How to hire an operations manager · full-time or part-time · which level

Hire an Operations Manager · every route

To hire an operations manager, name the operational problem first: a process that breaks, a team that needs running, a system nobody owns.

Then decide the level and the route (permanent, part-time, fractional or interim), and test every candidate on a real process from your business.

We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors.

On every brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.

Brief us on an operations hire →See the roles

How a brief runswhat we undertake

01Brief30-MINUTE SCOPING CALLDay 0
02Shortlist of 3–5VETTED · RATE BENCHMARK · IR35After the brief
03InterviewsYOU MEET THE SHORTLISTYour diary
04Scoped startFIRST-MONTH OUTCOMES AGREEDYou set the date
05Fractional, interim and permanentIR35 POSITION SET OUTOn every brief

Shortlist3–5

3–5

Shortlist · with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 set out

Vetting · stages before a candidate reaches you

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire an operations manager

Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with Operations Manager candidates, their day rates and availability.

0115 minutes, video or phone
02We scope the role and the days a week
03A shortlist of 3–5 after the call
04Fractional, interim and permanent briefs

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Pick a day that suits · live availability

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On the board · last 3 months

Operations manager roles jobs on the board

3 on the board · 1 confirmed open

Browse every role on the board →

Current operations manager and operations leadership roles

How fractional recruitment agencies compare is set out in one place, including how we work: a Operations Manager brief and a shortlist of three to five.

01/ the role

Hire an operations manager: what the seat runs

An operations manager runs the day-to-day machinery of a business: processes, people, suppliers and the systems that hold them together.

Skills England’s occupational standard for operations managers describes a level 5 role that leads individuals or a team, and in smaller organisations helps deliver the strategy too.

Searches for "hire operations manager" and "hire a operations manager" both point at this seat.

The title covers very different jobs, so the brief has to say which one you mean.

What usually lands on the seat

Process design and documentation, supplier and facilities management, reporting on the weekly numbers, and often health and safety.

HSE’s health and safety basics include appointing a competent person to help manage it, a job that often falls to operations.

Management qualifications are a signal, not a requirement.

Chartered Manager status from the Chartered Management Institute, backed by a Royal Charter, is one; processes that kept working after the person left matter more.

02/ scope

How to hire an operations manager: the steps

1. Write the brief around one problem

Say what the operations manager will own, who they report to, and what should run better after twelve months.

A warehouse, a services firm and a software company need different people under the same title.

2. Choose the level, then the route

Decide whether you need an implementer, a head of function or an executive; the section below sets out the difference.

Then choose full-time, part-time, fractional or interim.

3. Test on a real process

Give every candidate the same broken process from your business and ask how they would map it, fix it and keep it fixed.

Score the answers against criteria agreed in advance, with more than one interviewer.

Acas notes there is no set recruitment process in law, but employers must follow a fair one.

Discrimination and data protection law apply throughout.

4. Check before the offer

For an employee, you must check their right to work before they start.

Take references yourself from someone who managed the candidate and someone who worked in a team they ran.

Choosing who to brief

If you are asking which recruitment agencies are best for operations management hires, judge any agency, us included, on what it sends back.

Ask for candidates who have run your kind of operation, each with pay, availability and IR35 position set out.

That is what we send: a shortlist of 3–5, after our five-stage vetting.

03/ comparison

Permanent, part-time, fractional or interim?

Four ways to fill the seat. Choose by how much of the week the work needs, and whether it has an end date.

PermanentPart-timeFractionalInterim

TimeFull-time, open-endedFixed days a week, on your payrollAgreed days a week, often alongside other clientsFull-time, for a fixed term

SuitsOperations that need an owner every dayA steady operation that does not fill a weekProcesses and systems to build, then hand overA vacancy, a move or a system change

CostSalary, plus employer NI and pensionSalary pro rata, set out on each shortlistDay rate, set out on each shortlistDay rate, set out on each shortlist

IR35On payrollOn payrollDecided by how the engagement runsDecided by how the engagement runs

04/ vetting

How we vet operations managers

What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.

01
Qualification screen
Verify Operations Manager tenure, sector context and stage fit.
SOURCING
02
Mandate fit
Match to your situation — stage, board dynamics, timing.
MATCHING
03
Reference deep-dive
We take references ourselves, from recent past clients — real outcomes, not titles.
VERIFY
04
Shortlist
Three to five candidates with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
SHORTLIST OF 3–5

05/ hire a part-time operations manager

Hire a part-time operations manager: employed or fractional

To hire a part-time operations manager, first decide whether they will be on your payroll or work through their own company.

People who search "hire a part time operations manager" usually want the same seat for two or three days a week.

Employed part-time staff must not be treated less favourably than comparable full-time staff, and benefits usually apply pro rata (GOV.UK, part-time workers’ rights).

If the work is building processes and systems for set days, the fractional route may fit better: see fractional operations manager jobs, or hire a fractional operations manager.

A part-week manager working through their own company may fall under the off-payroll working rules (IR35).

Status depends on how the engagement runs, and a medium or large client makes the determination; our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

06/ operations manager, head of operations or COO

Operations manager, head of operations or COO: which hire

Operations manager, head of operations or COO is the level question, and getting it wrong is the commonest mismatch.

An operations manager implements and runs; a head of operations leads the whole function; a COO runs the operating model at executive level.

A head of operations usually sits above operations managers.

Robert Half’s 2026 guide puts the head of operations seat at £58,750 to £73,500, with a median of £66,250, and £80,000 to £100,000 in London, median £90,000; see head of operations salary.

An operations director usually runs several functions.

For full-time cover at that level, see interim operations director jobs.

A COO owns the operating model and sits on the executive team.

If that is the gap, hire a COO, or a part-time COO for set days a week.

Whichever level you choose, employer National Insurance adds 15% above £5,000 a year on salary (HMRC, 2026/27).

07/ questions

Hiring questions FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in an operations manager.

Write the brief around one operational problem, decide the level (manager, head of operations or COO), then choose full-time, part-time, fractional or interim. Test every candidate on a real process from your business, take references yourself, and check right to work before the offer.

We do not quote an operations manager band: no published figure we have checked meets our sourcing rule today. On every brief we set out each candidate’s pay or day rate on the shortlist. For the level above, Robert Half’s 2026 guide puts a head of operations at a median of £66,250 nationally.

Four: write the brief around one problem, choose the level and then the route, test candidates on a real process, and run references and right-to-work checks before the offer. Most failed hires trace back to the level, not the candidate.

Yes. Employed part-time, they have the same protection as full-time staff, with benefits usually pro rata. Through their own company for agreed days, it is a fractional engagement and IR35 may apply, decided by how the engagement runs.

An operations manager when processes and teams need running; a head of operations when the whole function needs one leader; a COO when the operating model needs an owner on the executive team. If it is the last, see hire a COO.

None is required by law. Skills England publishes a level 5 operations manager standard, and CMI’s Chartered Manager status is a signal; evidence of processes that kept working matters more.

It can, if they work through their own company. Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, and a medium or large client makes the determination (HMRC). We set out each candidate’s IR35 position on the shortlist.

Book 15 minutes · shortlist of 3–5

Bring the brief. We architect the team.

A shortlist of 3–5 with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.

Book a call →Submit a brief