6 free templates for small businesses hiring someone to own the back office: general, small business, office and facilities, HR and administration, finance and administration, and assistant. Download as DOCX.
The first time I hired someone to run administration I wrote the posting in about twenty minutes, and I spent the next four months paying for it. What I described was a very good assistant. What the business needed was someone who could hold a budget, manage two people, and settle things without asking me first. The applicants matched the posting exactly, which was the whole problem.
Administration manager is also a title the federal statistics do not carry on its own. The nearest occupation is Administrative Services Managers, which covered 271,200 people in 2024 and lists Administrative Manager among the titles employers actually report under it. That mismatch between the title you post and the data you benchmark against is worth knowing before you set a salary.
These six templates come out of that experience. At FirstHR we write hiring documents for companies with no HR department, and the whole set lives in our hiring templates library. Each one states the scope, the classification, and the compliance note that generic versions leave out.
TL;DR
An administration manager owns administrative services as a function: budget, support staff, vendors, records, and facilities. Most are exempt, but only when the duties tests are genuinely met, not because of the title. The nearest BLS occupation, Administrative Services Managers, had a median of $114,130 (May 2025). Six templates below, downloadable as DOCX.
What an Administration Manager Does
An administration manager plans, directs, and coordinates the administrative services a company runs on. The scope covers four things: the administrative budget and the contracts inside it, the support team, company and employee records, and the physical workplace with the safety and access obligations attached to it.
At a large employer that scope narrows to one of the four and the title comes with a qualifier. At a company of thirty people it is all four, plus whatever nobody else has claimed. That is not a flaw in the role, it is the reason it exists, and the job description has to say so rather than pretend the boundaries are tidy.
The federal occupational classification is worth reading before you write. The Bureau of Labor Statistics describes administrative services and facilities managers as planning, directing, and coordinating activities that help an organization run efficiently, including recordkeeping, distribution, and facilities. That is a useful frame, because it is written around ownership of a function rather than a list of chores.
Administration Manager vs Office Manager vs Operations Manager
The distinction that matters is what the person controls, not what the department is called. An administration manager owns a function across the company. An office manager owns a workplace. An operations manager owns how the product or service gets delivered.
Administration Manager
Owns the function
Runs administrative services as a department: budget, staff, vendors, records, facilities, and process. Decides how the work is done and commits company money to it. Usually one layer below the owner or the operations lead at a small company.
Office Manager
Owns the office
Runs a single workplace: supplies, scheduling, front desk, and vendors for that site. Overlaps heavily at companies with one location, which is why the two titles get used interchangeably and why postings for both attract the same applicants.
Operations Manager
Owns the delivery
Runs how the product or service actually gets made and delivered: production, service levels, logistics, and quality. Administration supports operations. If the hire is meant to fix throughput rather than paperwork, this is the posting you want.
Director of Administration
Owns several managers
The layer above. Sets administrative strategy across departments or sites and manages administration managers rather than individual contributors. It appears in larger and institutional organizations, and it is a level most small businesses never need.
At a single-site company with twenty employees, the administration manager and the office manager jobs genuinely overlap, and either title can be defensible. Pick based on the seniority you intend: manager of a function attracts candidates who expect budget and headcount, and they will ask about both in the first interview.
The other frequent confusion runs upward rather than sideways. If your plan is for this person to manage other managers across several sites, you are describing a director of administration, which is a level most small businesses never need and should not pay for prematurely.
Write Scope, Not Tasks
Before you list a single duty, write down three numbers: the budget this person controls, how many people report to them, and the dollar amount they can approve without asking. If you cannot fill in all three, you are not ready to hire an administration manager, and the posting you write will attract assistants. Those three numbers do more filtering than an entire page of requirements, and they are the first thing an experienced candidate looks for.
Administration Manager Duties and Responsibilities
Group the duties by area rather than listing them flat. Grouped responsibilities read as a function with ownership attached; a flat list of twenty bullets reads as a task queue, and experienced managers skim past it. Four groups cover almost every version of this role.
