Cocomore job check: What does an Operations Manager do?

Magdalena Gruber has been working at Cocomore since finishing her bachelor's degree last year. For our job check, she told us more about her job as an Operations Manager. The motto of the young professional: Take responsibility for your own happiness and have fun learning new things.

Martin: Magdalena, when did you start working at Cocomore and how did it happen?

After graduating with a bachelor in media sciences and business administration, I wanted to gain experience in project management. Since I have been interested in the IT sector for a long time, I came across Cocomore during my job search. In November, I started as an intern for my current team and since January I have been employed as an Operations Manager.

What exactly does your project team do?

My team, which consists of software developers as well as account, project and operational managers, has been managing a long-term large-scale project for a client from the consumer goods industry since 2013. The main focus is a global registration platform for all brands of the Group, accessed by hundreds of users worldwide. We run the software and take care of data management for this interface.

And what are your responsibilities as Operations Manager?

My main job is to ensure the smooth running of the web project. With the large size of the platform, a lot of data is accumulated and a bug is likely to occur every once in a while. In this case we are the first point of contact for users. In order to handle all inquiries, we work with a ticket system. I process the incoming tickets and forward error messages, for example, to our developers. I am also the contact person for the various project participants.

What challenges do you face in your everyday work?

Every day brings a lot of variety and some surprises. Since our main customer is located in the U.S. and we work with different project participants all over the world, there are occasional language barriers. Smooth communication can be a challenge. But that's part of what makes it exciting for me.

Tell us more about how communication happens.

Thanks to e-mail and Skype, we are constantly in touch with our client in the U.S. and colleagues from the Spanish branch. Meetings are also usually held via video conference, for example the "Quarterly Business Review", during which past and future measures are discussed every four months. From time to time there is, of course, also a personal meeting. Just recently, our team leaders were at the client’s branch in the USA.

So the information exchange is working pretty well. One of the great things about my project team is the short communication line: the whole team is located in one large office room and can always exchange information and discuss tasks directly with each other.

You are working in an agency for the first time- what is your conclusion so far?

Definitely positive! Personally, I really enjoy having my own responsibilities and freedom after such a short amount of time. In addition, I can always get involved in new areas: For example, I have learned a lot in the IT area from daily work with our developers. I was also able to expand my personal communication skills by working in an international project team.

Someone who likes flat hierarchies and is not afraid to learn new things will feel very comfortable in an agency. There are many opportunities to move up – but you have to take responsibility for your own happiness.