VA work (order management, supplier follow-ups, reporting)
Spreadsheets and data tracking
Process improvement
Basic mentoring of new hires in operations
Why this title: "Operations Lead" signals to her, the team, and your future hires that she is a manager, not an IC. It opens doors for her career growth.
What she does NOT do:
Hire or fire (that's founder's decision)
Final financial approvals (founder approves budgets)
Strategy (founder owns product/market decisions)
Ads (Ad Manager owns that)
Design (Designer owns that)
The compensation jump
Current state (before promotion)
Title: Virtual Assistant
Salary: A$750/month (after 6 months of raises)
Responsibilities: customer service, order management, supplier comms
After promotion
Title: Operations Lead
Salary: A
,000-1,200/month (33-60% raise)
Responsibilities: same as above + manage 1 other person (CS Specialist)
How to frame it:
"You've done a great job over the past 6 months. You've proven you can own the operations function and train new people. We want to promote you to Operations Lead. Your new salary is A
,100/month starting next month. You now manage [CS Specialist], and I want you to mentor them. Your weekly responsibilities expand to: 1x meeting with [CS Specialist] (Fridays), 1x manager review with me (we'll move to every-other-week check-ins instead of weekly)."
Why 33-60% raise:
Market for Operations Lead (PH): A$900-1,400/month
You are at A$750, raising to A
,100 (46% increase)
This is at the lower-mid range, because she is new to management
By month 2-3 as OL, if managing well, A
,200+ is justified
Comp for the next 12 months
Month
Title
Salary
Why
6
VA
A$750
Baseline, after 3 raises
7
Operations Lead
A
,100
Promotion bump
9
Operations Lead
A
,200
3-month review, managing well
12
Operations Lead
A
,300
Year-1 anniversary, high performer
Target: A
,300-1,500/month by end of year 1 as Operations Lead (if managing well).
The founder transition
When your VA becomes Operations Lead, your job changes.
Before (VA was IC)
You check in weekly (30 min)
You approve refunds over A$50
You make supplier decisions
You review the weekly summary
After (Operations Lead manages ops)
You check in every other week (30 min) — longer form, strategic
Operations Lead approves refunds (you only review patterns)
Operations Lead makes supplier decisions (escalates major contracts to you)
Operations Lead writes a bi-weekly operations summary (includes CS Specialist performance too)
Your freed-up time: 30 minutes per week × 4 weeks = 2 hours per month recovered
Your new role: Strategic focus.
Instead of "How did customer service go?" you ask:
"What operational improvements are you thinking about for next quarter?"
"The chargeback rate is improving. What process changes drove that?"
"If we hired a second CS Specialist, how would you structure the team?"
You move from manager to mentor. From approval-giver to strategist.
Managing a manager (light version)
Your Operations Lead manages the CS Specialist.
Weekly:
Operations Lead + CS Specialist (15-30 min): performance review, escalations, process feedback
Operations Lead updates you (5 min message): "CS Specialist hit targets. One customer escalation (handled well)."
Monthly:
You + Operations Lead (30 min): strategic discussion
- "How is CS Specialist doing?" - "What processes could we improve?" - "What are the capacity limits?" - "Should we hire a second CS person?"
What NOT to do:
Do not bypass the Operations Lead and go directly to the CS Specialist
Do not second-guess her decisions
Do not treat her as still a VA
Do not give her manager-level work (hiring, firing, comp changes) without training
You are empowering her. Let her own it.
Common mistakes promoting a VA
Mistake 1: Promoting without a raise → Fix: Raise is non-negotiable. 30%+ raise signals this is a real promotion.
Mistake 2: Promoting but not delegating → Fix: If you still approve every decision, she is not a manager. Delegate authority.
Mistake 3: Keeping her at "assistant" responsibilities → Fix: If she is a lead, her job should change. New title should come with new work.
Mistake 4: Promoting too early → Fix: Promotion should be at month 6-9, not month 2-3. Wait for proven autonomy.
Mistake 5: Not training her for management → Fix: Managing is a skill. Teach her: 1-on-1s, feedback, goal-setting. 2-3 hours of training.
The long-term career path
If your Operations Lead continues to perform:
Month 12 (year 1 anniversary):
Title: Operations Lead
Salary: A
,300-1,500/month
Managing: 1 CS Specialist
Growth: helping with hiring, training new ops people
Month 18:
Salary: A
,500-1,800/month
Managing: 2 people (CS Specialist + Fulfillment/Inventory person, if you add that role)