OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
Soft Source Inc
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Job summary
Soft Source Inc. is seeking an Operations Director USA with a minimum of 25 years of progressive experience in engineering, EPC, industrial, or professional services. The role oversees day-to-day U.S.
engineering and project-delivery activities, balancing schedule, budget, and QA/QC across multiple projects. The candidate will coordinate with U.S.-based and offshore teams, manage resources, and report to the Managing Director/CEO, ensuring safety, quality, and client satisfaction while
Qualifications
- Minimum 25 years of progressive professional experience in engineering, EPC, industrial, infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, construction, or professional services.
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, Business, or related discipline.
- Senior-level experience managing engineering operations, project delivery, or multidisciplinary technical organizations.
- Experience managing multiple projects simultaneously.
- Strong understanding of project planning, scheduling, budgeting, resource management, project controls, and engineering workflows.
- Experience managing multidisciplinary engineering teams including civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation & controls, automation, CAD/design, or related disciplines.
- Experience managing geographically distributed or remote teams.
- Strong understanding of project financial performance, utilization, billable hours, gross margins, and operational KPIs.
- Demonstrated experience working directly with clients and senior client representatives.
- Strong understanding of QA/QC, engineering document control, risk management, and change management.
- Excellent leadership, communication, problem-solving, negotiation, and organizational skills.
- Ability to travel within the United States when required.
Responsibilities
- Lead day-to-day operations of the company's U.S. engineering and professional-services activities.
- Translate executive business objectives into practical operating plans and measurable performance targets.
- Establish standardized processes for project execution, engineering management, resource planning, reporting, and operational controls.
- Monitor operational KPIs, identify performance gaps, and implement corrective actions.
- Ensure effective coordination between engineering, project management, business development, finance, HR, procurement, and corporate management.
- Support the Managing Director and President/CEO in annual operating plans, budgets, staffing plans, and growth initiatives.
Skills
Education
Job description
Location: United States Remote
Employment Type: Full-Time
Experience Required: Minimum 25 Years
Reports To: Managing Director / President & CEO
Travel: As required for client meetings, project reviews, and site visits
We are seeking an experienced Operations Director USA with a minimum of 25 years of progressive experience in engineering, EPC, industrial, infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, construction, or professional engineering services.
The Operations Director will be responsible for the day-to-day operational management of U.S. engineering and project-delivery activities, including project execution, resource planning, engineering coordination, schedule and budget performance, QA/QC, client satisfaction, and coordination between U.S.-based and offshore engineering teams.
The position requires a hands-on senior leader capable of managing multiple projects and multidisciplinary engineering teams while ensuring that projects are delivered safely, efficiently, on schedule, within budget, and in accordance with contractual and technical requirements.
Lead day-to-day operations of the company's U.S. engineering and professional-services activities.
Translate executive business objectives into practical operating plans and measurable performance targets.
Establish standardized processes for project execution, engineering management, resource planning, reporting, and operational controls.
Monitor operational KPIs, identify performance gaps, and implement corrective actions.
Ensure effective coordination between engineering, project management, business development, finance, HR, procurement, and corporate management.
Support the Managing Director and President/CEO in annual operating plans, budgets, staffing plans, and growth initiatives.
Provide operational oversight for multiple engineering and consulting projects.
Ensure projects are properly planned, staffed, executed, monitored, and closed.
Monitor project scope, schedule, budget, engineering hours, deliverables, milestones, and profitability.
Conduct regular project-performance reviews with project managers and engineering leads.
Identify schedule, technical, commercial, and resource risks before they adversely affect project performance.
Establish recovery plans for projects experiencing schedule, budget, quality, or resource challenges.
Ensure deliverables comply with client specifications, applicable codes, standards, and contractual requirements.
Develop short- and long-term resource plans based on project backlog and anticipated workload.
Coordinate allocation of engineers, designers, CAD personnel, project managers, and technical specialists.
Monitor employee utilization, billability, workload, overtime, and availability.
Identify staffing gaps and coordinate recruitment of permanent, contract, and project-based resources.
Balance project requirements across multiple clients and projects.
Support succession planning and development of future engineering and operational leaders.
Manage operational coordination between U.S.-based client-facing teams and offshore engineering/design resources.
Establish clear workflows for engineering assignments, deliverables, reviews, revisions, and approvals.
Ensure appropriate U.S. technical review and professional oversight where required.
Maintain effective communication across different locations and time zones.
Develop systems for work allocation, document control, progress tracking, and quality verification.
Improve productivity and cost competitiveness through effective utilization of global engineering resources without compromising quality or client expectations.
Support preparation of annual operating budgets and financial forecasts.
