General Manager HVAC

Tom Trese Networking LLC; San Diego (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Tom Trese Networking LLC in San Diego, CA, is seeking an Assistant General Manager/General Manager for the Residential Division. This working leadership role partners with the San Diego GM to run day-to-day operations and grow the division, with a proven ability to manage $20M+ P&L and 50+ staff.

The role emphasizes operating excellence, builder relationships, and succession readiness, with on-site work across active projects, strong safety discipline, and an agenda to align strategy with

Qualifications

• 8+ years progressive operations leadership in residential plumbing/HVAC or mechanical contracting.
• Demonstrated P&L responsibility of $20M+ and ability to grow revenue while protecting margin.
• Strong builder account development experience, especially in Southern California/San Diego.
• Leadership of teams of 50+ across field and office with bench-building focus.
• Sales-oriented with a track record of growing book-of-business.
• Comfortable interacting with executives (GM/COO) and builder leadership.

Responsibilities

• Co-own divisional P&L performance with the GM, including revenue, gross margin, labor productivity, material spend and overhead absorption.
• Drive on-time, on-budget execution across active communities with coordination of production schedules.
• Maintain strict safety standards and partner with safety to ensure compliance and incident response.
• Identify bottlenecks in schedule, labor, materials, change orders and inspections.
• Develop new builder relationships and lead project pursuits from qualification through award.
• Represent the division at the builder table and monitor market dynamics for strategic placement.

Skills

P&L ownership

Operations leadership

Builder relationships

Team leadership 50+

Sales orientation

Executive credibility

Education

Bachelors in construction mgmt/engineering/business

Job description

Assistant General Manager/General Manager — Residential Division . Location: San Diego, CA Reports To: General Manager, San Diego Division Scope: ~$30M P&L, 50–75 personnel Trade Focus: Single-family and multi-family plumbing and HVAC, new construction

The Assistant General Manager partners directly with the San Diego General Manager to run the day-to-day operation of the residential division and to grow it. This is a working leadership role with equal parts operator, builder, and seller. The right candidate has already done this work at a real scale: managed a P&L in the $20M–$50M range, led 50-plus tradespeople and office staff, and personally carried builder relationships that produced repeatable revenue. The AGM is the second seat in San Diego today and the visible successor track tomorrow.

Core Responsibilities

Operations

• Co-own divisional P&L performance alongside the GM, including revenue, gross margin, labor productivity, material spend, and overhead absorption.
• Drive on-time, on-budget execution across active single-family and multi-family communities — coordinating production schedules with builder superintendents, internal field leadership, and the service group where applicable.
• Hold the line on safety. No exceptions, no negotiation. Partner with the safety function to ensure jobsite compliance, training cadence, and incident response.
• Identify operational bottlenecks before they hit the schedule, labor allocation, material availability, change order processing, quality inspections, etc.

Sales and Builder Relationships

• Develop new builder relationships, deepen existing ones, and bring back lost ones.
• Lead project pursuits from qualification through award: scope review, estimating partnership, pricing strategy, contract negotiation, and handoff to operations.
• Represent 20/20 at the builder table.
• Track the San Diego builder market: who is starting communities, who is closing them, where the absorption is, where 20/20 should be planted next.

Team Leadership and Development

• Direct supervision of field leadership (superintendents, foremen) and office leadership (project managers, coordinators, estimators) roughly 50–75 personnel total across the division.
• Coach the bench. Build the next foreman, the next PM, the next superintendent. Performance conversations are direct, fair, and frequent.
• Hire, develop, and where necessary remove. Hold a high standard on accountability; see it, own it, solve it, do it.
• Carry the culture of integrity.

GM Partnership and Succession Readiness

• Run the division in the GM's absence. Be ready to step into the GM seat when the business calls for it.
• Participate in divisional strategy, annual planning, builder forecasting, and resource planning.
• Represent the San Diego office to corporate leadership, including operational reviews and strategic discussions with the COO.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive operations leadership in residential plumbing, HVAC, or combined mechanical contracting. Single-family and/or multi-family new construction experience is required service-only backgrounds will not fit.
• Demonstrated P&L responsibility of $20M or larger. Candidate must be able to speak to the specific levers used to grow revenue and protect margin.
• Demonstrated success in builder account development. Production builder and/or multi-family GC relationships in Southern California are a strong preference; San Diego specifically is ideal.
• Leadership of teams of 50 or more across field and office. Track record of building and retaining a bench, not just managing through a roster.
• Sales orientation backed by results. The candidate has personally sold or significantly influenced book-of-business growth not simply executed work that was handed to them.
• Comfort and credibility at the executive level both internally with the GM and COO and externally at the builder VP/President level.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience inside a high-volume residential mechanical contractor running concurrent communities across multiple builders.
• Estimating background or strong estimating fluency. Able to pressure-test a number, not just receive one.
• Experience leading through a multi-office or regional structure.
• Bachelor's degree in construction management, engineering, business, or a related field or equivalent operating experience in lieu of degree.

Working Conditions

San Diego-based, on-site at the office and across active jobsites and builder partner offices. Some travel within Southern California. This is not a remote or hybrid position.