TL;DR
- An administration manager, or admin manager, leads the administrative function of an organisation: the people, processes, records and services that support every other department. The office manager runs one office; the administration manager runs administration across teams, sites or the whole organisation.
- The job has seven duties: lead and develop the admin team, design and improve administrative processes, manage records and information, run facilities and suppliers, control the admin budget, keep the organisation compliant and support senior management with reporting and projects.
- Most admin managers have come up through administrative and office roles, often via the level 3 business administrator or team leader apprenticeship. Employers should state the scope, the team and the services the function provides.
Every organisation runs on administration, and most notice it only when it fails: the contract that was not filed, the supplier that was not paid, the new starter with no desk or login. The person whose job is to make sure none of that happens, across every team rather than one office, is the administration manager. An administration manager job description has to describe a function, not a desk.
This article explains what an admin manager does, how the role differs from an office manager and an administrative assistant, sets out seven duties, lists the skills employers look for, covers the routes into the role in the UK, and gives a template and wording for a CV.
Administration is a set of repeatable processes with owners and approvals. See how New Dynamics workflows let you shape forms, stages and approvals around the way you work.
What is an administration manager?
The Cambridge Dictionary defines administration, informally admin, as “the arrangements and tasks needed to control the operation of a plan or organization”. An administration manager is the person responsible for those arrangements across an organisation or a large part of it: the administrative staff, the processes they run, the records they keep and the services they provide to other departments.
Skills England's business administrator standard, the level 3 apprenticeship for the people an admin manager leads, describes the function's purpose. Business administrators have “a highly transferable set of knowledge, skills and behaviours that can be applied in all sectors”, and the role involves “developing, implementing, maintaining and improving administrative services”, with a focus on adding value and contributing “to the efficiency of an organisation, through support of functional areas, working across teams and resolving issues as requested”. The administration manager owns that contribution at organisational level.
Administration manager, office manager and administrative assistant
| Role | Scope | Who they lead |
|---|---|---|
| Administrative assistant | Supports a team or manager with tasks | Nobody |
| Office manager | Runs one office's day-to-day operations | Reception, office staff |
| Administration manager | Runs the administrative function across teams, sites or the organisation | Administrators, office managers, team leaders |
The UK National Careers Service's office manager profile says office managers “oversee the day-to-day operations in an office or department”, with tasks including organising day-to-day office operations, developing quality control processes, carrying out staff appraisals, managing an office budget and working closely with finance and human resources. The administration manager does the same across more than one office or department, sets the standards the office managers work to, and often owns organisation-wide services such as records, facilities and procurement. In a small organisation the two titles describe one job; our office manager job description covers that version, and our administrative assistant job description the role at the start of the ladder.
Administration manager duties: seven responsibilities
- Lead and develop the admin team. Recruit, train, appraise and develop administrators and office managers; set standards and cover; plan capacity across teams and sites. The NCS lists appraisals, monitoring performance, dealing with disciplinary issues and supporting career development among an office manager's tasks, and the admin manager does them for the whole function.
- Design and improve processes. Own the administrative processes the organisation runs on, from purchase orders to travel to new-starter set-up, document them, measure them and improve them, as the business administrator standard's “developing, implementing, maintaining and improving administrative services” describes.
- Manage records and information. Filing, document management, retention and data protection for the organisation's records, physical and digital.
- Run facilities and suppliers. Premises services, equipment, stationery and supplier contracts, with procurement and facilities colleagues where they exist.
- Control the admin budget. Plan and manage the function's budget and expenses and report on spend.
- Keep the organisation compliant. Health and safety administration, insurance, licences, registrations and audits, with the specialists responsible for each.
- Support senior management. Prepare reports for the senior management team, coordinate projects, and act as the organisation's point of contact for administrative matters.
Skills employers look for
The NCS lists for office managers business management and administration skills, organisation of time and workload, thoroughness and attention to detail, teamwork, excellent verbal communication, “patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations”, logic and reasoning and confidence with computer systems. For an administration manager, six things.
- Process thinking. Seeing the sequence behind a task and fixing the sequence, not the task.
- Leadership of a dispersed team. Administrators sit in every department; the manager leads them without seeing them daily.
- Standards. Consistent quality across teams that report to different managers.
- Commercial sense. Suppliers, contracts and a budget.
- Discretion. Administration sees everything, from pay to disputes.
- Calm. The function absorbs everyone else's urgency.
