Office manager job description

Office managers keep offices running smoothly and efficiently, to provide other staff members with the support and tools they need to do their jobs.

They are responsible for overseeing the administrative activities of an office, assisting and organising office staff, and often managing a team of administrators. Working at the very heart of an organisation, they help staff to maximise their potential and complete their work as effectively as possible.

This detailed guide includes a complete office manager job description and everything else you need to know about office managers, such as salaries, skills, qualifications, typical employers and more.

 

Guide contents

  • Office manager job description
  • How much do office managers earn?
  • What does an office manager do?
  • Requirements, skills and qualifications
  • Who employs office managers?
  • Which junior jobs progress to office manager roles?

 

 

Office manager job description

Office manager | Parkside Pharmacy Group

 

About Parkside Pharmacy Group

We are a family owned pharmacy group who pride ourselves on providing top-class healthcare and improving the wellbeing of our local community through our passionate team of pharmacy assistants, dispensers and pharmacists.

 

About the role

We are looking to recruit an experienced office manager to support our growing team. Reporting to the company director, the office manager will manage a team of three administrators and ensure that the office runs smoothly, cost effectively and in line with legal obligations.

 

Responsibilities

  • Taking full responsibility for the smooth day to day running of the office.
  • Managing and training a team of administrators, ensuring work is carried out on time and to a high standard.
  • Developing and implementing office policies and setting up procedures to improve processes and efficiency.
  • Ensuring all company documentation, reports, templates and invoices are formatted in the correct style and formatted and filled out accurately by administrators.
  • Preparing accurate office financial reports and analysis, such as expenditure, overspends, cash flow and budgeting.
  • Ensuring the office is a safe environment for all staff and visitors, by thoroughly monitoring and implementing health and safety procedures and policies.
  • Supporting the recruitment and onboarding process for new employees and carrying out inductions and creating training plans for new office staff.
  • Developing strong relationships with all colleagues, clients, visitors and customers working in or visiting the company premises.
  • Providing general administrative support if the administrators are unavailable, such as visitor communications, minute taking and data entry.

 

Location & commitments

  • Permanent, full-time role based in our Harrogate town centre office.
  • Monday-Friday 9-5 with half an hour lunch, totalling 37.5 hours per week.
  • Occasional overtime required on Saturday mornings.

 

Candidate requirements

Essential:

  • At least 2 years experience as an office manager, though applicants with equivalent senior-level administrative experience will be considered.
  • Proven people management and leadership experience.
  • Strong Microsoft Office skills, including Microsoft Excel.
  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with experience of working with a range of internal staff members and external contacts.
  • An exceptional eye for detail and accuracy.

Desirable:

  • A background within a pharmaceutical office environment would be a distinct advantage.

 

Contact us to apply

If you’d like to apply to join our growing business, please contact our director, John Thompson at john.thompson@parksidepharmacy.com.

 

 

How much do office managers earn?

Generally speaking, office manager roles are well-paid, with an average salary of £29,149.

 

Office manager salaries in the UK

  • Low: £19,000
  • Average: £29,000
  • High: £45,000

Source: Glassdoor

 

Office manager salaries will inevitably vary depending on:

  • Industry of the employer – For example, health service, government, finance, education and legal office manager employers may offer higher salaries than employers in the sales, marketing, not-for-profit and retail industries
  • Size of the company – Larger, corporate offices may offer high starting salaries and better pay increases than small independent businesses
  • Level of responsibility – For example, office managers who lead a team of administrators may command a higher salary than office managers who manage the office alone
  • General salary factors – Such as level of candidate experience and location

 

Be aware that these are average figures taken from job advert samples and do not include extra benefits such as bonuses, overtime and non-financial benefits like healthcare.

 


 

What does an office manager do?

While the job description will vary from role to role, here are the typical tasks and duties that office managers could carry out in an average working week:

  • Overseeing administration – Oversee all office administrative duties, such as emails, phone, record management, spreadsheets, databases, filing, photocopying and scanning
  • Improving processes – Developing and improving administrative systems and processes, such as record and data management
  • Managing staff – Delegating work to staff, managing workload and assessing performance
  • Recruiting staff – Recruiting, interviewing and selecting new office workers
  • Training staff – Inducting and training new recruits
  • Managing payroll – Monitoring and recording employee work hours, holiday and sick leave.
  • Chairing meetings – Scheduling, organising and chairing meetings and events for staff
  • Writing reports – Researching, preparing and distributing minutes, reports and correspondence
  • Managing diaries – Maintaining calendars, schedules, diaries and travel arrangements for senior management teams
  • Managing data – Overseeing data management and ensuring data protection laws are adhered to
  • Office upkeep – Maintaining the overall condition of the office, maintaining stationery and supplies and organising office layouts
  • Office accounting – Managing and recording office expenses, implementing budgets and maintaining accurate bookkeeping systems

 

What does an office manager need?

candidate requirements

In order for office managers to carry out their job effectively, they need a range of skills, experience, knowledge and sometimes qualifications.

Candidate requirements can vary significantly depending on the sector and level of responsibility involved in the role, but generally speaking, here’s what’s needed:

 

Experience

Junior office manager jobs usually require the candidate to have had at least one year of experience in an office environment, though some companies may recruit graduates with no experience to train on-the-job.