Budget and spend
Own the administrative budget and report on it
Approve spending to a stated limit
Negotiate and renew vendor contracts
Run purchasing for supplies and equipment
People and supervision
Supervise the administrative support team
Hire, schedule, train, and review
Handle corrective action with documentation
Cover absences and plan for peak periods
Records and process
Maintain company and employee records
Enforce the retention and destruction policy
Write and update office procedures
Keep licenses, filings, and certificates current
Workplace and risk
Manage space, moves, and maintenance
Run health, safety, and emergency programs
Control access, keys, and visitor procedures
Keep insurance and continuity plans current
Two additions are worth considering depending on your setup. If there is no HR function, employee lifecycle work belongs here explicitly rather than by accident, and our guide to human resources administration covers what that adds. If the company handles contracts at volume, contract intake and renewal tracking deserve their own line rather than hiding inside records.
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Pick by scope and setting, not by how senior the title sounds. The six below differ mainly in what sits inside the manager's remit, and each carries a classification note written for that specific combination.
Administration Manager
The general version
The standard department-owner posting: budget, support team, vendors, records, facilities, and process improvement in one scope.
Small Business Version
First admin leadership hire
For the company where administration is currently split between the owner and whoever is free. The hire builds the function rather than inheriting it.
Office and Facilities
Building included
For a multi-site or single-building employer where the same person owns space, safety, access, and the service contracts that keep it standing.
HR and Administration
People plus back office
For a company with no separate HR function, where onboarding, records, benefits, and policy sit with the same manager who runs the office.
Finance and Administration
Controls plus admin
For nonprofits, associations, and professional services firms where the close, the budget, and the contracts belong to one manager.
Assistant Administration Manager
Step-up role
For the deputy who covers the function and owns one slice of it, written non-exempt by default with the reasoning stated.
Whichever you pick, keep the finished file somewhere durable. At a small company the job description is the document you classify against, benchmark pay against, and write the first review from, so a copy on one laptop is not enough. FirstHR stores role documents against the employee profile once the person is hired. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
6 Administration Manager Job Description Templates to Download
Download all six as one file or copy them individually. Each follows the same structure: company context, position summary, key responsibilities, required qualifications, a classification note, an equal opportunity statement, and compensation with how to apply. The bracketed fields are the only parts you need to change.
Download All 6 Administration Manager Job Description Templates
General, small business, office and facilities, HR and administration, finance and administration, and assistant. All in one download.
Template 1: Administration Manager (General)
The standard department-owner posting, with budget, support team, vendors, records, facilities, and process improvement in one scope. Start here and cut what does not apply.
Administration Manager Job Description (General)
ADMINISTRATION MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Owner / COO / Director of Operations]
Direct reports: [number] ([administrative assistants, receptionist, office
coordinator, facilities staff])
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Exempt (see classification note)
Compensation: $_ to $_ per year
ABOUT [COMPANY NAME]
[Company Name] is a [industry] company in [City, State] with [number] employees
across [number] locations. We are hiring an Administration Manager to own the
systems, records, vendors, and support staff that keep the business running so
that the leadership team can focus on customers and growth.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Administration Manager plans, directs, and coordinates the company's
administrative services. The role owns the administrative budget, supervises the
support team, manages facilities and vendor relationships, maintains records and
documentation, and improves the internal processes other departments depend on.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Supervise the administrative support team: hiring, scheduling, training,
performance reviews, and corrective action
•Own the administrative budget of $________ and approve spending up to $______
•Manage vendors and service contracts: [office services, cleaning, IT support,
insurance brokers, equipment leases], including renewal and renegotiation
•Maintain company records and document retention under our written policy
•Design and document office procedures, then keep them current as we grow
•Manage facilities: space planning, maintenance, health and safety, security
and access, and business continuity planning
•Coordinate purchasing of supplies, equipment, and services within budget
•Support [HR / finance] with [onboarding logistics, expense processing,
compliance filings] as assigned
•Report to leadership on administrative cost, service levels, and risk
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years of administrative or operations experience, including at least
[number] years supervising staff
•Bachelor's degree in business administration, management, or a related field,
or equivalent experience
•Demonstrated budget ownership and vendor negotiation experience
•Advanced skills in [spreadsheets, document management, HR and accounting
systems]
•Sound judgment on matters of significance without day-to-day direction
CLASSIFICATION NOTE (read before posting)
Most Administration Manager roles are exempt, but the title alone does not
decide it. Under the FLSA the employee must be paid on a salary basis at or
above the federal threshold, and the primary duty must be office or non-manual
work directly related to management or general business operations, exercising
discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance. A person who
mostly processes forms, books rooms, and orders supplies to a set procedure is
performing administrative support and is non-exempt, whatever the title says.
