WHAT DOES AN OPERATIONS DO?
Reviewed under Editorial Standards by Lam Nguyen
Updated: Dec 22, 2025 - The Operations Professional optimizes daily business functions by coordinating workflows, managing resources, and ensuring operational compliance across all activities. This role involves improving efficiency through data-driven decisions, overseeing cross-functional processes, and maintaining consistent quality and service standards. The individual also supports strategic initiatives, resolves operational issues quickly, and drives continuous improvement to enhance overall organizational performance.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Operations
1. Operations Analyst Key Accountabilities
- Analysis Tasks: Process submissions of statistical filings and resolve errors.
- Regulatory Support: Assist management in the analysis of regulatory bulletins.
- Report Preparation: Prepare various management reports and other regulatory filings.
- Data Analysis: Perform data analysis and trending for management needs.
- Audit Support: Provide support during audits.
- Quality Review: Perform quality reviews and trending analysis for the Complaint Management Program.
- Project Assistance: Assist the manager and the Underwriting Operations team on various projects.
- Operations Support: Provide additional assistance to members of Underwriting Operations.
2. Junior Operations Analyst Job Summary
- Operational Reconciliation: Perform operational reconciliations against the GCM based on trades, positions, and cash on a T+1 basis.
- Issue Resolution: Liaise with GCM and front-office traders to resolve trade, position, and cash breaks.
- Break Analysis: Support production and perform analysis of the critical position break report.
- Settlement Management: Manage stock settlement and provide corporate action support.
- Fee Management: Manage brokerage and fee accruals and reconciliations.
- Regulatory Reporting: Complete daily regulatory and exchange reporting requirements.
- Trade Support: Provide trade support, including trade management and driving STP performance.
- P&L Accuracy: Liaise with product control to ensure the daily P&L is accurate.
3. Operations Assistant Roles
- Inventory Management: Manage the overall inventory procedures in Shopee, the website, and other eCommerce platforms.
- Inventory Support: Assist with inventory activities, including receiving and stocking merchandise.
- Website Operations: Monitor and coordinate website operations on a daily basis.
- Customer Service: Greet customers, respond to questions, and provide outstanding customer service.
- Operational Efficiency: Ensure all operations are carried out in an efficient, appropriate, and cost-effective manner.
- Showroom Management: Manage showroom operations and maintain cleanliness.
- ERP Updates: Support data updates within the ERP system.
- SharePoint Updates: Help update data and information within the internal SharePoint system.
- Goods Inwards: Provide cover for goods inwards processing.
- Purchasing Support: Provide support for processing purchase requisitions and general purchasing activities.
4. Operations Coordinator Additional Details
- Merchandise Handling: Receive merchandise and prepare transfers to other locations.
- Order Processing: Ensure all transfers and customer orders are wrapped, shipped, and received in accordance with TCO standards.
- Inventory Accuracy: Ensure store inventory accuracy, merchandise condition, and availability to optimize customer service.
- Invoice Processing: Ensure all merchandise invoices are processed.
- Client Orders: Purchase and follow up on client orders.
- Supply Ordering: Order all supplies.
- Shipment Processing: Process shipments with local carriers.
- Cycle Count Support: Assist the store manager in leading and coordinating cycle counts and physical inventory preparation.
- Inventory Oversight: Oversee the yearly physical inventory and ensure correct procedures are followed.
- Interdepartmental Liaison: Function as the liaison with facilities, accounting, IT, and auditors, follow up on inventory and audit issues, and manage record retention.
- Transfer Administration: Administer transfers between locations.
5. Operations Engineer Duties and Roles
- Technical Support: Provide technical and troubleshooting support to maintenance, operations, and integrity teams, including commissioning and start-up.
- MOC Participation: Actively participate in the management of change (MOC) process in conjunction with facility stakeholders.
- Vendor Collaboration: Collaborate with vendors, engineering firms, and subject matter experts to solve problems and resolve design issues.
- Engineering Design: Utilize engineering skills to design issue-for-construction packages, addressing HSE and reliability concerns, optimization, pay-out justification, and regulatory compliance.
- Technical Documentation: Prepare and authenticate technical drawings and documentation within the discipline, including P&IDs, piping isometrics, line designation tables, and code calculations.
- Engineering Analysis: Perform hydraulic calculations and modeling, conduct process hazard analyses, and review transient pressure trends and studies.
- Project Management: Provide project management for small capital and OPEX projects from conception to completion.
- System Optimization: Monitor system operability and flow balances and make recommendations for optimization and improvement.
