Head of operations · job description template

Head of operations job description

The short answer · updated 3 October 2026

A head of operations job description sets out the senior role that runs how a business delivers its product or service. The core responsibilities are the operational plan and targets, leading the operations teams, processes and systems, suppliers and service levels, the operations budget, and health, safety and risk, reported to the COO, managing director or chief executive.

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Job purpose

Start with why the role exists now. The head of operations makes sure the business delivers what it sells, to the agreed standard, on time and within budget. Skills England’s operations manager standard describes the wider family as leadership with both operational and project responsibilities, setting and monitoring objectives aligned with the organisation’s strategy. For the role itself, see what does a head of operations do.

Then name the operational problem the next head of operations has to solve: delivery that slips, costs rising faster than revenue, a second site to open, a system to replace, or a team that has outgrown its processes. Acas publishes an outline job description template whose headings (the main duties and who the post reports to) work for this role.

Key responsibilities

Order the duties by importance and start each with a verb. A typical head of operations job description covers:

turning the business plan into an operational plan, with targets for delivery, quality and cost;
leading the operations managers and teams, and hiring where there are gaps;
designing and improving the processes that deliver the product or service;
owning the operations budget and reporting variances;
managing key suppliers and contractors against agreed service levels;
choosing and running the operational systems, with IT;
measuring performance and reporting it to the leadership team;
running the health and safety arrangements the board has set, using the Plan, Do, Check, Act approach in HSE’s guidance for directors;
keeping business continuity and operational risk plans current;
working with finance, HR, sales and customer teams so delivery matches what is sold.

Reporting line and scope

A head of operations usually reports to the chief operating officer, the operations director or, in a smaller company, the managing director or chief executive. Operations managers, team leads and sometimes facilities, procurement, logistics or customer service report in. List what reports to the role and what stays elsewhere.

Say whether the role sits on the leadership team and attends board meetings for its items. Where the role is the most senior operator in the business, the brief is close to an operations director’s; our operations director job description and COO job description cover the seats above.

Skills, experience and qualifications

No qualification is required by law to be a head of operations. Ask for experience of the operational problem the business has now, described specifically, rather than a count of years.

experience running operations teams at a comparable scale, in a comparable sector;
a record against the specific problem: growth, a new site, a cost reduction, a system change or a turnaround;
budget ownership and reporting that leaders can rely on;
supplier and contract management at the size the role will handle;
process improvement, with evidence of what changed and what it saved;
management standing where it helps, such as Chartered Manager status from the Chartered Management Institute;
quality management where the product demands it; the Chartered Quality Institute is the only body offering Chartered Quality Professional status;
sector knowledge where regulation, safety or customers are specialised.

Fractional head of operations job description

A fractional head of operations works a set number of days a week or month, so the job description narrows. Name the days, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months (an operational plan agreed, a process rebuilt, a supplier reset, a system live, a manager hired), what the role owns and who runs operations on the days they are not there.

Where the brief spans every operational function and a seat on the leadership team, it is an operations director brief. Our page on how to hire a fractional operations director sets out how the engagement works.

A fractional head of operations working through their own company may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35). Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on the wording of the job description, and a medium or large client makes the determination. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

Interim and permanent versions

Interim. An interim head of operations works full-time for a fixed period, so the job description leads with the situation (a delivery crisis, a site opening, a system change, or cover while the permanent search runs) and the date or event that ends the assignment. See interim operations director jobs for the senior version of that brief.

Permanent. The permanent version looks further ahead: the operating model, the team and the systems over several years. When the head of operations is hired as an employee, the job title or a description of the work goes into the written statement of employment particulars they must have on the first day, so keep the two consistent. For the permanent search across the operations seats, see our COO and operations director recruitment page.

We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors. For a head of operations brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting.

A template you can copy

Copy these headings and write one short block under each. Keep pay out of the job description and state it in the offer.

Job title: head of operations, and whether the role is fractional, interim, part-time or permanent.
Reports to: the COO, operations director, managing director or chief executive; list the teams that report to the role.
Purpose: two or three sentences on why the role exists now and the operational result it must deliver.
Responsibilities: eight to twelve duties, each starting with a verb, in order of importance.
Requirements: essential and desirable experience, described specifically, and a qualification only where the job needs one.
Terms: full-time or days a week, sites and travel, start date, fixed term or permanent, and the pay basis (salary or day rate).

Questions people ask

What should a head of operations job description include?

The job title and type of engagement, who the role reports to and which teams report in, the purpose, the key responsibilities, the experience and skills required, and the terms. Put the operational problem the role must solve at the top.

How long should a head of operations job description be?

Long enough to cover purpose, responsibilities, reporting line, requirements and terms, and short enough to read in a few minutes: one to two pages is usually enough. Targets and site detail belong in the candidate pack and the interviews.

What is the difference between a head of operations and an operations director job description?

A head of operations often runs one area or site and reports to an operations director or COO; an operations director usually owns operations across the business and sits on the leadership team. In a smaller company one person does both. See the operations director job description.

How is a fractional head of operations job description different?

It names the days a week or month, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months and who runs operations in between. See how to hire a fractional operations director.

What does a head of operations earn?

It depends on the scope of the seat, the sector, the location and whether the role is permanent, interim or fractional. Our head of operations salary page sets out pay, each figure with its source.

How do I hire a head of operations?

Define the operational problem, choose between permanent, interim, part-time and fractional, write the job description around that problem, and test every candidate against it. See head of operations jobs for the seat on the board; we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.