Check your state threshold as well, since several states set a higher one. This
is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ to $_ per year, [bonus], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume by [date].
Template 2: Small Business Administration Manager
For the company where administration is currently split between the owner and whoever is free. This hire builds the function instead of inheriting it, so the posting emphasizes judgment over process knowledge.
Small Business Administration Manager Job Description
ADMINISTRATION MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION (SMALL BUSINESS, FIRST ADMIN LEADER)
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Owner / Founder]
Direct reports: [0 to 2, growing]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Exempt if the primary duty test is genuinely met (see note)
Compensation: $_ to $_ per year
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] has [number] employees and no dedicated HR or administration
department. Today the owner, the bookkeeper, and whoever is free handle
administration between other jobs. This role exists to end that. You will be the
first person whose whole job is making the back office work, and you will build
most of it yourself.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Administration Manager takes ownership of everything that is currently
and the internal processes nobody has written down. You will decide how the work
gets done, not just do it.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Build and document the administrative processes we do not have yet
•Own vendor relationships and contracts: [list your top five]
•Manage purchasing, supplies, equipment, and the administrative budget
•Keep employee and company records organized, current, and retained correctly
•Run onboarding logistics for new hires: paperwork, accounts, equipment, first
week schedule
•Coordinate with our [bookkeeper / accountant / payroll provider] on expenses
and documentation
•Handle facilities, office moves, insurance renewals, and licenses or permits
•Take administrative work off the owner's plate permanently, not temporarily
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years in an administrative, office management, or operations role at
a small company
•Comfort building a system from nothing rather than maintaining one
•Strong judgment: you will make calls without a manual and without asking first
•Discretion with payroll, personnel, and financial information
•[Bachelor's degree preferred but experience substitutes]
CLASSIFICATION NOTE
Small businesses get this wrong most often, in both directions. If the person
genuinely runs administration, sets the methods, commits company money, and
exercises independent judgment on matters of significance, exempt is defensible
provided the salary meets the federal and any state threshold. If the reality is
a very capable assistant with a manager title, the role is non-exempt and owes
overtime past forty hours in a week. Write the responsibilities honestly, then
classify against what you wrote. Revisit the classification when the job changes.
This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ to $_ per year, [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume and one paragraph on a
process you built somewhere else.
Template 3: Office and Facilities Administration Manager
For an employer where the same person owns space, safety, access, and the service contracts that keep the building running. If facilities is the whole job, use the facilities manager templates instead.
Office and Facilities Administration Manager Job Description
OFFICE AND FACILITIES ADMINISTRATION MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [COO / Director of Operations / Owner]
Direct reports: [reception, office coordinators, facilities or maintenance staff]
Sites covered: [number] ([addresses or regions])
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Exempt (see classification note)
Compensation: $_ to $_ per year
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] operates [number] sites totaling [square footage]. We are hiring
an Administration Manager whose remit combines the office and the building: the
support team, the space, the vendors who service it, and the safety obligations
that come with occupying it.
POSITION SUMMARY
This Administration Manager runs office administration and facilities together.
