This was incredibly helpful. I have been struggling with this ambiguity of ‘operations management’ in EA as I am in the midst of my career planning process. Specifically, what I have been wrestling with is that (1) I am incredibly excited about meta-thinking of processes, streamlining, and functioning as a multiplier of high-impact output, and think such a role might be a great personal fit for me, but (2) I have a strong , innate aversion to ‘operations’ work as described in Operations is really demanding (especially due to its overwhelming nature).
This way that ‘operations management’ is used in EA, where it seems to mix both types of work into one with the majority of responsibilities being the ‘assistant’-like work, has actually led me to begrudgingly write off operations management as a career path for now. It does seem that, what I have seen in other comments as well, that most EA organizations might be of smaller size and hence there is no full-time position for the ‘operations manager’ as you describe it. That seems plausible.
I will be mulling over this some more as I am not entirely sure whether the types of operations manager positions you describe—those that excite me—are actually readily available in EA at this moment. If they would be, I’d be strongly considering them as my next move. Thank you for this helpful post!
This was incredibly helpful. I have been struggling with this ambiguity of ‘operations management’ in EA as I am in the midst of my career planning process. Specifically, what I have been wrestling with is that (1) I am incredibly excited about meta-thinking of processes, streamlining, and functioning as a multiplier of high-impact output, and think such a role might be a great personal fit for me, but (2) I have a strong , innate aversion to ‘operations’ work as described in Operations is really demanding (especially due to its overwhelming nature).
This way that ‘operations management’ is used in EA, where it seems to mix both types of work into one with the majority of responsibilities being the ‘assistant’-like work, has actually led me to begrudgingly write off operations management as a career path for now. It does seem that, what I have seen in other comments as well, that most EA organizations might be of smaller size and hence there is no full-time position for the ‘operations manager’ as you describe it. That seems plausible.
I will be mulling over this some more as I am not entirely sure whether the types of operations manager positions you describe—those that excite me—are actually readily available in EA at this moment. If they would be, I’d be strongly considering them as my next move. Thank you for this helpful post!