Operations Manager

LC Anderson Inc; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

LC Anderson Inc is seeking a Projects Operations Manager to own the projects end-to-end—from handoff after estimating through job close. This is a hands‑on operating role focused on gross margin, WIP reviews, and leading the project management team at the Boston branch.

You will report to the Branch President, collaborate with estimating, service operations and finance, and ensure every job has a defensible cost, with disciplined scheduling, safety, and thorough closeout.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in commercial mechanical, HVAC, or building‑systems project delivery with progressive leadership responsibility.
• Direct experience leading a project management team with accountability for a book of projects and its gross margin.
• Fluent in job cost, work in progress, percentage of completion, and estimate at completion; able to explain margin movements.
• Strong command of the estimating‑to‑execution handoff, buyout, change order management and closeout.
• Demonstrated ownership of field safety on active job sites.
• Comfortable operating in a structured, accountable environment with reporting discipline.

Responsibilities

• Own the project book: revenue, gross margin, and WIP for all branch work.
• Own the estimate‑to‑execution handoff with a fully loaded labor cost behind every baseline.
• Run monthly job cost and WIP reviews; track estimate at completion and cost to complete.
• Lead the project management team: assignments, workload balance, standards of practice, development paths.
• Plan manpower and scheduling across concurrent jobs and shared field labor.
• Maintain site safety with site plans, toolbox talks, subcontractor compliance, and incident follow‑through.
• Manage change orders and claims: price, approvals, and documentation retention.
• Oversee purchasing and subcontractor performance; ensure on‑budget buyouts and material flow.
• Maintain customer relationships as the branch’s operational face to owners, GC’s, and engineers.
• Close jobs properly with punch, closeout docs, final billing, and retainage collection.

Skills

Project management

Cost control

Job costing

Field safety

Leadership

Tools

BuildOps

Procore

CAD

BIM

Job description

We are seeking a Projects Operations Manager to own the projects book end to end, from the handoff out of estimating through job close. This is a hands‑on operating role, not an administrative one. You will own gross margin on every job, run the monthly WIP and job‑cost review, lead and develop the project management team, and make sure no job starts without a defensible cost behind it. You will report to the Branch President and work closely with estimating, service operations and finance.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the project book. Revenue, gross margin, and work in progress for all quoted, modernization, and construction work at the branch.
• Own the estimate‑to‑execution handoff. Every job starts with a baseline the team agrees to. The estimate is what the job gets measured against, and nothing is released to the field without a fully loaded labor cost behind it.
• Run the monthly job cost and WIP review. Current estimate at completion on every active job, cost to complete, billing position, and a written explanation of anything that moved. Underbillings and unapproved change orders are identified, aged and worked, not discovered at close.
• Lead the project management team. Assignment, workload balance, standards of practice, and a development path for PMs and assistant PMs. Build and recruit the bench.
• Own schedule and resource planning. Manpower loading across concurrent jobs, coordination with service operations when field labor is shared, and realistic completion dates the branch can commit to.
• Own safety on every site. Site‑specific plans, toolbox talks, subcontractor compliance, and incident follow‑through. No exceptions on project work.
• Manage change orders and claims. Identify scope change early, price it, get it approved before the work is performed, and protect the branch's position on documentation and retainage.
• Own purchasing and subcontractor performance. Buyout against the estimate, vendor and subcontractor accountability, and material flow that does not stall the field.
• Carry customer relationships through delivery. Be the operational face of the branch to owners, general contractors, and engineers once the job is sold.
• Close jobs properly. Punch, closeout documentation, final billing and retainage collection on a schedule, not when someone asks.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in commercial mechanical, HVAC, or building‑systems project delivery, with progressive leadership responsibility.
• Direct experience leading a project management team, with accountability for a book of projects and its gross margin.
• Fluent in job cost, work in progress, percentage of completion, and estimate at completion. Able to explain a margin movement without help from finance.
• Strong command of the estimating‑to‑execution handoff, buyout, change order management and closeout.
• Demonstrated ownership of field safety on active job sites.
• Comfortable operating in a structured, accountable, professionally managed environment with real reporting discipline.

Preferred

• Experience with BuildOps, Procore or a comparable project and job‑cost platform.
• Self‑perform mechanical, sheet metal, controls or electrical background.
• Design‑build and plan‑and‑spec delivery, including CAD and BIM coordination.
• Construction management, mechanical engineering or a trade‑to‑management career path.