The role supervises support staff, manages the physical workplace and its
service contracts, controls the combined budget, and keeps the sites safe,
compliant, and functional.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Supervise office and facilities staff across [number] sites
•Manage building services: [cleaning, maintenance, HVAC, landscaping, waste,
security], including contracts, service levels, and renewals
•Own the combined administrative and facilities budget of $________
•Plan space, seating, moves, and fit-outs as headcount changes
•Maintain health and safety programs: [inspections, emergency procedures,
evacuation drills, first aid supplies, incident logging]
•Manage access control, keys, badges, alarm systems, and visitor procedures
•Coordinate leases, utilities, insurance certificates, and permits with
[landlord / property manager / broker]
•Run business continuity planning for site outages and closures
•Keep vendor documentation, warranties, and inspection records current
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years managing office administration, facilities, or both
•[Number] years supervising staff or contractors
•Working knowledge of workplace health and safety requirements, including
OSHA recordkeeping obligations that apply to our operation
•Contract and vendor negotiation experience with a documented savings record
•[Facilities certification preferred / not required: choose one]
CLASSIFICATION NOTE
A combined office and facilities manager is usually exempt when the primary duty
is managing the function rather than performing the manual work in it. Watch the
line carefully in small operations: someone who spends most of the week doing
repairs, setups, deliveries, and cleaning is performing manual work, and manual
work does not support the administrative exemption. If the role supervises two
or more full-time employees and directs their work, the executive exemption may
be the better fit than the administrative one. Confirm your state salary
threshold. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ to $_ per year, [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 4: HR and Administration Manager
For a company with no separate HR function, where onboarding, records, benefits, and policy sit with the manager who also runs the office. Where the people side dominates, compare it against the HR manager templates before you post.
HR and Administration Manager Job Description
HR AND ADMINISTRATION MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Owner / CEO / COO]
Direct reports: [number]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Exempt (see classification note)
Compensation: $_ to $_ per year
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] has [number] employees and no separate HR department. We are
combining people operations and administration into one role because at our size
they are the same job: the person who handles the offer letter also handles the
desk, the laptop, the handbook, and the file it all goes into.
POSITION SUMMARY
The HR and Administration Manager runs both the employee lifecycle and the
office that supports it: hiring logistics, onboarding, records, policy, benefits
administration, vendor management, and general office operations.
•[Number] years combining HR and administrative responsibility at a small or
growing company
•Working knowledge of federal employment requirements: FLSA classification,
I-9 verification, FMLA where applicable, and the recordkeeping each requires
•Familiarity with [state] employment requirements: [sick leave, final paycheck
timing, pay transparency, required notices]
•[PHR / SHRM-CP certification preferred / not required: choose one]
•Absolute discretion with compensation, medical, and personnel information
CLASSIFICATION NOTE
Human resources work is named in the federal regulation as an example of work
directly related to management or general business operations, so an HR and
Administration Manager with real decision authority typically meets the
administrative exemption duties test. The salary basis and salary level tests
still apply, and several states set a threshold above the federal one. The
common failure is a role titled manager that in practice enters data into a
system and follows instructions from the owner on every decision; that is
administrative support and it is non-exempt. This is general information, not
legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ to $_ per year, [bonus], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 5: Finance and Administration Manager
For nonprofits, associations, and professional services firms where the monthly close, the budget, and the contracts belong to one manager alongside office operations.
Finance and Administration Manager Job Description
FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION
Organization: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Executive Director / CEO / Owner]
Direct reports: [bookkeeper, administrative assistant, office coordinator]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Exempt (see classification note)
Compensation: $_ to $_ per year
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Organization Name] is a [nonprofit / professional services firm / association]
with a [budget size] annual budget and [number] staff. We are hiring a Finance
and Administration Manager to hold the financial controls and the administrative
operations in one pair of hands, reporting directly to leadership.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Finance and Administration Manager oversees bookkeeping, financial
reporting, and internal controls alongside office administration, contracts,
records, and support staff.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Finance
•Oversee accounts payable, accounts receivable, and the monthly close
•Prepare monthly financial statements and variance reporting for [leadership /
the board]
•Build and monitor the annual budget with department leads
•Maintain internal controls and segregation of duties appropriate to our size
•Coordinate the annual [audit / review / tax filing] with our external
accountant
•Track [grant / contract / project] budgets and reporting requirements
•Manage banking, expense policy, corporate cards, and reimbursements
Administration
•Manage office operations, vendors, purchasing, and service contracts
•Maintain corporate records, insurance policies, filings, and registrations
•[Number] years in finance or accounting with administrative oversight
•Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, or business administration
•[Nonprofit fund accounting / GAAP / grant compliance] experience as relevant
•Advanced spreadsheet skills and hands-on experience with [accounting system]
•[CPA or equivalent preferred / not required: choose one]
CLASSIFICATION NOTE
The federal regulation names accounting, auditing, purchasing, and procurement
as examples of work directly related to management or general business
operations, so this role generally qualifies for the administrative exemption
when the salary tests are met and the person exercises real discretion. Note the
separate compliance point: a finance and administration manager in a small
organization often controls both payment and reconciliation, which is a
segregation of duties problem regardless of employment law. Build a
compensating control, such as owner review of bank statements. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Organization Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ to $_ per year, [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume and cover letter.
