Operations Manager

Location: Marietta, Georgia
Reports To: President / Business Leader
Employment Type: Full-Time

Position Summary

Appell Striping of Georgia is seeking an Operations Manager to lead the day-to-day execution of our commercial pavement maintenance operation.

This role owns the business from sold job to completed job.

The Operations Manager is responsible for scheduling, field crews, equipment, materials, subcontractors, job quality, safety, job profitability, and customer communication throughout the production process. The expectation is simple: complete quality work safely, on time, and at or above the margin we sold it for.

This is a hands-on leadership role. The right person will spend significant time in the field, develop strong crews, solve problems quickly, and create the operating discipline necessary to scale the business.

Core Responsibilities

Production & Scheduling

• Own the production calendar and scheduling of all sold work.
• Coordinate labor, equipment, materials, subcontractors, and customer access requirements before each job.
• Ensure crews have clear job scopes, site plans, materials, and expectations before arriving on site.
• Adjust schedules quickly when weather, customer issues, staffing, or other conditions change.
• Maintain visibility into upcoming production capacity and communicate constraints before they become problems.

Field Leadership

• Lead, coach, and hold field technicians accountable for performance.
• Conduct regular jobsite visits and provide hands-on leadership when needed.
• Establish clear expectations for professionalism, productivity, workmanship, and customer interaction.
• Develop crew leaders capable of independently managing jobs in the field.
• Participate in recruiting, onboarding, training, performance management, and personnel decisions.

Quality Control

• Ensure every project meets Appell standards and the customer's agreed scope of work.
• Inspect jobs throughout production and before final completion when appropriate.
• Reduce callbacks, rework, missed scope, and customer complaints.
• Own operational resolution of customer issues and escalate significant concerns quickly.
• Ensure job photos, documentation, and closeout requirements are completed.

Job Profitability

• Understand the estimated labor, materials, equipment, and subcontractor assumptions for every project.
• Manage each job to protect or improve estimated gross margin.
• Identify scope changes and additional work before completing work outside the original proposal.
• Track labor hours, material usage, subcontractor expenses, and operational variances.
• Review completed jobs to identify why projects performed above or below expectations.
• Partner with sales to improve estimating based on actual field results.

Safety

• Own the safety culture for Appell's field operation.
• Ensure employees follow company safety procedures, OSHA requirements, traffic-control practices, PPE requirements, and equipment procedures.
• Conduct regular safety meetings and jobsite observations.
• Immediately address unsafe behavior or conditions.
• Ensure incidents are properly documented, investigated, and corrected.

Equipment & Materials

• Maintain accountability for trucks, striping machines, sealcoat equipment, trailers, tools, and other company assets.
• Maintain preventative maintenance schedules and minimize unnecessary equipment downtime.
• Ensure crews properly clean, maintain, secure, and return equipment after jobs.
• Manage inventory levels for paint, sealer, crackfill material, traffic-control equipment, and other frequently used supplies.
• Reduce waste, loss, theft, and unnecessary purchases.

Subcontractor Management

• Coordinate subcontractors used for asphalt repair, specialty services, or additional production capacity.
• Ensure subcontractors understand the scope, schedule, quality expectations, insurance requirements, and customer expectations before beginning work.
• Verify subcontracted work before approving invoices.
• Hold subcontractors to the same professionalism and quality standards expected of Appell employees.

Customer Experience

• Serve as the primary operational contact after a job is handed off from sales.
• Confirm scheduling and site requirements with customers.
• Communicate proactively when schedules or field conditions change.
• Address operational concerns with urgency and professionalism.
• Ensure the completed project reflects positively on Appell and creates opportunities for repeat business.

Key Performance Indicators

Success in this role will be measured primarily by:

• Gross margin versus estimated gross margin
• Jobs completed on schedule
• Labor hours versus estimate
• Rework and callback rate
• Customer complaints and resolution time
• Crew productivity and utilization
• Equipment uptime and maintenance compliance
• Safety incidents
• Job documentation and closeout completion
• Development and retention of strong field employees

What Good Looks Like

A successful Operations Manager creates an operation where:

• Sales can confidently hand off a project knowing it will be executed correctly.
• Crews know exactly where they are going, what they are doing, and what success looks like.
• Problems are identified early rather than becoming emergencies.
• Managers are visible in the field rather than managing entirely from behind a desk.
• Customers receive proactive communication.
• Equipment is ready when it is needed.
• Jobs finish at or above expected margins.
• Rework is uncommon.
• Safety and quality are never sacrificed for speed.
• The business can grow without operational complexity growing at the same rate.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in field operations, construction, pavement maintenance, facilities services, landscaping, concrete, asphalt, striping, or a related service business preferred.
• Prior experience directly supervising field employees or crews.
• Strong scheduling and organizational skills.
• Ability to read proposals, scopes of work, site maps, and job specifications.
• Working understanding of labor management and job costing.
• Comfortable using technology for scheduling, job tracking, documentation, and communication.
• Strong problem-solving ability and willingness to make decisions in the field.
• Valid driver's license and acceptable driving record.

Direct pavement-marking experience is helpful but strong field leadership and operational discipline are more important than industry experience.

Schedule & Work Environment

Commercial pavement work frequently takes place when customer parking lots and facilities are least active. The Operations Manager must therefore be comfortable with a schedule that can include:

• Early mornings
• Nights
• Weekends
• Weather-driven schedule changes
• Regular travel throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area

This is not a traditional 8-to-5 desk position.

Leadership Expectations

Appell operates with a bias toward action, accountability, and results.

The Operations Manager is expected to:

• Own problems rather than pass them along.
• Communicate bad news early.
• Hold people accountable while treating them with respect.
• Maintain high standards even when no one is watching.
• Simplify the operation wherever possible.
• Protect the customer relationship.
• Treat company resources as if they were their own.
• Focus relentlessly on safe execution, quality work, and profitable growth.

At Appell, operations is where the promise made by sales becomes reality. The Operations Manager owns making sure we deliver on that promise every time.

    WHO WE ARE:

Empower Brands was founded in 2022 as a product of the integration of Lynx Franchising and Outdoor Living Brands. Empower encompasses ten industry-leading brands across commercial and residential services: JAN-PRO, FRSTeam, Archadeck Outdoor Living, Outdoor Lighting Perspectives (OLP), Conserva Irrigation, Koala Insulation, Wallaby Windows, Superior Fence and Rail, Bumble Roofing and Canopy Lawn Care. Empower is dedicated to providing its customers with the highest quality products and services in the commercial and home services industry while simultaneously delivering its franchise owners committed personal support, tools and empowerment to pursue their own success. Empower Brands is a portfolio company of MidOcean Partners, a leading private equity firm with an excellent track record investing in successful, growth-focused franchise businesses. For more about Empower Brands, visit the company’s new website at EmpowerFranchising.com.   Note: 

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee(s) incumbent in this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by any person authorized to give instructions or assignments. All duties and responsibilities are essential functions and requirements and are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. To perform this job successfully, the incumbents will possess the skills, aptitudes, and abilities to perform each duty proficiently. Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health or safety of themselves or others. The requirements listed in this document are the minimum levels of knowledge, skills, or abilities. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an “at will” relationship.  
_Empower Brands is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship. Empower Brands makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time._