This office manager job description is ready to copy and tailor. It covers what the job actually involves (running the space, managing vendors and budgets, leading front-desk and admin staff) and you're free to edit every line. After the template: what office managers really do at different company sizes, 2025 U.S. pay data from O*NET with a note on why that data is broad, interview questions and tips for writing the post.
Office manager job description template
What an office manager does
An office manager keeps the workplace running so nobody else has to think about it. A typical week might include a vendor review with the cleaning company, a broken HVAC ticket with building management, three new hires to set up and a budget report for finance. On Thursday it's planning the quarterly all-hands, and on Friday it's coaching the receptionist through a tricky visitor situation. O*NET's tasks for the broader supervisory group fit the people side of the job: supervising office staff, setting schedules and duty assignments, handling escalated complaints and recruiting and training new employees.
Office managers work across the whole company. They partner with finance on spend, with HR on onboarding, with IT on equipment and with leadership on space planning. They also manage a wide outside network of landlords, vendors, couriers and service providers. Much of the job is invisible when it's done well and very visible when it isn't.
The role looks very different by size. In a company of 15 to 50 people, the office manager is often the only admin, doing reception, HR paperwork, bookkeeping support and events alone. In a larger office or a company with several sites, the job shifts toward supervising a team, owning a real budget, enforcing policy and handling facilities projects like moves and build-outs. If you need someone to cover admin tasks rather than run the office, start with our administrative assistant or receptionist templates instead.
Skills and qualifications
Education norms are mixed for this group. In O*NET's survey for First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers, 45% of respondents said new hires need a bachelor's degree, 23% said a high school diploma and 20% said some college. For an office manager, proven experience running an office usually outweighs a degree, and no certification is required.
Salary
O*NET doesn't track "office manager" as its own occupation. It lists the title under a broad group, First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers (43-1011.00), which also includes accounts payable supervisors, customer service supervisors and other office team leads. For that group, O*NET shows a U.S. median of $69,500 a year ($33.41 an hour), based on 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data. The 10th percentile is $45,610 and the 90th percentile is $104,710.
Treat those figures as a rough guide. An office manager with no reports at a 20-person startup will usually land lower in that band than one supervising a team at a large site. California's median for the group is $77,590, and other high-cost areas run above the national figure too. Once you've set a range, include it in the post, since a growing number of states and cities now require pay ranges in job ads.
Interview questions for office manager candidates
- "You find out the office spent 30% over its snack and catering budget last quarter. What do you do?" Strong candidates look at the data first, find what drove it, talk with the people affected and propose a fix that doesn't make the office miserable.
- "Our cleaning contract is up for renewal next month. How do you approach it?" Look for a review of service quality and complaints, a market check with a few other vendors and a clear negotiation goal.
- "Your receptionist keeps arriving late, and the desk opens unstaffed. How do you handle it?" Good answers start with a private, direct conversation about the cause, set a clear expectation and follow up, rather than ignoring it or jumping to discipline.
- "Tell me about an office move or big change you managed." Listen for planning, a timeline, how they kept people informed and what went wrong, told in STAR form.
For more questions on organization, prioritization and handling people, with a 1 to 4 rubric, see our administrative assistant interview questions, which cover much of the same ground. For the supervisory side, a shared interview scorecard keeps every interviewer focused on the same competencies.
Writing tips for this role
- Say whether the job manages people. "Supervises two admins and a receptionist" and "solo office manager" attract different candidates and justify different pay.
- Give the size of the budget and the office. "50-person office, $250K annual office budget" tells applicants the scale in one line.
- Be clear about HR, payroll and IT duties. These are the tasks most likely to surprise a new hire if they're hidden in "other duties as assigned."
- Use the common title. Candidates search "office manager" far more than "workplace experience lead." If you use a newer title internally, include "office manager" in the post too.
- Don't over-require a degree. Many excellent office managers grew from receptionist or admin roles. Ask for the experience you need instead.
Screening office manager candidates with AI
Office manager applicants range from first-time admins to seasoned facilities leads, so the first job is sorting them. NTRVSTA scores and ranks each resume against your job description, then runs a live AI interview, by video avatar or audio only, that candidates can complete at any time. The interviewer adapts its follow-ups to each answer, so a candidate who describes managing a budget gets probed on the details, and behavioral questions use the STAR method. Soft skills like communication, problem-solving and leadership are part of NTRVSTA's exam library, and you can add your own vendor or facilities scenarios.
You get a score breakdown, video snippets of key moments and a shareable report for each candidate before the in-person rounds. If you're comparing tools, our AI interview software guide explains the main differences.
Questions
Is an office manager a supervisor?
Sometimes. In larger offices the office manager supervises receptionists and administrative assistants, which is why O*NET places the title under First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers. In a small company the office manager may have no direct reports at all. Say which one your role is, because it changes who applies and what you should pay.
What's the difference between an office manager and an operations manager?
An office manager runs the physical office and its administrative support: space, vendors, supplies, front desk and office budget. An operations manager usually owns how the business delivers its product or service, such as processes, staffing plans and performance metrics across teams. In very small companies one person may do both, so name the scope clearly.
Should an office manager handle HR and payroll?
In many small companies they do, often running onboarding paperwork, benefits enrollment or payroll inputs. If yours will, list the specific tasks and the systems, and expect to pay more. If HR is handled elsewhere, say that too, so candidates who don't want HR duties aren't scared off.
Curious how an adaptive AI first round would screen your office manager applicants? Book a 20-minute demo, or take a sample interview to see the candidate side. Our operations manager template and the rest of our job descriptions are free too.
