How to hire a service operations manager

How to hire a service operations manager, step by step

Here's a step-by-step service operations manager hiring guide:

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

What does a service operations manager do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your service operations manager job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a service operations manager for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect service operations manager also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   Here's a comparison of service operations manager salaries for various roles:

   Type of Service Operations Manager	Description	Hourly rate
   Service Operations Manager	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.	$22-68
   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
   Manager, Center Operations	The duties of a manager of center operations depend on one's industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around overseeing business operations, setting targets, assessing the workforce's performance, and performing corrective measures on any issues or concerns... Show more	$18-46

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Patients
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • Service Operations
   • Direct Reports
   • Project Management
   • Performance Management
   • Service Delivery
   • Continuous Improvement
   • Logistics
   • Process Improvement
   • Client Satisfaction
   • Payroll
   • OSHA

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead heating and air conditioning (HVAC) service department increasing revenue, profit, safety achievements and employee morale.
   • Manage external warehouse and serve as primary liaison to outsource logistics and field support providers.
   • Manage and perform a broad scope of operational capacities, from payroll administration and budgeting to quality assurance and safety audits.
   • Coordinate and participate with the installation teams to help troubleshoot problems and resolve customer concerns while managing service and commissioning engineers.
   • Institute a quality management system in accordance with ISO standards.
   • Spearhead logistics solutions for moving from California to a new facility in Massachusetts.

   More service operations manager duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the service operations manager job description is a good way to get more applicants. A service operations manager 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 a service operations manager in Iowa may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level service operations manager. Additionally, a service operations manager with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average service operations manager salary

   $82,811yearly

   $39.81 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level service operations manager salary

   $47,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average service operations manager salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$122,137	$59
   2	New Jersey	$101,908	$49
   3	New York	$97,659	$47
   4	Washington	$83,001	$40
   5	Massachusetts	$82,918	$40
   6	Oregon	$81,064	$39
   7	Pennsylvania	$79,570	$38
   8	Maryland	$74,227	$36
   9	Texas	$72,005	$35
   10	North Carolina	$70,135	$34
   11	Arizona	$69,508	$33
   12	Colorado	$66,615	$32
   13	Michigan	$65,857	$32
   14	Georgia	$65,809	$32
   15	Ohio	$62,602	$30
   16	South Carolina	$53,631	$26
   17	Wisconsin	$52,223	$25
   18	Florida	$49,103	$24
   19	Illinois	$48,527	$23
   20	Tennessee	$48,404	$23

   Average service operations manager salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	VMware	$157,020	$75.49
   2	NVIDIA	$156,921	$75.44	11
   3	Google	$150,510	$72.36	111
   4	Capgemini	$149,562	$71.90	24
   5	Apple	$148,134	$71.22	33
   6	Lyft	$143,729	$69.10	3
   7	Citi	$140,522	$67.56	42
   8	Microsoft	$138,846	$66.75	42
   9	Pacific Investment Management Company LLC	$135,160	$64.98	3
   10	AbbVie	$135,046	$64.93	50
   11	Amgen	$126,726	$60.93	29
   12	MUFG EMEA	$124,447	$59.83
   13	The Walt Disney Company	$121,917	$58.61	38
   14	Pwc	$117,829	$56.65	2,036
   15	Cisco	$115,555	$55.56	118
   16	Snowflake Computing	$114,823	$55.20	8
   17	Ernst & Young	$114,514	$55.05	1,357
   18	Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc.	$113,991	$54.80
   19	Barclays	$113,915	$54.77
   20	Federal Reserve Bank	$113,866	$54.74	3

4. Writing a service operations manager job description

   A service operations manager job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a service operations manager job description:

   Service operations manager job description example

   Manager, Surgical Services Operations - Surgical Services - M-F 7:00a - 3:30p - (220002M5) Description Facility Profile
   
   TGH is the area's only level I trauma center and one of just two ABA-verified adult & pediatric burn centers in Florida. With five medical helicopters*, we transport critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. The hospital is home to one of the busiest solid organ transplant centers in the country. TGH is a nationally designated comprehensive stroke center, and has a 32-bed Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit. Other outstanding centers include cardiovascular, orthopedics, high-risk and normal obstetrics, urology, ENT, endocrinology, and the Children's Medical Center, which features a nine-bed pediatric intensive care unit and pediatric kidney transplant services. As the region's leading safety net hospital, Tampa General is committed to providing area residents with world-class and compassionate health care ranging from the simplest to the most complex medical services.
   