Office manager jobs will normally require candidates to have had several years experience as an administrator or office manager. This could be as little as two years, or are many as 5, depending on the level of responsibility required in the role. Senior or specialist roles may require experience within the specific field of employment, for example, education or law.

 

 

Skills

The following key skills are essential for employment as an office manager:

  • Communication: Confidently and coherently communicating with staff, management, clients, visitors and stakeholders, both verbally and in writing
  • Time management and organisation: Prioritising tasks, working to strict deadlines and effectively managing the time of themselves and other staff members
  • Attention to detail: Consistently working with complete accuracy — if details are wrong, it could affect the entire office
  • Leadership: Leading others and confidently delegating tasks
  • IT: Using a range of computer tools and software without difficulty
  • Numeracy: Confidence with numeracy for carrying out basic finance tasks and managing office spends
  • Typing: Ability to type quickly and accurately, normally at a minimum speed of 60 words per minute

 

Office manager qualifications

Qualifications are not always essential to work as an office manager, as many employers value administration experience and skills over academic qualifications.

With that said, requirements vary widely in this sector, with some employers asking for a bachelor’s degree or HND as a minimum. Additionally, there are several other vocational qualifications that can help office managers perform better in their roles.

 

Bachelor’s degrees and HNDs

Some employers specify that candidates must hold a HND or degree. While most will accept qualifications in any subject (providing the candidate holds the relevant skills), the following subjects can prove particularly useful in securing a role and progressing as an office manager:

  • Business administration or management
  • Information technology
  • Management
  • Public administration

 

Office manager and administration diplomas

There are a range of accredited office management and business administration courses available, all of which aim to teach students the key skills needed for the daily operations of an office. While not essential, these vocational qualifications can be useful for administrators looking to work their way up the ladder into an office manager role.

management and administration prepare…

 

Microsoft Excel Qualifications

As the world becomes increasingly data-orientated, office managers with advanced Excel skills are in high demand. Taking a vocational excel course, qualification or certification is a great way for office managers to prove that they’re equipped with real-world Excel knowledge to carry out office data tasks and management.

 

Subject matter qualifications

It can be beneficial for office managers to hold qualifications in the subject of the industry or department they’ll be working within. This helps them to understand the jargon and needs of the office at a deeper level. For example, an office manager working in law would benefit from having a HND or degree in law, or vocational legal secretary training.

 

What is expected of office managers?

Office managers will typically be expected to commit the following:

  • Full-time hours – Office manager roles are typically full-time at 35 – 40 hours per week, though part-time and job sharing opportunities are sometimes available
  • Possibility of occasional evening or weekend – Flexibility to work outside of core business hours is often needed during busy periods
  • Location – As the job title would suggest, this is a largely office-based role with minimal travel

 

Office manager benefits

As office managers are essential to the efficiency of a workplace, and are normally employed on a full-time, permanent basis, a good benefits package is common Depending on the employer, this could include perks like:

  • Generous holiday allowance
  • Flexible working hours
  • Pension scheme
  • Private healthcare
  • Company discounts

 

 

Who employs office managers?

Employers

Since businesses in any industry tend to have offices once they reach a certain size, office manager roles span far and wide across sectors.

While roles are generally easier to come by in larger cities, employment is available in smaller towns and cities across the UK.

Typical office manager employers include companies within:

  • Medical and healthcare
  • Local councils and government
  • Charity and not-for-profit
  • Education
  • Retail, wholesale and distribution
  • Banking and finance
  • Public utilities
  • Law
  • Property
  • Transport
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Publishing
  • Social work
  • Manufacturing
  • Creative services

 

Which junior jobs progress to office manager roles?

Stepping stone jobs

Since employers generally value office experience over anything else, there are numerous jobs which see employees naturally progress through the ranks into office manager roles. These include:

 

Administrator

Experienced administrators have had the time to refine their administrative, time management and organisational skills and are no stranger to working in busy environments under pressure. For this reason, they often make perfect candidates for internal office manager roles.

Business administration apprentice

Due to the relevance skills and experience gained, advanced and higher business admin apprentices often move into permanent office manager and personal assistant roles at the end of their apprenticeship.

 

Which senior jobs do office managers progress to?

Even though a job as an office manager can be a life-long and potentially lucrative career choice in its own right, it can also be a springboard into more senior and higher paid jobs, such as:

 

Specialist or senior office manager

One of the most common and logical steps for office managers is to progress into either a senior or specialist role. Larger companies often employ several office managers to take care of individual departments, meaning there could be opportunities to oversee an entire team of office managers. In other circumstances, office managers may build up their knowledge of a specialist area and accept a role within that area, for example, HR.

Various management roles

Since the job of an office manager is so well-rounded and demands an array of highly transferable skills, it’s common to progress into high-level management roles such as head of department, operations management or business development management.

 

Office manager job description – conclusion

As businesses across all sectors run offices, demand for office managers is high.

While the role does require a vast skill set, it’s achievable for ambitious and driven professionals across the board, with or without higher education.

With high job security, generous salaries and plenty of opportunity for progression, office manager jobs make for an invaluable opportunity for graduates and established administrators alike.

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