Office Manager

An Office Manager coordinates the administrative tasks and services needed to keep offices running day to day. Depending on the organisation, they track requests concerning workspaces and equipment, coordinate work carried out by suppliers, arrange for visitors to be welcomed and prepare practical arrangements for new starters.

The role varies with the size of the company. In a small organisation, one person may handle several office tasks. In a larger organisation, those tasks are often divided among specialist roles.

In a role focused on office operations, the Office Manager may also prepare equipment for new starters and help with the logistics of internal events. Personnel administration and overall operations management are outside this role. Other roles called Office Manager may include HR or financial responsibilities, depending on the remit assigned. Choosing suppliers and signing contracts require explicit delegated authority.

Office Manager, executive assistant and Operations Manager: who does what?

• Office Manager: tracks equipment and suppliers and arranges visitor reception for the teams.
• Executive assistant: supports an executive or leadership team, particularly with diaries and meeting arrangements. Some duties overlap, but an executive assistant primarily supports leadership, while an Office Manager responds to the needs of teams in the offices.
• Operations Manager: This role is a useful comparison when the need concerns broader management of the company’s operations. The Operations Manager job profile helps you examine that broader remit without assigning it to the Office Manager.

The role helps ensure that routine office needs have a clear owner. An unavailable meeting room, missing equipment or poorly tracked supplier work can interrupt a team’s work. The Office Manager receives requests, follows up on work carried out by suppliers and keeps teams informed of progress. They prioritise requests, refer decisions beyond their delegated authority to someone authorised to make them, and track the requests through to resolution.

The boundaries of the role vary between companies. The employer specifies which requests the Office Manager handles, which decisions need approval and who is authorised to make them. Without this division of responsibilities, requests may go unanswered.

• Coordinate the administrative and practical requests needed to keep offices running day to day.
• Monitor workspaces and flag equipment needs or work required on the premises.
• Arrange for visitors to be welcomed and directed to the right contacts.
• Anticipate teams’ equipment and supply needs, and track orders or deliveries assigned to the role.
• Coordinate work carried out by suppliers and monitor the quality of the service provided.
• Prepare the practical arrangements for new starters with the relevant teams.
• Organise the logistics of meetings and internal events, if these are part of the role.
• Prioritise simultaneous requests and seek approval for decisions beyond their delegated authority.

Several routes can prepare someone to coordinate an office. The CIDJ cites the French BTS support à l’action managériale and BTS gestion de la PME qualifications. These courses provide a grounding in organisation, administrative tracking and communication that can be applied in the role. Experience in assistant roles, administration or facilities services can also prepare someone for the duties assigned. No single qualification is required for every Office Manager role: the skills expected depend on the duties involved.

Relevant experience depends on the role’s responsibilities: tracking premises and equipment, coordinating suppliers, reception or meeting logistics. For a role focused on one main activity, experience in that activity may be suitable. They may need support with any other duties the role includes. For a broader role, experience across several activities is useful. Keeping clear records, prioritising requests, communicating with teams and documenting approvals are useful skills regardless of training route.

To assess a candidate, start with the activities your company will assign to them and the decisions it will delegate. Use the following steps as recruitment guidance, adapting them to the role you define.

1. Set criteria for the office role

Distinguish essential activities from occasional tasks. For example, assess workspace monitoring, supplier coordination, practical reception arrangements and event logistics separately if the latter is part of the role. For each criterion, define what a satisfactory example should demonstrate: receiving a request, following up the action, informing the relevant people and checking the outcome. State who can approve spending or change a contract. A positive sign is the candidate’s ability to explain this remit back to you. It is a concern if they assume they would have authority you do not intend to give them.

2. Examine past work

Ask for a specific example of an equipment request they handled or supplier work they coordinated or followed up. Have the candidate describe the starting point, the people consulted, the decision made and how the request was closed. If they come from an assistant role, find out what they actually coordinated for an office beyond managing a leadership team’s diary. A clear answer distinguishes their work from that of a supplier or manager. A description based only on general qualities is not enough to establish practical experience.

3. Use a practical exercise close to the role

Hypothetical example: a booked meeting room is unavailable, two teams need an alternative and the supplier cannot attend until the following day. Ask the candidate to prioritise the requests in light of the constraints, inform the people affected and say what they would seek approval for. Look at their approach rather than expecting one answer. They might suggest another room, adjust the schedule or escalate the clash of priorities according to the company’s rules. It would be a concern if they promised to incur a cost or change a contract without knowing their delegated authority.

4. Assess communication and decision-making authority

Ask the candidate about a time when several teams needed their help. Whom did they respond to first, and why? How did they update those whose requests had to wait? Look for clear messages, explained priorities and an ability to flag matters beyond their role. For new-starter logistics, ask how they would work with HR without taking over its formalities. If you need another view on the premises-related constraints, involve an internal manager familiar with the premises, if there is one. Leadership decides how much authority to delegate to the role.

5. Check relevant references

Tell the candidate in advance that you intend to take up references, then contact someone who has seen them handle office requests or suppliers. Keep questions relevant to the role: which activities did they track, which decisions did they make independently and how did they raise difficulties? Compare the answers with examples given in the interview. Agreement about responsibilities and limits is more useful than a general opinion. If their previous experience differs from the role, return to what you observed in the practical exercise and plan suitable support.