Managing teams and projects in line with a private, public, or voluntary organisation's operational or departmental strategy.
This occupation is found in small, medium, large, and multinational organisations in private, public, and third sectors across all areas of the economy.
Operations managers perform leadership and management duties with teams and senior managers to ensure that teams fulfil their roles and meet organisational goals. They are essential to all business models that have an operational area or department with a workforce to lead, manage, and support.
The broad purpose of this occupation is to provide leadership, with both operational and project responsibilities. An operations manager is responsible for managing individuals or a team, offering direction, instructions, and guidance to achieve set goals. They are crucial for the smooth functioning of all departments within an organisation and ensure that their functions are administered and maintained in accordance with legislation and the organisation’s policies and procedures. Operations managers provide clear and inclusive leadership and direction within their area of responsibility. This typically involves setting, managing, and monitoring the achievement of core objectives aligned with the organisation’s overall strategic goals. In smaller organisations, they are also likely to contribute to the execution and achievement of these strategic objectives.
In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with colleagues from various internal departments, including operations, human resources, finance, legal, IT, sales and marketing, and project groups. Operations managers also engage with external stakeholders such as customers, clients, and suppliers. They may work in diverse environments, including offices, onsite locations, or remotely, demonstrating a high level of flexibility and adaptability to meet organisational needs.
An employee in this occupation is responsible for leading and managing their operational function. This includes being accountable for developing team members, managing projects, planning and reviewing workloads and resources, delivering operational plans, resolving problems, and building relationships both internally and externally.
An operations manager may work as part of a network or in a team setting. They operate within agreed budgets and available resources, reporting to senior leaders. They are responsible for decision-making and guiding or influencing the decisions of others. This includes applying business continuity principles, collecting and interpreting data to identify trends, analysing resources, and finding ways to improve efficiencies.
Operations managers understand how their role supports the broader organisational structure. They apply codes of practice, legislation, and regulations relevant to their organisation’s operations. This encompasses legal and ethical responsibilities, as well as equity, diversity and inclusion, health and safety, and the sustainability impacts of the organisation.
This is a summary of the key things that you – the apprentice and your employer need to know about your end-point assessment (EPA). You and your employer should read the EPA plan for the full details. It has information on assessment method requirements, roles and responsibilities, and re-sits and re-takes.
An EPA is an assessment at the end of your apprenticeship. It will assess you against the knowledge, skills, and behaviours (KSBs) in the occupational standard. Your training will cover the KSBs. The EPA is your opportunity to show an independent assessor how well you can carry out the occupation you have been trained for.
Your employer will choose an end-point assessment organisation (EPAO) to deliver the EPA. Your employer and training provider should tell you what to expect and how to prepare for your EPA.
The length of the training for this apprenticeship is typically 24 months. The EPA period is typically 5 months.
The overall grades available for this apprenticeship are:
When you pass the EPA, you will be awarded your apprenticeship certificate.
The EPA gateway is when the EPAO checks and confirms that you have met any requirements required before you start the EPA. You will only enter the gateway when your employer says you are ready.
The gateway requirements for your EPA are:
Project with report
You will complete a project and write a report. You must complete the project on-programme and pre-gateway. The EPAO will give you suggested project titles. The report should be a maximum of 4000 words (with a 10% tolerance).
You must complete and submit the written project report and any presentation materials to the EPAO by the end of week 12 of the EPA period.
You need to prepare and give a presentation to an independent assessor. Your presentation slides and any supporting materials should be submitted at the same time as the project output. The presentation with questions will last at least 60 minutes. The independent assessor will ask at least 6 questions about the project and presentation.
Professional discussion underpinned by a portfolio of evidence
You will have a professional discussion with an independent assessor. It will last 60 minutes. They will ask you at least 6 questions. The questions will be about certain aspects of your occupation. You need to compile a portfolio of evidence before the EPA gateway. You can use it to help answer the questions.
You should speak to your employer if you have a query that relates to your job.
You should speak to your training provider if you have any questions about your training or EPA before it starts.
You should receive detailed information and support from the EPAO before the EPA starts. You should speak to them if you have any questions about your EPA once it has started.Reasonable adjustments
If you have a disability, a physical or mental health condition or other special considerations, you may be able to have a reasonable adjustment that takes this into account. You should speak to your employer, training provider and EPAO and ask them what support you can get. The EPAO will decide if an adjustment is appropriate.
This apprenticeship aligns with The Chartered Management Institute for Member, as well as Chartered Manager status, where they can evidence 3+ years management experience
Please contact the professional body for more details.
This apprenticeship aligns with Institute of Leadership for Member
Please contact the professional body for more details.
| Version | Change detail | Earliest start date | Latest start date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.4 | End point assessment revised | 25/09/2024 | Not set |
| 1.3 | Occupational standard, end-point assessment plan and funding band revised | 19/09/2024 | 24/09/2024 |
| 1.2 | End-point assessment plan revised | 21/10/2020 | 18/09/2024 |
| 1.1 | The funding band for this standard has been reviewed as part of the apprenticeship funding band review. The new funding band is £7000 | 04/03/2019 | 20/10/2020 |
| 1.0 | Retired | 01/06/2016 | 03/03/2019 |
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