average salary of $76,894, which is higher than the $74,009 average annual salary of a service manager.
The top three skills for a service manager include POS, performance reviews and cash handling. The most important skills for an operations manager are customer service, logistics, and continuous improvement.
| Service Manager | Operations Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $74,009 | $76,894 |
| Hourly rate | $35.58 | $36.97 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 341,785 | 343,868 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
Service managers are employees who oversee the departments related to providing services to customers. They ensure that service delivery agreements are met by employees in the department. Service managers meet with stakeholders to set service delivery metrics and department goals. They then create strategies to reach these metrics and goals. They are responsible for cascading such goals and metrics to their employees and ensuring that the employees understand what they need to do. Service managers should have a deep understanding and appreciation of the company and its business so that they can create strategies that are in line with the company's identity. They should also be familiar with the customer profiles of the company. Service managers are also responsible for creating department reports and sharing these with stakeholders.
Operations managers are in charge of running the main business of the organization. They ensure that the business is running smoothly from an operations standpoint. They make sure that the processes in place produce the necessary output by implementing quality control measures. They also manage finances and ensure that there is enough budget to keep the operations of the business running. They also ensure that the production of goods or services is cost-efficient. Operations managers also handle people-related concerns. They are responsible for interviewing candidates, choosing the ones to hire, and ensuring that individuals assigned to operations are properly trained.
Service managers and operations managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Service Manager | Operations Manager | |
| Average salary | $74,009 | $76,894 |
| Salary range | Between $47,000 And $116,000 | Between $47,000 And $123,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Delaware |
| Best paying company | Latham & Watkins | McKinsey & Company Inc |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a service manager and an operations manager in terms of educational background:
| Service Manager | Operations Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between service managers' and operations managers' demographics:
| Service Manager | Operations Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 71.1% Female, 28.9% | Male, 69.4% Female, 30.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.0% Asian, 6.3% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |