Vice President Project Operations

Smart Care Equipment Solutions; Illinois; Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Smart Care is seeking a Vice President of Project Operations to lead installation and construction projects across its national network. You will own project execution standards, schedule performance, and margin management while building a scalable delivery model.

You will develop and mentor project teams, drive adoption of PM tools, coordinate with Sales, Estimating, and Finance, and ensure projects meet safety, quality, and customer expectations across multiple sites.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in project management or construction operations.
• 5+ years leading project managers across multiple sites or regions.
• Background in commercial refrigeration, HVAC, mechanical, or foodservice equipment installation.
• Experience with national accounts and general contractors on retail or grocery programs.

Responsibilities

• Lead project delivery across operating companies to finish on schedule, on budget, and to customer and GC expectations.
• Establish and enforce standard processes for project intake, estimating handoff, scheduling, change orders, closeout, and billing.
• Own project financial performance, including gross margin, cost-to-complete forecasting, WIP, and backlog reviews.
• Identify at-risk projects early and lead recovery plans across locations.
• Serve as senior escalation point for key customers and general contractors.
• Build resource and labor planning models so project demand is matched to technician and subcontractor capacity.
• Partner with Safety to ensure jobsite safety standards are planned into every project.
• Develop project managers and coordinators through coaching, clear expectations, and performance metrics.

Skills

Leadership

Project management

Cross-site coordination

Budget & forecasting

Risk management

Travel willingness

Education

PMP certification

Tools

PM software experience

Job description

The Role

We're looking for a Vice President of Project Operations to lead how we deliver installation and construction projects across our operating companies. You'll own project execution standards, schedule and margin performance, and the systems and people that make delivery predictable. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who has run projects in the field, can step into a troubled job and turn it around, and wants to build a consistent delivery model across a growing, multi-site national business.

What You'll Do

• Lead project delivery across operating companies, ensuring jobs finish on schedule, on budget, and to customer and GC expectations
• Establish and enforce standard processes for project intake, estimating handoff, scheduling, change orders, closeout, and billing
• Own project financial performance, including gross margin, cost-to-complete forecasting, WIP, and backlog reviews
• Identify at-risk projects early and lead recovery plans, including labor redeployment across locations
• Serve as senior escalation point for key customers and general contractors
• Build resource and labor planning models so project demand is matched to technician and subcontractor capacity
• Partner with Safety to ensure jobsite safety standards are planned into every project
• Develop project managers and coordinators through coaching, clear expectations, and performance metrics
• Drive adoption of project management tools and reporting
• Work with Sales, Estimating, Finance, and operating company leaders to improve bid accuracy and project profitability

What You Bring

• 12+ years of project management or construction operations experience, with 5+ years leading project managers across multiple sites or regions
• Background in commercial refrigeration, HVAC, mechanical, or foodservice equipment installation strongly preferred
• Track record of improving project margin and schedule performance across multiple sites or business units
• Strong grasp of project financials: WIP, percent complete, change order management, cost-to-complete
• Experience working with national accounts and general contractors on retail or grocery programs
• Comfort operating in a multi-company environment and standardizing without crushing local strengths
• PMP or equivalent a plus
• Willingness to travel

About Smart Care

Smart Care is a national repair and service provider for commercial foodservice, refrigeration, and cold storage equipment. Our offering of comprehensive mechanical services includes hot side cooking equipment, stand-alone refrigeration, specialty coffee and beverage, complex rack refrigeration and HVAC.

Smart Care is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or other protected class status. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply. If you need a reasonable accommodation with respect to Smart Care’s application or hiring process due to a disability, please contact the Human Resources department at [e-mail].

Smart Care is a national repair and service provider for commercial foodservice, refrigeration, and cold storage equipment. Our offering of comprehensive mechanical services includes hot side cooking equipment, stand-alone refrigeration, specialty coffee and beverage, complex rack refrigeration and HVAC.

Our strong reputation and leading customer service stems from our high-quality technician base, breadth of services and quick response times. We are OEM-agnostic with the ability to service more than 10,000 types of equipment - giving you a valuable, single source provider to all your kitchen and refrigeration equipment needs. As we continue to build upon our foundation of world class technicians and national coverage, it is centered around how to better serve our broad range of customers - from grocery to restaurants, from corporate dining to hospitality, from large entertainment venues to higher education, from cold storage to convenience stores, from healthcare to casinos.