Office manager CV example (2026)

Writing the CV for the office manager role

Start your CV with the size of the office, the number of staff and your budget responsibility. Then put your main project, such as a move or a process improvement. That way the reader sees in the first lines which scale you know.

In this role you manage facilities, keep budgets under control and improve processes. The size of the office, the budget and the suppliers are points you can name concretely. A CV that names those figures shows the overview you had.

What you do in this role

An office manager manages the facilities budget, contracts and reviews suppliers for cleaning, catering and maintenance, and sets up workspaces. The office manager also organises meetings, manages diaries and makes sure new staff find their way. Processes such as purchasing are set up and monitored.

Keep the CV to one or two pages.

How your CV matches the advert

Read the advert and note the size of the office, the budget, the suppliers and the processes the organisation names. In your CV, say which of those points you already have, and name the scale per role. That way the reader sees quickly whether your scale fits the organisation.

An office manager keeps an overview of budget, suppliers and people at the same time. Describe in your CV one project or process you improved: what you found, what you changed and what that delivered. That is easier to discuss in an interview than the word organisational.

Check the amounts, the names of suppliers and the periods of your projects. Read your CV aloud and cut general sentences. A short CV with the scale, the suppliers and one improved process is stronger than a long CV with tasks.

An office move requires a plan per floor, coordination with suppliers and a plan for the first working day. Describe in your CV which parts you arranged and which agreements you made in advance. That shows you can approach a project in phases.

A purchasing process works well when the agreements are clear and the approvals are known. Describe in your CV how you recorded those agreements and who had to approve what. That shows how you set up processes.

An office changes all the time, with new colleagues, different meeting needs and changing suppliers. Describe in your CV how you tracked those changes and how you adjusted the facilities to them. That shows you manage the office as a living whole, not only as a series of separate tasks.

Which layout suits the office manager CV

Choose one column, clear headings and a standard font. Tables and text boxes can cause errors when software reads a CV.

Put your roles in a clear order and use a single column. Make a short list of your main responsibilities at the top. Keep the layout tight. For each role, name the scale: the number of staff, the budget and the locations.

Save your CV as a PDF with a recognisable file name, such as firstname-surname-cv.pdf.

What to put on the office manager CV

Every CV contains at least your contact details, your work experience with dates, your education and certificates, and your skills and languages.

Name the size of the office, the number of staff and your budget responsibility. Mention your facilities tasks, such as purchasing, suppliers, cleaning and workspace setup. Describe the processes you set up, such as a purchasing process or a meeting procedure. Include your Microsoft 365 skills and your project certificate, such as PRINCE2.

Put your name at the top, with your town, email address and phone number. Your citizen service number (BSN), date of birth or marital status do not need to be on your CV.

Profile text: example (good and weak)

Below are two profile texts for the office manager, both written for a fictional person. You can copy the structure.

Office manager with eight years of experience at an international services company with 150 employees. I take care of the day-to-day running of facilities and administration, support the executive staff and keep track of budgets. I am a reliable point of contact and think in processes that keep working. I am looking for a role in which I keep an organisation's support staff running smoothly.

Office manager with ten years of experience in offices of eighty to three hundred staff. I manage a facilities budget of €450,000 a year, direct three suppliers and set up workspaces with every move. I renewed the purchasing process, so that an order was handled within two days. I am looking for an organisation in which overview and cost control go together.

The first example names the scale, the budget and the suppliers. The second names the years, the process and the result. The weak version says something about your attitude, not your work. The budget and the scale make the profile text concrete.

Weak version: “I am an organised office manager who keeps an overview, always has a solution and helps everyone with pleasure.”

A profile text is short: four or five sentences. Write in the first person and say what you do, what you are good at and what you are looking for.

Making your work experience stand out

The example bullet points below belong to a fictional example CV. The figures are illustrative: use only your own figures, and only if they are accurate.

Start each bullet with an action word and state the result, not only the task.

• Managed a facilities budget of €450,000 a year, with monthly reporting to the management board.
• Directed three suppliers for cleaning, catering and maintenance, with annual contract reviews.
• Workspaces set up during a move of 180 staff to a new building, with a plan per floor.
• Purchasing process renewed: a fixed order form and approval within two days.
• Meeting rooms and diaries for the management team organised, with fixed weekly preparation.
• New staff supported in their first week, with an induction folder and a fixed buddy.

For each job, give the job title, employer, place and period, and put your current job at the top.

No work experience?

Have no office management experience yet? A role as an administrative assistant, a part-time job in an office or organising a company event counts. Describe what you did: keeping a budget, contacting suppliers, preparing a move or managing a diary. A project management course shows that you can make plans.

Action words for your CV

Action words make your work concrete. A few that work well on a CV:

• Organised
• Supervised
• Improved
• Monitored
• Planned
• Recorded
• Consulted
• Delivered
• Coordinated
• Ensured

Use each word only once per job, and only if it matches your work.

Education on your CV

An mbo (senior secondary vocational education) course in facilities management, office management or administrative work suits this role. An hbo (higher professional education) degree in business administration or a facility management course goes beside it, if you have one. Name a course in financial management or purchasing in the same section, with the year.

List older education more briefly, so that recent work gets more space.

Skills on the office manager CV

Hard skills

• Facilities management
• Budget management
• Microsoft 365
• Process design

Soft skills

• Keeping an overview across several projects
• Deciding independently within the budget
• Negotiating with suppliers
• Staying calm during a fault
• Helping colleagues without losing your own planning

Show it with a fault you resolved before colleagues were affected. That is more concrete than the word organised.

Choose five to eight hard skills that you currently use.

Give an example from your work for Facilities management, Budget management, Microsoft 365 and Process design.

Certificates, languages and hobbies

For office management, a project management certificate such as PRINCE2 and a purchasing course are relevant. State the name, the institution and the year. List Microsoft 365 skills per programme, and a facilities management course if you completed one. Leave out expired certificates, or state that you keep them up to date.

Put a certificate on your CV if it fits the role.

• PRINCE2 Foundation (Projectmanagement Instituut, 2019)

Languages in this example: Dutch (vloeiend), English (vloeiend).

Example office manager CV

This is how the example looks in a real template. It is a starting point: take over the structure, not the text.

The fictional candidate is called Lisa Okafor and lives in Amsterdam. The example carries the headline: Office manager · staff and facilities.

Common mistakes on the office manager CV

• Not stating the budget or the number of staff. Without those numbers it is not visible what you managed.
• Only listing tasks without the result, such as a shorter lead time or a lower cost.
• Not naming suppliers, although contracting them belongs to the work.
• A long list of personal qualities without an example.
• Projects without a year and scale, so the move or the process change cannot be placed.

Check the amounts and the numbers. A wrongly stated budget makes the rest of your CV less credible.

Key points

• Name the budget or the number of staff you managed, if you may share those figures.
• Show which process you improved, with the result in time or cost.
• Name the suppliers you directed, by category, such as cleaning or catering.
• Put your project certificate, such as PRINCE2, with the year of the exam.

Read your CV aloud before you send it.