Operations Manager

Operations Manager

Green Circle

La Crosse, Wisconsin | Full time | On site

Salary: $90,000–$110,000+ per year, depending on experience

Schedule: 50+ hours per week, with flexibility to meet operational needs

About the role

Green Circle is seeking a hands-on Operations Manager to support our continued growth and lead daily operations at our two La Crosse facilities, located within a block of each other. Our work includes single-stream recycling, secure paper shredding, mattress recycling, and scrap metal processing.

Working closely with the General Manager and our operations and maintenance staff, you’ll coordinate daily priorities, support the crew, and put practical improvements into action. We’re looking for someone who takes initiative, makes sound decisions, and builds on the team’s experience.

This is a chance to make a big impact on a growing local business. Your work will directly influence how we operate and expand. We work hard, enjoy what we do, and have fun together. We want someone who brings that same energy to the team.

Key responsibilities

• Lead daily production planning, staffing, and equipment use. Set clear priorities and adjust plans with the team as material volumes and workloads change.
• Supervise, coach, and develop employees. Coordinate training, set expectations, recognize strong work, and address attendance or performance issues consistently, including disciplinary action when needed.
• Drive safety initiatives through training, floor inspections, incident and near-miss reviews, and corrective actions. Enforce safe equipment operation, lockout/tagout, and required protective equipment.
• Work with staff to review and update standard operating procedures (SOPs) as equipment and processes change. Train employees on updates and reinforce consistent, safe work practices.
• Find and resolve bottlenecks. Improve throughput, labor efficiency, material recovery, and product quality while reducing downtime, unnecessary handling, and operating costs.
• Coordinate preventive maintenance and repairs with maintenance staff. Help troubleshoot problems, prioritize work, and address recurring equipment failures at their source.
• Manage incoming material acceptance, inventory levels, storage, yard organization, and outbound loads. Keep recovered materials within customer and downstream buyer specifications.
• Maintain secure handling and required documentation for confidential paper shredding. Enforce material security and access procedures throughout the destruction process.
• Track production, downtime, labor use, quality, and costs. Keep accurate records, communicate results, and use the numbers to guide improvements.
• Support environmental and operating requirements, inspections, and housekeeping. Help plan equipment, layout, staffing, and process changes that support continued growth.

Minimum qualifications

• At least 3 years of supervisory or management experience in manufacturing, recycling, waste processing, scrap metal, or a comparable industrial operation.
• A record of leading crews, holding people accountable, and improving safety or operating performance. Strong production supervisors ready for broader responsibility are encouraged to apply.
• Mechanical aptitude and practical problem-solving skills, including the ability to recognize equipment issues and coordinate safe, effective repairs.
• Clear communication, sound judgment, and the ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment. Comfortable using email, spreadsheets, and operating reports.
• A valid driver’s license and the ability to work on site for 50+ hours per week.

Preferred qualifications

• Five or more years of supervisory experience in an industrial or processing environment.
• Experience with recycling materials, scrap grading, paper destruction, shredders, conveyors, balers, or mobile equipment such as forklifts, loaders, skid steers, and excavators.
• Experience working with staff to improve SOPs, lead safety initiatives, or put process improvements into practice.
• A Class A or Class B commercial driver’s license (CDL) is a plus, but is not required.

Employment requirements

• Must be able to pass drug testing in accordance with company policies.
• Must pass initial and ongoing criminal background screening and meet applicable NAID AAA requirements for access to confidential materials. Any felony or misdemeanor conviction whose circumstances substantially relate to this position will result in disqualification following individual review consistent with Wisconsin law. Review considers access to confidential information and valuable materials, supervision of employees, and responsibility for workplace safety. This includes disqualifying felony convictions involving theft, fraud, burglary, or larceny within the past seven years.

Work environment and physical demands

This role includes regular work on the production floor and in the yard around moving equipment, noise, dust, and seasonal temperature extremes. Duties include extended standing and walking and moving objects up to 70 pounds occasionally, 40 pounds frequently, and 10 pounds routinely, using assistance or lifting equipment as appropriate. Essential functions may be performed with or without reasonable accommodation.

Apply

Submit your resume and a brief note about the teams you’ve led and an operational or safety improvement you helped put into practice.

Pay: $90,000.00 - $110,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person