Job Description of an Operations Coordinator

by Christopher Raines

As an operations coordinator, you put people and objects together to provide goods and services. Although you answer to a manager or director, you typically carry out your duties with independence and significant autonomy. Performing your work requires you to blend together skills in human resource management, maintenance and repairs, office administration and customer service.

Staffing Duties

Operations coordinators provide and oversee the daily manpower for the workplace, scheduling employee shifts and planning, assigning and supervising the work and dispatch crews. Depending on your employer, staffing duties may include interviewing, hiring, training, evaluating and disciplining employees -- or assisting the manager or director with these functions. The training and supervision of staff, especially where chemicals, plants, aircraft or vehicles are involved, involves safety standards and regulations. Equipment repair needs, especially in urgent or emergency cases, may require you to contact extra employees, find outside contractors or handle them yourself.

Equip and Supply

To keep operations flowing, you work to ensure the supply room is stocked and equipment is running properly. For example, an operations coordinator at a college copy center may order ink or schedule service and repairs to copying machines. At physical plants, you monitor performance of production or treatment equipment. Expect to involve yourself directly in repairs or installations. As you replenish supplies and inventory and fix machines or vehicles, you also keep track of the bills and invoices.


Your duties as an operations coordinator include dealing with professionals in other fields as well as the public. For instance, a coordinator on an airfield must communicate with civil engineers, flight crews and air traffic controllers. In a 911 communications center, you oversee the preservation of calls for use in court cases. If you work for a utility provider, you may need to answer customer questions about bills and services.

Qualified Backgrounds

A high school diploma is a must and, depending on the employer, you will need an associate degree from a community or technical college. Operations coordinators need, as a rule of thumb, at least four or five years' work experience or training. Your education and employment history should include mechanical or electrical devices, word processing and spreadsheet software and business. Basic knowledge of engineering will help you work with communications or treatment equipment.

Physical Demands

An operations coordinator performs physical labor in addition to supervising staff. Thus, you must possess the strength to lift or move objects or use tools to repair equipment. Expect to spend many hours of your shifts walking around your facilities for inspections of equipment and grounds and oversight of workers. Operations coordinators use protective clothing and equipment to guard against loud noises and adverse weather conditions.

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