   Tampa General Hospital was named the #1 hospital in Tampa Bay by U.S. News & World Report, 2020-2021, and recognized as one of America's Best Hospital's in five medical specialties: Cardiology & Heart Surgery, Diabetes & Endocrinology, Gastroenterology & GI Surgery, Nephrology, and Orthopedics. Tampa General Hospital has been designated a Magnet Hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the highest recognition for nursing excellence, for the fourth consecutive time - an accomplishment that fewer than one percent of hospitals nationwide have earned. TGH is accredited by The Joint Commission and was awarded disease-specific certification in five medical specialties. TGH is also accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). *Air transport provided by Metro Aviation, Inc.
   Department Profile
   
   The Surgical Services department performs over 34,000 surgeries and approximately 8,000 GI Procedures annually in 50 operating rooms in five locations on TGH's main campus. The five locations include the Main Operating Rooms, CVTOR Operating Rooms, Endoscopy Suite, 6K, and 4K. As a Level I Trauma Center, some of the most complex and challenging surgeries in the nation take place here. The main operating suite contains 21 ORs, which includes an integrated MRI suite, dedicated trauma rooms and a specialized Burn OR (in the Burn Unit). The hospital also has a pre-admission Testing Center, 17-bay Surgical Prep Unit and 29-bay PACU. The Cardiovascular Transplant operating rooms have nine ORs, including a state-of-the-art hybrid OR, Da Vinci Xi robot and nine pre-op/post-op bays. Also included in the other locations are eight GI (Endoscopy) suites, seven OR suites and 23 pre-op/post-op bays in 6K. The Surgery Center houses nine operating rooms and 27 pre-post bays. The 4K Operating Room has four ORs, including an IVF suite for embryo transfers and retrievals.
   
   Job Summary
   
   Under administrative supervision, the Surgical Services Operations Manager is responsible for oversight of operational activities, resource management, productivity and financial analysis, and regulatory compliance. These responsibilities include: management of assigned staff; ensures employee conformance to established practices and proper training of staff; lead the onboarding process for new surgeons; ensures the orderly and efficient delivery of services; analyzes opportunities for standardization of supply expenses, waste reduction, charge capture and other processes as needed; prepares and analyzes the financial and operational status of perioperative services; prepares, reports and audits current procedures to monitor efficiency of operations in assigned division; oversee Epic. Optimize and manages all reporting needs and dashboards; co-chairs surgical value analysis; coordination of information systems; management of equipment and supplies; vendor relations and contract management; developing, monitoring, and analyzing financial, productivity, and quality measures; development and implementation of budgets; identification and resolution of budget variance; manages the capital purchase process; oversight of billing, revenues, and expenditures; project management; and compliance with applicable legal and accreditation standards. The Surgical Services Operations Manager coordinates the operations of the department with other departments within the organization. Responsible for performing job duties in accordance with mission, vision and values of Tampa General Healthcare.
   Qualifications Master's Degree in Business Administration, Hospital Administration or a related field with a minimum of five (5) years of professional, progressive healthcare supervisory experience including financial analysis. Proficient in using computer applications for analyzing data, communicating, and producing reports. Knowledge of surgical services operations strongly preferred.
   Primary Location: TampaWork Locations: TGH Main Campus 1 Tampa General Circle Tampa 33606Job: ExecutiveOrganization: TGH - HospitalSchedule: Full-time Shift: Day JobShift Hours: 7:00a - 3:30pJob Posting: Aug 19, 2022, 8:07:45 PM

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5. Post your job

   To find service operations managers for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any service operations managers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level service operations managers with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting service operations managers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   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 service operations manager

   Once you've decided on a perfect service operations manager 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.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

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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