---
title: "General and Operations Manager"
description: "Plan, direct, or coordinate the operations of public or private sector organizations, overseeing multiple departments or locations. Duties and…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/general-and-operations-manager"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# General and Operations Manager

**Category:** Management · **SOC code:** 11-1021 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 11-1021.00

Plan, direct, or coordinate the operations of public or private sector organizations, overseeing multiple departments or locations. Duties and responsibilities include formulating policies, managing daily operations, and planning the use of materials and human resources, but are too diverse and general in nature to be classified in any one functional area of management or administration, such as personnel, purchasing, or administrative services. Usually manage through subordinate supervisors. Excludes First-Line Supervisors.

Also advertised as: Business Manager; Center Manager; Department Manager; District Manager; General Manager (GM); Operations Director; Operations General Manager (Operations GM); Operations Manager.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $105,770 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $50.85/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $50,090 to $253,390, with the middle half between $72,320 and $167,280
- **Total US employment:** 3,503,020
- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's
- **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +4.4% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 308,700 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 39/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 3,503,020 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $50,090 |
| 25th | $72,320 |
| 50th (median) | $105,770 |
| 75th | $167,280 |
| 90th | $253,390 |
| Mean (average) | $134,940 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| NJ | $173,690 | $159,634 | 53,000 |
| DC | $168,000 | $152,865 | 36,150 |
| SD | $137,400 | $155,104 | 4,280 |
| CT | $137,220 | $132,439 | 39,070 |
| DE | $137,220 | $137,484 | 5,000 |
| WA | $133,750 | $124,985 | 50,630 |
| CO | $131,840 | $127,935 | 41,870 |
| NY | $130,860 | $121,255 | 206,740 |
| MA | $127,220 | $120,295 | 95,880 |
| NH | $124,680 | $119,695 | 22,110 |
| CA | $124,390 | $112,346 | 300,840 |
| VA | $122,080 | $120,747 | 103,590 |
| WI | $118,730 | $126,181 | 36,910 |
| MD | $117,930 | $112,358 | 96,740 |
| RI | $117,380 | $114,763 | 9,150 |

39 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 54 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/general-and-operations-manager/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/general-and-operations-manager.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 3,712,900 in the 2024–2034 base year to 3,876,800 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 164,000 jobs, or +4.4%. Faster than average: 4.4% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 308,700 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Medium preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** 5 years or more.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma | 28.8% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 27.3% |
| Some College Courses | 21.6% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 10.4% |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 6.0% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 5.7% |

## What the work involves

- Review financial statements, sales or activity reports, or other performance data to measure productivity or goal achievement or to identify areas needing cost reduction or program improvement.
- Perform personnel functions, such as selection, training, or evaluation.
- Establish or implement departmental policies, goals, objectives, or procedures in conjunction with board members, organization officials, or staff members.
- Prepare staff work schedules and assign specific duties.
- Direct administrative activities directly related to making products or providing services.
- Direct or coordinate financial or budget activities to fund operations, maximize investments, or increase efficiency.
- Direct and coordinate activities of businesses or departments concerned with the production, pricing, sales, or distribution of products.
- Monitor suppliers to ensure that they efficiently and effectively provide needed goods or services within budgetary limits.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Coordination — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Management of Personnel Resources — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Negotiation — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Administration and Management — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 4.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Production and Processing — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Personnel and Human Resources — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Enterprising (E), Conventional (C), Social (S).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| E — Enterprising | 7.00 |
| C — Conventional | 5.34 |
| S — Social | 3.38 |
| I — Investigative | 2.37 |
| R — Realistic | 2.20 |
| A — Artistic | 1.29 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ESTJ | 79.6 |
| ESFJ | 75.6 |
| ENTJ | 66.0 |
| ESTP | 61.3 |
| ENFJ | 59.9 |

Best-fitting types: ESTJ, ESFJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Chief Executive](https://nuecareer.com/careers/chief-executive) — median $213,990
- [Administrative Services Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/administrative-services-manager) — median $114,130
- [Industrial Production Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/industrial-production-manager) — median $126,060
- [First-Line Supervisor of Non-Retail Sales Workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-non-retail-sales-workers) — median $87,520
- [Facilities Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/facilities-manager) — median $106,660
- [Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/transportation-storage-and-distribution-manager) — median $107,230
- [Project Management Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/project-management-specialist) — median $102,320
- [Construction Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/construction-manager) — median $114,990
- [Information Technology Project Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/information-technology-project-manager) — median $116,580
- [Sales Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/sales-manager) — median $148,270

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/general-and-operations-manager