- Controls Integration: Be familiar with the controls infrastructure and collaborate with the DCS specialist to implement changes as part of MOCs.
- Repair Review: Provide input to and review repair plans and capital project execution.
6. Operations Manager Overview
- Trade Affirmations: Perform daily trade affirmations.
- Cash & Position Reconciliation: Reconcile daily cash and positions.
- Trade Settlement: Take responsibility for settling trades.
- Treasury Tasks: Execute treasury tasks, including margin and financing.
- Corporate Actions: Monitor and process corporate actions.
- P&L Monitoring: Actively monitor pricing and profit and loss within the PMS.
- Shadow NAV: Produce the daily internal shadow NAV.
- NAV Reconciliation: Reconcile NAVs with fund administrators.
- Invoice Processing: Process invoices and perform related controls.
- Financial Statement Review: Coordinate and review annual financial statements for funds.
7. Operations Planner Responsibilities and Key Tasks
- Supplier Coordination: Liaise with offshore suppliers to ensure orders are confirmed accurately.
- Order Management: Raise offshore orders in line with business requirements.
- Shipment Oversight: Oversee FCL shipments and obtain status updates during production and transport.
- System Updates: Update systems with timely and accurate delivery-schedule information.
- Supplier Performance: Identify supplier performance gaps and communicate issues by exception.
- Rate Negotiation: Negotiate freight forwarder rates and service levels to meet business requirements.
- Documentation Verification: Verify import documentation, including commercial invoices and packing lists.
- Customs Processing: Process documents for customs clearance and prevent unforeseen shipment delays.
- Invoice Validation: Validate deferment statements and freight forwarder invoices before payment.
- Landed-Cost Management: Manage the landed-cost process and electronically receive stock into the business.
- Delivery Coordination: Arrange deliveries from the port to the warehouse and manage the timely arrival of containers.
8. Operations Specialist Functions
- Transmission Processing: Receive incoming Fed and customer origination transmissions throughout the day and process files through the BankWay host system.
- Positive Pay Uploads: Upload Positive Pay exception files.
- IAT Processing: Upload IAT files for OFAC scans.
- Origination Processing: Process outgoing origination entries to the Fed.
- Exception Handling: Process exceptions and return items.
- Fraud Monitoring: Monitor outgoing origination transactions to ensure no fraudulent activity has occurred.
- Account Reconciliation: Balance daily reports and reconcile various general ledger and checking accounts.
- Unauthorized Debit Handling: Handle Written Statements of Unauthorized Debit transactions and DNEs.
- Procedure Development: Assist with writing new job procedures and revising existing ones.
- File Testing: Assist in testing files for new originators.
- Research Support: Perform research and assist TM Support and TM Operations.
- Regulatory Knowledge: Understand NACHA rules and guidelines, and relevant banking laws and regulations of ACH and EFT.
9. Operations Supervisor Details and Accountabilities
- Operations Monitoring: Monitor the productivity and daily functions of operations staff to ensure compliance.
- Operational Support: Provide support, assistance, and backup to all operational functions.
- Access Reviews: Complete all user access reviews for all operating systems.
- Customer Service: Offer courteous and professional service for customer inquiries or complaints with prompt responses and resolutions.
- Procedure Maintenance: Ensure procedures are maintained and kept current for the department and related activities.
- Project Ownership: Take ownership of projects by researching, gathering data, evaluating, preparing reports, and implementing actions promptly.
- Branch Support: Provide customer and account support to branch personnel.
- Staff Coordination: Coordinate production staffing based on dynamic production schedules.
- Maintenance Processing: Enter maintenance work notifications and identify and facilitate required work permits.
10. Operations Technician Role Purpose
- Order Fulfillment: Kit and fulfil customer orders for kit sales.
- Reporting: Generate reports.
- Inventory Updates: Update inventory records and maintain traceability.
- Invoice Generation: Generate invoices in SFDC.
- Receivables Management: Administer receivables and collections.
- COGS Monitoring: Be in charge of monitoring COGS.
- Customer Setup: Set up and qualify new customers.
- Sales Order Management: Enter and track sales orders.
- AR Administration: Administer accounts receivable, invoicing, and collections.
- Procurement Support: Serve as backup to procurement for office and lab supplies.
- File Management: Manage the online filing system, including invoices and related documentation.
Editorial Process
Lamwork content is developed through structured review of publicly available job postings and documented hiring trends.
Editorial operations are managed by Thanh Huyen, Managing Editor, with research direction and final oversight by Lam Nguyen, Founder & Editorial Lead. Content is periodically reviewed to reflect observable labor market changes.