When thinking about career opportunities, many people overlook the field of Business Operations or BizOps. Professionals in this field play a crucial role in designing and implementing processes and systems that help businesses run more effectively.
Thanks to the ever-growing popularity of business intelligence and big data, there is a growing demand for BizOps professionals in all industries.
Companies like Stripe, Dropbox, LinkedIn, NerdWallet, and more are early adopters of BizOps. Their successes have provided a playbook to other companies—large and small.
From startups to corporate giants, companies are searching for Business Operations professionals who are inherently cross-functional and able to bring in diverse perspectives and data-driven insights to solve some of their toughest business problems.
In this article, we’ll unpack the kind of work you’ll do as a BizOps professional and the industries you can work in. Spoiler—there’s a lot of variety, so let’s dive in!
What is Business Operations — BizOps?
BizOps is a relatively new term and often ill-defined. If you told your relatives at Thanksgiving you worked in BizOps, you likely turned some heads.Â
BizOps is like DevOps—applying agile working methods to build technologies faster—but to build solutions to business problems. Process.st provides a succinct definition, saying that BizOps “is the synchronization of strategy and business operations.”
Even though it’s a young role, it’s becoming vital to companies. Companies today are struggling with organizational silos, translating strategy into execution, drawing insights from vast amounts of data, and other meaty business problems. BizOps professionals enter this picture as cross-functional, data-centric analysts, project managers, and leaders. They not only find solutions to tough business problems, but drive their execution as well.
Often, there are teams of Business Operations professionals responsible for designing and improving internal processes, selecting vendors and implementing systems, and managing projects of varying complexity.Â
The overarching goal is to make the company run as smoothly as possible so that it can grow and scale. Let’s look more specifically at the work BizOps professionals do.
What Kind of Work will you do in Business Operations?
As a BizOps professional, your mandate is to improve the operational efficiency of your organization. To do so, you frequently leverage skills in data analysis, cross-functional project management, and systems integration & automation to drive business outcomes that grow the bottom line.
As the name suggests, Business Operations is all about running the day-to-day operations of a company. This can encompass a wide range of roles and responsibilities, such as:
- Conducting data analysis: BizOps professionals use data to identify areas of improvement within the company. This line of work might involve using data visualization tools to spot trends or working with databases to track progress over time. For example, a key responsibility within BizOps is helping with roadmapping. BizOps professionals will inform roadmap decisions by bringing in key insights that add support to—or caution against—proposed strategies. In short, they bring data to the table, so company strategies aren’t just gut feelings.
- Developing processes and procedures: All companies have processes and procedures for important tasks. For example, responding to and handling the escalation of a customer support ticket should follow a defined process.. However, a company’s standard operating procedures (SOPs), left unexamined over time, can lead to bottlenecks within the business. BizOps professionals step in to develop new SOPs and enable teams to complete work while reducing waste and enhancing overall productivity.
- Implementing and monitoring systems: BizOps professionals will help manage the technological systems that operate the business.. They don’t just select a tool and forget it or leave it to IT. Rather, BizOps teams continuously monitor and improve new systems to ensure they are running smoothly and making the desired impact. When monitoring the systems, BizOps professionals might work with software developers to build bespoke reporting to track process performance. Additionally, to get employees up to speed on new processes, they may work with instructional designers to train employees on how to use new systems.
- Stakeholder Management in Cross-functional Projects: BizOps professionals are inherently cross-functional. Their work crosses departments and involves different teams. As such, BizOps need to be well-versed in stakeholder management. They’ll set timelines, coordinate teammates, and track progress to ensure that projects are completed on time and within budget. All the while, they’ll keep senior stakeholders updated by presenting findings and offering progress reports.
Where Could You Work During Your Career as a BizOps Professional?
Any company that relies on efficient processes and systems to run its business could be a potential employer for BizOps professionals. However, there are certain industries and types of companies that are more likely to hire for these roles.
Below, we’ll outline several examples of companies that hire BizOps professionals within different industries and company sizes. To find a full list of up-to-date roles, check out our job board, where we share the top Biz Ops & Chief of Staff jobs.
Technology
Tech companies of all sizes are using BizOps more and more. Dan Yoo, a General management executive and BizOps evangelist describes BizOps as “the connective tissue in tech companies.”Â
Similarly, Megan Weir, a BizOps recruiter, says that BizOps at NerdWallet “become the COO of whatever the business partnership is.” Here are some of the companies within tech you can work at as a BizOps professional.