Template 6: Assistant Administration Manager
For the deputy who covers the function and owns one slice of it, written non-exempt by default with the reasoning stated. If the role is really coordination rather than supervision, the administrative coordinator templates fit better.
Assistant Administration Manager Job Description
ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATION MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Administration Manager]
Direct reports: [0 to 3]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Non-exempt unless the duties test is clearly met (see note)
Compensation: $_ per hour, or $_ per year
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] is hiring an Assistant Administration Manager to support the
Administration Manager and to cover the function when they are out. This is a
step-up role: you will carry real responsibility for a defined slice of
administration and grow into managing more of it.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Assistant Administration Manager delivers day-to-day administrative
operations, supervises [number] support staff, and owns [named area: purchasing,
records, reception, or scheduling] under the direction of the Administration
Manager.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Run daily administrative operations to established procedures
•Supervise and schedule [reception / administrative assistants]
•Own [purchasing / records / facilities requests / travel booking] end to end
•Process [invoices, expense reports, purchase orders] within approval limits
•Maintain filing, document management, and retention schedules
•Prepare recurring reports for the Administration Manager
•Onboard new hires into office systems, access, and equipment
•Cover the Administration Manager during absences
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years in an administrative role, ideally with some lead experience
•Strong organization and the ability to run several tracks at once
•Proficiency with [spreadsheets, document management, our systems]
•Clear written communication with staff, vendors, and customers
•[Associate degree / bachelor's degree preferred: set your bar]
CLASSIFICATION NOTE
Default this role to non-exempt. An assistant manager who follows established
procedures, works within approval limits, and escalates anything unusual is
performing administrative support work, and that does not meet the discretion
and independent judgment requirement no matter how capable the person is. Track
hours and pay overtime past forty in a week. Reclassify only when the duties
genuinely change and the salary tests are met. If you set an hourly rate, say so
in the posting so candidates are not surprised at offer. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour, [overtime eligible], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Is an Administration Manager Exempt or Non-Exempt?
Most administration manager roles are exempt, and a meaningful minority are misclassified. The exemption turns on three tests applied together, and the job title is not one of them. Get this wrong and the exposure is back pay for unpaid overtime plus liquidated damages.
The governing rule is the federal regulation on administrative employees, and the Department of Labor summarizes it in Fact Sheet 17C. Both are short, both are readable, and both are worth ten minutes before you set a salary. Our broader breakdown of exempt versus non-exempt classification works through the tests with examples.
The title decides nothing
The administrative exemption has three parts and the job title is not one of them. The employee must be paid on a salary or fee basis at or above the federal weekly threshold, the primary duty must be office or non-manual work directly related to the management or general business operations of the employer, and that primary duty must include the exercise of discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance. All three have to be true at once. The Department of Labor is explicit that job titles never determine exempt status, which is why calling someone an administration manager and paying a salary does not settle anything. Write the duties first, then classify against the duties you actually wrote. This is general information, not legal advice.
Where the salary line sits
The federal white-collar salary threshold is $684 per week, which works out to $35,568 per year, and the highly compensated employee threshold is $107,432. The 2024 rule that would have raised both was vacated by a federal court in Texas in November 2024 and formally rescinded effective May 15, 2026, so the earlier levels are the operative ones. For an administration manager this is rarely the binding constraint, because market pay for the role sits well above the floor. The tests that actually decide the case are the duties tests. Several states set a salary threshold above the federal one, and where they do, the higher figure controls. Check your state before you post a salary. This is general information, not legal advice.
