CV example
Operations manager CV example
Operations managers are hired to make things run better and cheaper without dropping quality. This example shows a manager who leads with team size, costs and the processes they fixed.
Below you'll find a full example CV (also called a résumé), summaries for different experience levels, the skills and keywords employers search for, stronger bullet points, and the interview questions to prepare for.
Operations manager CV summary examples
Your summary is the first thing a recruiter reads. Two or three sentences: who you are, your strongest evidence, and what you want next. Here is the example CV's summary, plus versions for other levels.
Example CV
Operations manager with 8 years in logistics and FMCG distribution. I lead large teams, fix broken processes and run operations on clear numbers: cost, speed and quality.
Supervisor moving up
Operations supervisor with 4 years running shifts of up to 30 people in a busy warehouse. Improved pick accuracy to 99.5% and trained 20 new team members.
Head of operations
Head of operations with 14 years scaling service businesses across 4 countries. Own a $20M operating budget and lead 6 managers and 400 staff.
Skills to put on a operations manager CV
Hard skills
- Process improvement (Lean, Six Sigma)
- KPI setting and performance management
- Budgeting and cost control
- Supply chain and logistics
- Health and safety compliance
- Workforce planning
- ERP and reporting tools
Soft skills
- Leading large teams
- Decisiveness
- Problem solving under pressure
- Clear communication across levels
Show soft skills through your bullet points rather than listing them on the CV itself.
Keywords recruiters and ATS look for
Many employers screen CVs with an applicant tracking system (ATS) that matches words from the job ad. These come up often in operations manager postings. Use the ones that are true for you, in the same wording as the job you're applying for. To compare your CV with a specific job ad, use the free CV keyword checker, or have Litjob tailor your CV to the job description for you.
- operations manager
- operations management
- process improvement
- Lean
- Six Sigma
- KPIs
- cost reduction
- supply chain
- logistics
- team leadership
- budget management
- health and safety
For live figures, see the skills most requested in Operations and admin job ads, updated weekly from thousands of postings.
Bullet points: before and after
Strong bullet points say what you did, how big it was and what changed. Compare:
WeakManaged daily operations.
StrongerManaged daily operations for a 24/7 site with 90 staff and a $6M annual budget.
WeakImproved efficiency.
StrongerCut order processing time from 48 to 24 hours by removing 3 approval steps.
WeakReduced costs.
StrongerRenegotiated 5 supplier contracts, saving $400,000 a year.
WeakLed the team.
StrongerBuilt a team of 4 shift managers, promoting 2 from within and cutting staff turnover by 25%.
Only use numbers you can explain in an interview. An honest estimate (“about 30%”) is better than a made-up exact figure.
Tips for writing a operations manager CV
Lead with scope
Sites, headcount, budget and volume tell employers what size of operation you can run.
Show before and after
Operations is about improvement. Pair each change with the metric that moved: cost, time, quality or safety.
Name your methods
Lean, Six Sigma, 5S or Kaizen, and any certifications, are common requirements and search terms.
Include people results
Turnover, promotions and safety records show you lead people well, not just processes.
Common operations manager interview questions
Your CV gets you the interview, and interviewers will ask about what's on it. Prepare for these:
- Tell me about a process you transformed.
- Describe the problem, how you measured it, the change and the result.
- How do you handle a sudden drop in performance?
- Show how you find the root cause quickly using data and the team on the ground.
- How do you balance cost cutting with quality?
- Give an example where you protected service levels while reducing cost.
- How do you motivate a team doing repetitive work?
- Mention clear goals, recognition, fair rotas and listening to their ideas.