Small (<50)
- PipeCandy
- Polly
- Exygy
Medium (50 to 250)
- First Mode
- Maze
- ROKT
Large (>250)
- Zendesk
- Meta
Finance
BizOps work closely with finance teams. Abacum, a finance platform, describes how BizOps and finance work together, saying, “Strategic finance serves as the fuel that runs BizOps initiatives. Business operations and finance must work together to set and hit ambitious goals. Whether they are working together to streamline financial management initiatives or outline people planning goals for the organization, these two entities must work in harmony to drive continuous improvement. “
Small (<50)
- Pulley
- Scratch Financial
- Titan Financial Services
Medium (50 to 250)
- Formations
- Cash App
- Alternative
Large (>250)
- Lincoln Financial Group
- PayPal
- eMoney Advisor
Healthcare
The healthcare industry is undergoing dramatic shifts. Whether it’s streamlining bureaucratic processes or adjusting to remote healthcare, BizOps roles will become increasingly important.
Small (<50)
- The Rounds
- Heading Health
- Health Hero, Inc
Medium (50 to 250)
- Headway
- CipherHealth
- Rancho BioSciences LLC
Large (>250)
- UnitedHealth Group
- USAble Life
- Lyra Health
Retail
BizOps professionals working in the retail industry are instrumental in helping them grow in both brick-and-mortar channels and ecommerce. Priyesh Patel, when working as a BizOps professional in the retail sector, shares that “we were a highly collaborative team. By delivering an IT infrastructure that offered five-nines availability, optimally performing applications, and frictionless, rewarding customer experiences, our team could play an indispensable role in building customer trust.”
Small (<50)
- Shiftsmart
- Anna Sheffield Fine & Commitment Jewelry
- Air Protein
Medium (50 to 250)
- BrightFarms
- Fanatics Inc.
- Fay
Large (>250)
- Amazon
- Walmart
- Home Depot
Consulting
BizOps work naturally within consulting. Consultants are inherently cross-functional and need to bring in knowledge from diverse industries and roles to solve tough business problems. For example, Tobey Wyatt, BizOps Consultant at Motherlode Consulting, describes why consultants transition naturally into BizOps:Â
“As a generalist, you have to have the opportunity to see a broad range of things, and in many roles, it becomes the "catch-all" position…You just take on more and more new things until you really are a broad expert.”
Consulting companies hiring BizOps professionals include:
Small (<50)
- ShiftCode Analytics
- Humanloop
- Motherlode Consulting
Medium (50 to 250)
- Encore Consulting
- Avela
- Workforce Matrix
Large (>250)
- CliftonLarsonAllen
- Berkeley Research Group
- McKinsey
Transportation and Logistics
BizOps professionals will thrive in the logistics industry as they play a key role in forecasting demand and navigating the myriad of constraints present within shipping. Whether it’s optimizing the routes of a fleet of trucks to improve efficiency, or building models to forecast demand in global markets so a global shipping company can be more agile, BizOps are invaluable. Some of the companies hiring BizOps professionals include:
Small (<50)
- Ivee
- OpenTrack
- True North Fleet
Medium (50 to 250)
- Jerry
- Flexport
- ShipLilly
Large (>250)
- Lockheed Martin
- O'Reilly Automotive
- Ryder System
Real Estate
BizOps professionals within real estate help optimize real estate investing. You could find yourself analyzing the risk of certain investments or using AI to forecast how economic changes will affect housing prices. Companies hiring BizOps professionals within the real estate industry include:
Small (<50)
- Atlanta BeltLine
- Culdesac
- Shoreline Property Group
Medium (50 to 250)
- Valon Mortgage
- TKS Real Estate Partners
- Sagent
Large (>250)
- Zillow
- Newmark
- Realtor.com
Start Building Your Future Career In BizOps
From tech startups to major retailers and banking institutions, there are different types of companies searching for talented BizOps professionals.
Startups are often searching for individuals who can wear many hats and handle various aspects of the business, such as data analysis, process improvement, and project management.
Larger companies tend to be more specialized in their BizOps needs, and they might be searching for individuals with specific skill sets, such as Technical System Implementation and RevOps GTM Strategy.
If you're looking for an exciting, dynamic, and challenging career, a BizOps role might be a great option for you. With the right skills, sufficient experience, and a strong and supportive community like the BizOps Network’s community, you can build a successful career in BizOps in no time.
The BizOps Network is a private membership organization of Business Operations professionals from startups to Fortune 500 companies. As a member, you'll have access to an online resource library, live development sessions, mentoring and coaching, a free consulting hotline, exclusive events like workshops and roundtable discussions, and networking opportunities. Apply here.