Discretion and independent judgment
This is the phrase that decides most disputed administration roles, and it means comparing and evaluating possible courses of action, then acting or making a recommendation after the possibilities are considered. It implies authority to make an independent choice, free from immediate direction, on matters of significance. Applying well-established techniques or procedures within prescribed limits is not discretion, however skilled the work is. The practical test at a small company: does this person decide, or does this person execute a decision the owner already made? Someone who selects the vendor, sets the terms, and commits the budget is exercising discretion. Someone who collects three quotes for the owner to pick from is not. This is general information, not legal advice.
Consider the executive exemption instead
Where an administration manager genuinely runs a team, the executive exemption is often the cleaner fit than the administrative one. It requires that the primary duty be managing the enterprise or a recognized department or subdivision of it, that the employee customarily and regularly direct the work of at least two other full-time employees or the equivalent, and that the employee have authority to hire and fire or have their recommendations on hiring, firing, and promotion carry particular weight. An administration manager supervising a reception, an office coordinator, and an administrative assistant usually clears that bar comfortably. Nothing stops a role from meeting both tests, and you only need one to hold. This is general information, not legal advice.
The Assistant With a Manager Title
The pattern that costs small businesses money is promoting a capable administrative assistant, adding manager to the title, moving them to salary, and changing nothing about what they do all week. The duties test is unmoved by any of that. If the person still follows established procedures, works to approval limits set by someone else, and escalates anything genuinely unusual, they are non-exempt and owed overtime past forty hours in a week. Either change the job or keep tracking the hours. Doing neither is the version that shows up in a wage claim.
Schools, hospitals, government agencies, and most businesses over $500,000 in annual sales are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, and individual employees can be covered even where the employer is not, so small size is rarely the escape hatch owners assume it is.
Requirements and Skills to Include
Ask for evidence of scope rather than credentials. The three requirements that actually predict success in this role are supervisory experience with real accountability, documented budget ownership including vendor negotiation, and a track record of building processes rather than following them.
Degree requirements deserve a harder look than they usually get. A bachelor's degree in business administration is a defensible default and a poor filter on its own, because at a small business the strongest candidates frequently came up through administrative assistant and office roles without one. Mark it preferred unless you have a specific reason it must be required.
Requirement
How to write it
Why it filters
Supervisory experience
State the number of direct reports the person will have and ask for comparable
Separates managers from senior individual contributors
Budget ownership
Name the budget size and the approval limit
Screens out candidates who have never held spend authority
Vendor negotiation
Ask for a specific contract they renegotiated and the outcome
Produces concrete answers instead of generalities
Process building
Ask what they built somewhere with no existing system
Identifies people who function without a playbook
Systems experience
Name your actual stack rather than saying computer literate
Sets a real bar and shortens ramp-up
Degree
Mark preferred unless genuinely required
Keeps experienced non-graduates in the pool
Discretion and confidentiality
State the categories: compensation, medical, personnel
Sets expectations before an offer, not after
Skip the personality adjectives. Detail-oriented, self-starter, and team player appear in nearly every administrative posting ever written, filter nobody, and cost you the space where a real requirement could sit. Our guide to writing a job description covers the general structure in more depth.
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There is no federal occupation called administration manager, so benchmarking means choosing the nearest classification that matches your actual scope. The two that bracket the role are Administrative Services Managers at the wide end and First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers at the narrow end.
National Medians for the Nearest Classifications
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), the median annual wage was $114,130 for administrative services managers and $69,500 for first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers. The administrative services managers ladder runs from $67,100 at the tenth percentile to $207,720 at the ninetieth (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS national estimates).
The gap between those two medians is the whole benchmarking problem in one number. Administrative services managers skew toward larger employers where the role carries multi-site facilities, contract portfolios, and several layers of staff. A small business administration manager supervising two people and a modest budget sits far closer to the supervisor figure, and paying the higher median for that scope is a straightforward way to overpay.
