Operations Manager - Industrial Services

About The Role

Reporting directly to the CEO, this is a hands-on leadership role with responsibility across business development, estimating and quoting, operations, financial performance, and team leadership. The Operations Manager will initially lead a local team of approximately 5 employees and will be responsible for developing the operation as our customer base and project portfolio grow. This opportunity is well-suited to someone who enjoys building a business and team while having the support and resources of an established organization behind them.

Business Development & Growth

• Build and develop Uptime Industrial's presence throughout South Carolina and North Carolina;
• Develop strong relationships with existing customers while actively building new customer relationships throughout the region;
• Identify and pursue new business and project opportunities within industrial and commercial markets;
• Prepare and/or support estimates, quotes, bids, and proposals for new work;
• Manage the local opportunity and work pipeline to support consistent and sustainable growth;
• Identify opportunities to expand the scope of work provided to existing customers;
• Develop relationships with local contractors, vendors, suppliers, and other industry partners.

Operations & Financial Performance

• Oversee the day-to-day performance of the Carolinas operation as the business grows;
• Support project setup, scope identification, estimating, resource planning, and initial margin targets;
• Monitor active work to ensure schedules, budgets, quality standards, and customer expectations are being met;
• Coordinate resources and ensure the right people are assigned to incoming and active work;
• Maintain oversight of the financial performance and P&L of the Carolinas operation;
• Monitor project costs and margins and identify opportunities to improve efficiency and profitability;
• Work closely with internal teams to ensure the region has the resources required to support incoming work;
• Continuously look for opportunities to improve local processes and support sustainable growth.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead and develop the Carolinas team, initially consisting of approximately 5-10 employees;
• Recruit and build the local team as customer and project needs increase;
• Provide employees with ongoing coaching, direction, and feedback;
• Conduct regular one-on-one meetings and support employee performance and development;
• Establish clear expectations around quality, accountability, customer service, and performance;
• Build a collaborative, high-performing team that reflects Uptime Industrial's values;
• Help identify and develop future leaders as the Carolinas operation expands.

Safety & Quality

• Champion a strong safety culture across the Carolinas operation;
• Ensure work is performed in accordance with Company policies, customer requirements, and applicable safety standards;
• Promote a culture of safety, quality, accountability, and continuous improvement;
• Work collaboratively with internal safety and operational resources to support employees and projects in the region.

What You Bring

The ideal candidate is someone with proven experience leading and growing a new operation, who understands the local market and is excited by the opportunity to build. They bring a strong background in industrial mechanical work, understand how to identify opportunities, develop customer relationships, estimate and secure work, and build a team to support continued growth. This person is hands-on, commercially minded, and comfortable working in a developing operation where they can take ownership, create opportunities, and help establish a strong long-term presence in the Carolinas.

Our Must Haves

• Industrial Mechanic (Millwright) certification/ticket or equivalent trade qualification is preferred;
• Proven experience leading, building, or growing an operation, branch, or business unit within an industrial environment;
• Strong background and understanding of industrial mechanical construction, maintenance, installation, and project work;
• Knowledge of the Carolinas market, including customers, industries, contractors, and business opportunities within the region;
• Experience with business development and customer relationship management, with the ability to identify and pursue new opportunities;
• Experience estimating, quoting, and/or bidding industrial mechanical work;
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing field teams;
• Strong understanding of project costs, margins, budgets, and operational performance;
• A hands-on, entrepreneurial mindset with the ability and willingness to build an operation and team from the ground up;
• Strong communication, decision-making, and problem-solving skills;
• Ability and willingness to travel to British Columbia, Canada for initial training and onboarding.

Your Rewards

Our most important offering to anyone that joins the Uptime Industrial team is our culture of innovation, achievement, and ownership. We bring out the best in each other by constantly striving to be world class in all we do. These values are reflected in our Work, our Company, and our People.

At Uptime, we offer a competitive compensation and benefits package designed to support our employees both at work and outside of work.

• Competitive base salary;
• Comprehensive extended health benefits;
• 401(k) retirement savings plan;
• Paid time off (PTO) and company-paid holidays;
• Company vehicle.