The secret is only taken into account by OpsManager initially when OpsManager is deployed. As soon as the password of this user is changed in OpsManager, this secret is out of sync. From the docs: "Use these credentials to log in to Ops Manager for the first time. Once Ops Manager is deployed, you should change the password or remove this secret." https://docs.mongodb.com/kubernetes-operator/v1.4/tutorial/plan-om-resource/#prerequisites Option 1: This secret should be in-sync with the OpsManager database. Preferably the sync should be from the k8s secret to the OpsManager database. Option 2: Create a CRD "MongoDBOpsManagerUser" that handles User/Password management for OpsManager similar to "MongoDBUser" for "MongoDB" resources.