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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Operational Leader

💰 $120,000 - $200,000

OperationsLeadershipManagement

🎯 Role Definition

The Operational Leader is a strategic, hands-on operations executive responsible for designing and executing high-impact operational programs that deliver business results. This role combines P&L ownership, cross-functional team leadership, continuous improvement (Lean/Six Sigma), and data-driven decision making to improve efficiency, reduce cost, and scale reliable processes. The Operational Leader partners with senior leadership, HR, finance, product, supply chain, and customer success to translate company strategy into measurable operational outcomes and sustained operational excellence.

Keywords: Operational Leader, operations management, P&L ownership, process improvement, Lean Six Sigma, KPI management, cross-functional leadership, operational excellence, strategic operations, continuous improvement.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Operations Manager with P&L or large program responsibility
  • Plant/Facility Manager or Site Operations Manager
  • Director of Supply Chain, Logistics, or Customer Operations

Advancement To:

  • Senior Director / Head of Operations
  • Vice President of Operations
  • Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Lateral Moves:

  • Director of Supply Chain or Logistics
  • Head of Program Management or Delivery
  • Director of Customer Success or Service Operations

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Own end-to-end operational performance for assigned business units, including P&L accountability, cost control, margin optimization, and weekly/monthly forecasting to meet or exceed financial targets.
  • Develop and execute a multi-year operations strategy that aligns with corporate objectives, scales processes for growth, and reduces operational risk across distributed teams and facilities.
  • Lead the design and implementation of standardized operating procedures (SOPs) and playbooks that drive consistency, quality, and predictability across all operational touchpoints.
  • Build, coach, and scale high-performing cross-functional teams (operations, quality, logistics, customer support, and engineering) with clear goals, KPIs, and development plans.
  • Establish, monitor, and report against key performance indicators (KPIs) and service level agreements (SLAs) for throughput, cycle time, on-time delivery, quality, and customer satisfaction.
  • Drive continuous improvement initiatives using Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, or similar methodologies to eliminate waste, reduce defects, and accelerate cycle times with measurable ROIs.
  • Own capacity planning, workforce forecasting, and shift scheduling to match operational capacity with demand while optimizing labor cost and productivity.
  • Lead cross-functional programs to launch new products, services, sites, or markets, ensuring operational readiness, compliance, and go-to-market execution.
  • Manage vendor, third-party logistics (3PL), and supplier relationships, negotiating SLAs, contracts, and cost structures to support service levels and margin objectives.
  • Create, maintain, and optimize operational dashboards and management cadence to provide real-time visibility to executive leadership and drive rapid corrective action.
  • Oversee compliance programs including health & safety, environmental, regulatory, and industry-specific standards, ensuring audits and corrective actions are completed on time.
  • Drive root-cause analysis and corrective action processes for major quality incidents, service outages, or supply disruptions and lead cross-functional post-mortems.
  • Implement technology and automation roadmaps (WMS, ERP, RPA, BI tools) to improve operational throughput, data accuracy, and decision velocity.
  • Manage capital and operating budgets for operations functions, prioritize investments, and track returns against business case targets.
  • Partner closely with product, engineering, and customer success to design operationally viable features and ensure scalable handoffs from development to production.
  • Design and lead change management programs that communicate operational changes, train impacted teams, and ensure sustained adoption of new processes.
  • Build and maintain escalation frameworks and decision rights for critical incidents to minimize customer impact and ensure transparent executive reporting.
  • Develop pricing, cost-to-serve, and profitability models to inform commercial decisions and align operational capabilities with revenue strategies.
  • Champion a culture of safety, continuous learning, and accountability through regular training, performance coaching, and recognition programs.
  • Manage complex projects (site consolidations, system implementations, process redesigns) using structured project management practices to deliver on time and under budget.
  • Serve as the primary operational liaison to legal, finance, sales, and HR on matters that require operational input or cross-functional alignment.
  • Ensure business continuity and disaster recovery planning for operations, including redundancy, contingency plans, and recovery exercises.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
  • Support customer escalations by coordinating root-cause investigations and remediation with cross-functional stakeholders.
  • Assist in the preparation and delivery of executive presentations, board materials, and investor updates focused on operational metrics.
  • Mentor junior operations managers and participate in talent reviews, succession planning, and recruitment of critical roles.
  • Help evaluate and pilot new operational technologies and vendors, including running small-scale experiments and vendor evaluations.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Operational strategy development and P&L management
  • Process improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma Black/Green Belt, Kaizen)
  • Data-driven decision making with strong proficiency in Excel, SQL, and business intelligence tools (Tableau, Power BI, Looker)
  • Experience implementing and managing ERP/WMS/TMS systems and integrations
  • Capacity planning, workforce management, and demand forecasting
  • Project and program management (MS Project, Asana, Jira) with structured delivery frameworks
  • Supplier and third-party/vendor management including contract negotiation and SLA design
  • Risk management, compliance, and audit readiness (OSHA, ISO, SOC, or industry-specific standards)
  • Cost modeling, activity-based costing, and margin optimization
  • Automation and continuous improvement technologies (RPA, workflow automation, robotics)

Soft Skills

  • Strategic thinker with the ability to translate vision into executable plans and measurable outcomes
  • Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional influencing at senior leadership levels
  • Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, for succinct executive reporting and team coaching
  • Calm under pressure and able to lead through operational crises with composure and clarity
  • High emotional intelligence, empathy, and ability to build trust quickly across diverse teams
  • Results-oriented with a bias for action and proven ability to deliver against aggressive timelines
  • Coaching and talent development mindset to grow future operational leaders
  • Analytical problem-solver with attention to detail and a systems-thinking approach
  • Change management and organizational adoption skills
  • Collaborative leadership that balances empowerment with accountability

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Supply Chain, Finance, or related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Master’s degree (MBA, MS in Operations/Industrial Engineering) or equivalent leadership certifications (Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, PMP).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Operations Management
  • Industrial or Mechanical Engineering
  • Business Administration / Finance
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Information Systems / Data Analytics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 7–15+ years of progressive experience in operations, supply chain, or program management with increasing scope and leadership responsibility.

Preferred:

  • 10+ years of experience leading cross-functional operations teams, demonstrated P&L responsibility, experience with system implementations (ERP/WMS), and a track record of delivering measurable cost savings and service improvements.
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