Routes into the role in the UK
Most administration managers have come up through administrative roles. The NCS lists the business administrator and team leader level 3 apprenticeships as routes into office management, taking one to two years, and says an office manager could take on more responsibility for projects, cover senior management duties, specialise in legal, financial, medical or educational office management, or move into buying and procurement, business development or operations management. Administration manager sits on that path between office manager and head of operations.
No qualification is required. Management and project qualifications, and a professional administration qualification, are common. Our team leader job description covers the step from doing to leading that the role depends on.
Requirements differ in other countries. Check the rules where you work.
Administration manager job description template
Adapt the template to your organisation. Keep every line true.
Job title: Administration manager
Reports to: Head of operations, finance director or chief operating officer
Direct reports: [n] office managers and [n] administrators across [sites or departments]
Hours: [37.5] hours a week, [hybrid]
Purpose of the role: To lead the administrative function so that every team has the records, services, premises and processes it needs to work, at a consistent standard and within budget.
Main duties:
- Lead, develop and plan capacity for the administration team across [sites]
- Own, document and improve administrative processes, including [purchasing, travel, new-starter set-up]
- Manage records, document control, retention and data protection for administrative records
- Manage facilities services, equipment and supplier contracts
- Plan and control the administration budget and report on spend
- Coordinate compliance administration: health and safety records, insurance, licences and audits
- Prepare reports for senior management and coordinate cross-department projects
Skills and experience:
- [Five] years in administration, including [two] managing administrators or an office
- Experience of designing and improving processes, with examples
- Budget and supplier management
- Working knowledge of data protection and health and safety administration
- Calm, organised and discreet
We provide: Management development, [a professional administration qualification], and a route to head of operations.
State the number of sites, the size of the team and the services the function provides. Our job description template explains the overall structure.
How to describe administration management on a CV
Write what you ran and what it produced. The lines below are our own examples.
- “Administration manager for a [three]-site organisation of [n] staff, leading [n] administrators and two office managers.”
- “Redesigned the purchasing process, cutting approval time from [ten] days to [three].”
- “Implemented document management and retention across the organisation ahead of a data protection audit.”
- “Managed a [£x] administration and facilities budget, delivering [x] percent under.”
- “Coordinated the move of [n] staff to a new office with no lost working days.”
Common mistakes in administration manager adverts
Scope missing. One office or twelve; five administrators or forty. Say which.
An office manager's advert with a bigger title. If the role owns processes, records and budget across the organisation, the duties and the pay should say so.
Services unnamed. List what the function provides. Candidates and colleagues both need to know.
Compliance treated as someone else's. Say which compliance administration the role coordinates.
No route onward. Head of operations and chief administrative officer roles come from this desk.
Frequently asked questions
What does an administration manager do?
An administration manager leads the administrative function of an organisation: the admin team, the processes, records, facilities and supplier services that support every other department, the administration budget, compliance administration and reporting to senior management.
What is the difference between an administration manager and an office manager?
An office manager runs one office's day-to-day operations. An administration manager runs administration across teams, sites or the whole organisation, sets the standards office managers work to and usually owns organisation-wide services such as records, facilities and procurement. In a small organisation one person does both.
What are the duties of an admin manager?
Seven core duties: lead and develop the admin team, design and improve processes, manage records and information, run facilities and suppliers, control the admin budget, keep the organisation compliant and support senior management with reporting and projects.
What skills does an administration manager need?
Process thinking, leadership of a dispersed team, consistent standards, commercial sense with suppliers and budgets, discretion and calm, on top of the organisation, attention to detail and communication skills the National Careers Service lists for office managers.
What qualifications does an administration manager need?
None are required. Most have progressed from administrative and office management roles, often via the level 3 business administrator or team leader apprenticeship, and many hold management or professional administration qualifications.
What is the career path for an administration manager?
Typically administrative assistant, office manager, administration manager, then head of operations or an equivalent role. The National Careers Service notes moves from office management into procurement, business development and operations management.
Your next step
- Write the purpose statement with the number of sites, the team and the services in it.
- List the processes the role owns and the compliance administration it coordinates.
- State the budget and supplier authority.
- Agree the first year's measures: process turnaround, audit outcomes, spend against budget.
For writing those measures, read and download our SMART goals guide. The guide is free to read, and the PDF uses our short download form.
Want administrative processes, approvals and team reviews in one place? Book a New Dynamics demo and bring your current job description. You can also email contact@new-dynamics.com.