Monitor project revenue, cost, gross margin, utilization, backlog, and operating expenses.
Review project budgets against actual labor hours and expenditures.
Work with project managers to control scope changes, additional services, and project overruns.
Ensure timely preparation of invoices and support collection of outstanding client receivables where required.
Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency and project profitability.
Provide regular operational and financial performance reports to executive management.
Maintain and continuously improve the company's engineering QA/QC processes.
Ensure appropriate checking, interdisciplinary reviews, technical reviews, and approvals are completed before deliverables are issued.
Establish procedures for document control, revision management, engineering records, and project closeout.
Investigate significant quality issues and implement corrective and preventive actions.
Promote lessons-learned programs across projects and engineering disciplines.
Support internal and client quality audits.
Maintain strong working relationships with key clients.
Participate in project kickoff meetings, progress reviews, technical discussions, and executive client meetings.
Ensure client concerns and project issues are addressed promptly.
Monitor client satisfaction and identify opportunities to improve service delivery.
Support the Managing Director and business-development team in expanding existing accounts.
Participate in proposal development, project planning, staffing estimates, schedules, and technical/commercial discussions for new opportunities.
Develop standardized operating procedures, project controls, dashboards, and management reporting systems.
Establish KPIs for project performance, utilization, quality, productivity, schedule compliance, and profitability.
Introduce automation and digital tools where they can improve engineering and operational efficiency.
Support implementation of project-management, ERP, document-management, and engineering information systems.
Identify opportunities to automate repetitive engineering, reporting, QA/QC, and administrative processes.
Promote continuous improvement and adoption of industry best practices.
Promote a strong Quality, Health, Safety, Security, and Environmental (QHSE) culture.
Ensure projects and operations comply with applicable client, company, contractual, regulatory, and professional requirements.
Support development and implementation of operational risk-management procedures.
Ensure appropriate safety requirements are incorporated into engineering and field activities.
Participate in investigations and corrective-action programs when significant operational or safety issues occur.
Lead, mentor, and develop project managers, engineering managers, discipline leads, and operational personnel.
Establish clear responsibilities, accountability, and performance expectations.
Conduct regular performance reviews with direct reports.
Promote collaboration between engineering disciplines and project teams.
Develop a culture based on accountability, technical excellence, integrity, safety, quality, client service, and continuous improvement.
Minimum 25 years of progressive professional experience in engineering, EPC, industrial, infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, construction, or professional services.
Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, Business, or a related discipline.
Significant senior-level experience managing engineering operations, project delivery, or multidisciplinary technical organizations.
Demonstrated experience managing multiple projects simultaneously.
Strong understanding of project planning, scheduling, budgeting, resource management, project controls, and engineering workflows.
Experience managing multidisciplinary engineering teams including civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation & controls, automation, CAD/design, or related disciplines.
Experience managing geographically distributed or remote teams.
Strong understanding of project financial performance, utilization, billable hours, gross margins, and operational KPIs.
Demonstrated experience working directly with clients and senior client representatives.
Strong understanding of QA/QC, engineering document control, risk management, and change management.
Excellent leadership, communication, problem-solving, negotiation, and organizational skills.
Ability to travel within the United States when required.
Master's degree in Engineering, Business Administration, Project Management, or related field.
Professional Engineer (PE), PMP, or equivalent professional certification.
Experience with engineering consulting or EPC organizations.
Experience supporting industrial, manufacturing, process, energy, infrastructure, utilities, or government projects.
Experience managing a hybrid U.S./offshore engineering delivery model.
Experience with federal government engineering or infrastructure projects.
Experience implementing operational dashboards, ERP systems, project controls, workflow automation, and AI-enabled engineering tools.
Operations Management | Engineering Management | Project Delivery | Resource Planning | Project Controls | Financial Management | QA/QC | Client Management | Risk Management | Contract Administration | Multidisciplinary Engineering | U.S./Offshore Team Management | QHSE | Process Improvement | Team Leadership
Performance will be measured through:
Project schedule performance
Project budget and gross-margin performance
Engineering resource utilization and billability
Project backlog execution
Quality and rework rates
Client satisfaction and repeat business
Engineering productivity
Resource forecasting accuracy
On-time delivery of engineering deliverables
Effective utilization of U.S. and offshore resources
Employee retention and development
Compliance with QA/QC and QHSE requirements
Operational efficiency and continuous improvement
This is a U.S.-based remote leadership position. The Operations Director will work closely with the Managing Director, President/CEO, project managers, engineering discipline leads, clients, and global engineering resources.
The position requires strong remote-management capabilities and availability for periodic travel to client offices, project sites, company locations, and business meetings.
The Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.
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