Nearest classification
Median (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
When to benchmark against it
Administrative services managers
$114,130 per year
Wide remit: budget, multi-site facilities, several staff
Administrative services managers, 25th percentile
$86,460 per year
A realistic small business target for a full-function role
Administrative services managers, 10th percentile
$67,100 per year
Entry-level scope or a lower-cost metro
First-line supervisors of office and administrative support
$69,500 per year
Narrow remit: supervising a support team, limited budget
Facilities managers
$106,660 per year
Where the building and its services dominate the role
General and operations managers
$105,770 per year
Where the role spans delivery as well as administration
Secretaries and administrative assistants
$47,540 per year
The floor: what you pay for the role you are not posting
Two practical notes on setting the number. Administrative services managers held 271,200 jobs in 2024 with about 23,200 openings projected each year through 2034 on federal projections, so this is a steady market rather than a scarce one, and you are not bidding against a shortage. Publish a good-faith range where pay transparency laws apply, and set that range against the scope you wrote rather than the title you chose.
Hiring an Administration Manager Without an HR Department
The failure modes here are predictable, which makes them avoidable. Small businesses describe an assistant and expect a manager, let the scope grow without updating the document, and then hand the new hire a pile of onboarding paperwork that the hire was supposed to eliminate.
You are hiring a manager but describing an assistant
This is the single most common failure in an administration manager posting, and it is expensive twice over. The first cost is the candidate pool: a posting made of tasks (answer phones, order supplies, maintain files, schedule meetings) attracts administrative assistants, because that is an administrative assistant job description with a manager title on top. Strong candidates read it and move on, because nothing in it suggests they will own anything. The second cost is legal: you have now written a non-exempt duty set, and if you pay it as a salaried exempt role you have created a misclassification exposure documented in your own posting. Fix it by writing scope instead of tasks. Name the budget the person controls, the number of people they supervise, the decisions they make without asking, and the outcome they own.
The scope keeps expanding because there is nobody else
At a small company, administration is defined by subtraction: it is everything that is not sales, delivery, or finance, and the pile grows quietly. Six months in, the administration manager is also doing onboarding, benefits questions, safety training, contract filing, and the insurance renewal, none of which appeared in the job description. That is not automatically bad, and a good hire often wants the growth, but it becomes a problem when the person is measured against a job description nobody has updated. Review the scope every six months, put the new work into the document, and check whether the classification and the salary still match what the role has become. A job description is a living record of the deal, not a hiring artifact you file away.
The paperwork this hire is supposed to fix is the paperwork you hand them
There is a particular irony in onboarding an administration manager: the offer letter, the handbook acknowledgment, the I-9, the direct deposit form, the equipment assignment, the policy sign-offs, and the emergency contacts all land on the owner, because the person who would normally handle them is the person starting. Their first week sets the standard for every hire after, so it is worth doing properly. FirstHR runs that sequence for you: the onboarding wizard walks the new manager through each step, built-in e-signature handles the offer letter and acknowledgments, document management stores everything against the employee profile with renewal dates attached, and the org chart builder shows the reporting lines they are about to inherit. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR. FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a payroll provider.
One sequencing point worth stating plainly: hire this role before you are desperate. The signal that you need it is the owner spending a day a week on administration, not the moment something breaks. A rushed search produces the assistant-with-a-manager-title outcome more often than any other single cause, because urgency makes task lists feel like job descriptions. Compare the scope against an office administrator posting before you commit, since that title sometimes fits better and costs less.
Key Takeaways
An administration manager owns administrative services as a function: the budget, the support team, records and retention, and the workplace, rather than a list of office tasks.
Write scope before duties. The budget controlled, the number of direct reports, and the approval limit filter candidates better than a page of requirements.
Most administration managers are exempt, but only when the salary basis, primary duty, and discretion tests are all met; the federal threshold is $684 per week, or $35,568 per year.
Where the role supervises two or more full-time employees, the executive exemption is often a cleaner fit than the administrative one.
No BLS occupation is named administration manager. Administrative services managers had a median of $114,130 and first-line administrative supervisors $69,500 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), and most small business roles sit between them.
Review the job description every six months, because at a small company this scope expands quietly and the classification can drift with it.
The person who normally handles onboarding paperwork cannot handle their own. FirstHR runs the sequence for you: an onboarding wizard for the steps, built-in e-signature for the offer letter and policy acknowledgments, document management for records with renewal dates attached, and an org chart builder for the reporting lines the new manager inherits. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR. Once they start, hand them the onboarding checklist and let them own it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does an administration manager do?
