Office Manager Job Description

What is an Office Manager?

In a very broad sense, the role of an Office Manager is to ensure that an office is running smoothly. Everything from arranging staff meetings to maintaining resources must be taken care of, ensuring that the team can work in the most efficient way possible. This involves a number of administrative, organisational and management duties.

Office Managers are employed by a variety of public and private sector organisations, such as hospitals, universities and businesses. Due to the broad nature of Office Manager roles, they are sometimes known as Administrative Managers, Facilities Managers or Operations Managers.

What does an Office Manager do?

Although the role varies depending on the organisation, everyday Office Manager day to day responsibilities are likely to include:

• Implementing and maintaining office policies and administrative systems
• Organising meetings, events or conferences
• Liaising with employees at all levels, including senior management
• Dealing with telephone calls, letters, reports etc
• Ensuring that office supplies and resources are stocked and replenished
• Delegating work to the administrative team
• Promoting staff training and development
• Assisting the HR department by keeping records up to date, organising inductions, appraisals etc
• Implementing health and safety procedures
• Recording office expenditure and managing the budget

How to become an Office Manager

Qualifications

To become an Office Manager, you will require a good academic background, including strong GCSE and A level grades.

A degree can make a difference to your application, particularly when you’re applying for Executive Office Manager roles. Degree subjects such as Business, Management, Marketing or Computing are especially useful.

Apprenticeships and NVQs in areas such as business and administration are useful for those not enrolled in higher education.

Some employers may ask for a management qualification as an additional requirement. The Institute of Administrative Management (IAM) offer qualifications designed specifically for existing and prospective Office Managers. Membership of the IAM is a great way to stay updated with industry news, discounted training offers and networking opportunities in the office management community.

Skills & Experience

Whilst managers qualifications can really add value to your application, relevant office experience and management skills are the key things employers look for. Office Manager jobs are not typically entry level positions and the application process is often competitive. Therefore, previous experience in an office based, secretarial or managerial position is highly beneficial. Experience within the sector specific to the organisation might also be a requirement.

In addition to permanent employment, relevant experience can be gained via temporary agency work, or ‘temping.’ You should also include any volunteering / team-oriented experiences or extra-curricular activities on your CV. This will give you an edge whilst being relevant to the role.

When it comes to skills, Cat Mangan, winner of Office Manager of the Year at one of our PA of the Year Awards, says that “a high degree of emotional intelligence” is key for an office management career. She explains that in her role at Murphy Philipps Architects, she deals with a variety of people across the business which brings “a lot of different emotions and attitudes” and as a result, can be challenging.

However, if you’re highly organised, enjoy interacting with people and have the ambition and motivation to get things done, then a career as an Office Manager might be for you. See below for a list of key Office Manager competencies.

Office Manager Skills:

• Organisation and time management
• Communication and relationship building
• High level of emotional intelligence
• Confident ability to lead and manage others
• Strong IT skills including proficiency in Microsoft Office
• Ability to work under pressure
• A driven, motivated attitude with the ability to use your own initiative
• Budgeting and numerical skills

Office Manager Salary

Our latest Salary Survey Report reveals that the average annual salary for an Office Manager stands at £40,092, up on last year’s figure of £36,453. This varies depending on factors including location, industry sector and level of experience. Discover our latest salary survey's for discussions on pay, work environment, and bonus statistics. 

The report also shows that 33% of Office Managers received a pay rise, while 43% took home a bonus.

Office Manager Career Prospects

There is plenty of room for growth and development in an Office Manager role. Usually, your employer will offer basic training which covers the use of software and databases. Depending on the size of the organisation, training is carried out either in-house or externally and the cost may or may not be covered. Courses are typically offered in areas such as team leading, marketing, time management and health and safety.

In smaller organisations, it is likely that you will have to contribute to your own professional development as the budget may not stretch to training. As discussed above, there are other qualifications, such as those offered by the IAM, which you can complete to boost your Office Manager skill set. Andrew Jardine, General Manager of the IAM, says that the IQ Level 4 Certificate in Office and Administration Management is “ideal for those aspiring to move into a more senior role within office and administration management,” which serves as a “formal recognition of their skills.”

In terms of career progression for Office Managers, with more experience comes more responsibility within the realm of senior management. You will likely be given the scope to manage more people or a larger area, perhaps going from managing a team within a department to the whole department itself. 

You will likely take on a wider set of responsibilities, stepping into an Executive Office Manager job or other senior management position. However, you may face competition when trying to progress into senior posts if there are a number of Office Managers within your organisation. If you have the opportunity to develop a specialism in an area such as HR, finance or strategic development, this would certainly help your chances at securing a more senior role such as Head of Department in the future.

Office Manager Jobs

If you’re looking for a new Office Manager job, or you're seeking your first time role in office operations, now could be the perfect time to apply. Browse the latest Office Manager opportunities on SecsintheCity today or create a job alert to be notified of suitable roles when they are posted.