Role

Operations VA

Operations VAs document how your business actually runs, automate the repeatable parts in Zapier or Make, and own the back-office work — vendor coordination, internal reporting, license renewals — that nobody on your core team has time for.

What they handle

  • SOP creation
  • Process automation
  • Vendor management
  • Back-office ops

Best for

  • Founders building scalable processes for the first time
  • COOs and ops leaders without an ops associate
  • Teams drowning in manual workflows that should be automated

Tools they use

ZapierMakeNotionAirtableSlackGoogle Workspace

Operations is the multiplier on everything else

Most growth-stage businesses fail to scale not because of demand or talent — but because the operational backbone breaks under volume. SOPs are out of date or non-existent. Workflows live in someone's head. New hires take 90 days to get productive because there's nothing to onboard them on. An Operations VA fixes that by treating process documentation as a real, ongoing job.

The output is concrete: SOP libraries that actually get used, automation that removes hand-offs (Zapier, Make, native integrations), vendor management that doesn't fall on the founder, and back-office process work that frees your team to focus on growth. Most clients see their onboarding time for new hires drop by 30–50% within the first 90 days of having a dedicated Ops VA.

Where to start

We almost always start with an SOP audit: what processes exist, what's documented, what's tribal knowledge, and where the highest-friction workflows are. Within 30 days, your Ops VA has documented or rebuilt the top 5 workflows and identified 2–3 high-impact automations to ship next.

The SOP library that runs your business

The most valuable artifact an Ops VA produces over their first 90 days is a living SOP library. Not the dead kind — the long, written-only documents that get updated once and then ignored — but the kind that lives in a single shared folder, organized by workflow, with a 3-minute Loom and a 1-page checklist for each process. Every time something breaks or a new edge case appears, the SOP gets updated the same week.

Once you have that library, three things become possible that weren't before. New hires onboard in 2 weeks instead of 90 days. Workflows survive turnover because they're not living in someone's head. And you can identify the highest-friction processes in your business by looking at which SOPs get updated most often — and prioritize automation or redesign there.

Where automation pays back fastest

An Ops VA isn't just a documenter — they're an automator. The fastest payback automations we see, in order: lead routing from forms to CRM with enrichment; recurring report assembly from multiple data sources; notification routing (the right person gets the right alert without a human in the middle); document workflows (e-sign request → countersign → file → notify); and onboarding sequences for new clients or employees. Most teams get 5–10 hours a week back from the first three alone, with payback inside the first month.

Sample responsibilities

A snapshot of the work a Operations VA ships day-to-day. Your SOPs and priorities shape the actual mix.

Document SOPs for every recurring process with screenshots and Loom walkthroughs
Build and maintain Zapier or Make automations across your tool stack
Manage vendor onboarding, contracts, COIs, and renewal calendars
Run weekly internal ops reporting — KPIs, dashboards, and exceptions
Maintain internal wiki, org chart, and policy documentation
Coordinate cross-team requests and triage operational incidents

Example deliverables

Concrete artifacts your Operations VA ships on a recurring cadence — so you always know what's coming and when.

SOP library updated

Weekly

New SOPs published, existing SOPs reviewed against current practice, gaps flagged with owner and due date.

Automation health check

Weekly

Every active Zap or scenario reviewed for failures, duplicate runs, and missed triggers — fixes shipped same day.

Vendor & contract dashboard

Monthly

Renewal dates, owners, and spend per vendor in one view — nothing auto-renews without a decision.

Internal ops report

Weekly

KPIs, exceptions, and 3 recommended process improvements — pulled from your tools and ready for your leadership review.

What "done" looks like

Measurable success criteria we hold the work to — reviewed weekly with your account manager.

  • Every recurring process has a current SOP
  • Automation failure rate stays under 2% week over week
  • Zero surprise vendor renewals — every contract decisioned 30 days out
  • Weekly ops report ships on the same day every week
FAQs

Common questions about hiring a Operations VA

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Resources

Guides for hiring & working with a Operations VA

Practical playbooks to set your VA up for success from day one.