An administration manager plans, directs, and coordinates the administrative services a company runs on. In practice that means four things: owning the administrative budget and the vendor contracts inside it, supervising the support team, maintaining company and employee records under a retention policy, and managing the workplace itself including facilities, safety, and access. At a larger employer the scope narrows to one of those. At a small business it is all four plus whatever else is unclaimed, which is why the role is best defined by what the person owns rather than by a list of tasks. The federal occupation that covers it is Administrative Services Managers, and Administrative Manager is one of the titles employers report under it.
Is an administration manager the same as an office manager?
No, although at a single-site company the two jobs can look identical. An office manager runs a workplace: supplies, scheduling, front desk, and the vendors who service that site. An administration manager runs a function: the administrative budget across the company, the support staff, records and retention, vendor contracts, and the processes other departments depend on. The clearest signal is what the person controls. If the hire will approve spending, negotiate contracts, and supervise employees, it is an administration manager posting. If the hire will keep one office running smoothly under someone else's direction, it is an office manager posting. Choosing the wrong one costs you the right candidates, because experienced managers filter out task-based postings quickly.
Is an administration manager exempt or non-exempt?
Usually exempt, but the title never settles it. The federal administrative exemption requires three things at once: payment on a salary or fee basis at or above the threshold, a primary duty of office or non-manual work directly related to management or general business operations, and the exercise of discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance. The federal salary threshold is $684 per week, equal to $35,568 per year, with the highly compensated employee level at $107,432. Where the role genuinely supervises two or more full-time employees, the executive exemption is often the cleaner fit. A manager in title who follows established procedures and escalates every real decision is performing administrative support and is non-exempt. Several states set a higher salary threshold than the federal one. This is general information, not legal advice.
How much does an administration manager make?
There is no BLS occupation called administration manager, so the benchmark depends on scope. The closest classification is Administrative Services Managers, and according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025) its national median annual wage was $114,130, with the tenth percentile at $67,100 and the ninetieth at $207,720. That group skews toward larger employers with wide remits. A small business administration manager whose scope is closer to supervising a support team benchmarks better against First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers, median $69,500 in the same survey. Most small business postings land between those two figures. Set your range against the scope you wrote, not against the title, and publish a good-faith range where pay transparency rules apply.
What qualifications should an administration manager have?
Ask for evidence of scope rather than credentials. The three that predict success are supervisory experience with real accountability, documented budget ownership including vendor negotiation, and process building rather than process following. A bachelor's degree in business administration or management is a common requirement and a reasonable default, but treating it as mandatory rules out capable people who came up through administrative roles, which at a small business is most of the good candidates. Certifications exist and none of them are load-bearing. What matters more is the specific stack you use, the size of team and budget the person has handled before, and whether they have worked somewhere with no HR department, because that experience is qualitatively different from managing administration inside a company that has support functions.
What should an administration manager job description include?
Seven parts, in this order: a short company and context paragraph, a position summary in two or three sentences, key responsibilities grouped by area rather than listed flat, required qualifications separated honestly into required and preferred, the FLSA classification stated on the posting, an equal opportunity statement, and the compensation with a named contact and a deadline. Two specifics separate a manager posting from an assistant posting: state the budget the person controls and state how many people report to them. Those two numbers do more filtering than a page of requirements. Add the reporting line, because candidates at this level want to know whether they answer to the owner or to a layer in between, and that answer changes who applies.
Do I need an administration manager or an operations manager?
Decide by what is currently broken. If the problem is that paperwork, vendors, records, facilities, and employee logistics are scattered across people who have other jobs, you need an administration manager. If the problem is that the product or service is late, inconsistent, or expensive to deliver, you need an operations manager. The two overlap at small companies and a strong hire will drift toward whichever gap is louder, but the posting has to pick one, because the candidate pools barely intersect. An operations manager comes from production, logistics, or service delivery. An administration manager comes from office management, business administration, or finance and administration. Writing a hybrid posting attracts people who fit neither side well.
