Operations Manager (Path to General Manager)

About the role

Watts Window Cleaning runs two exterior cleaning businesses across the Baltimore and Washington, DC metro areas. Our commercial business provides window cleaning and pressure washing to office parks, medical buildings, apartment communities, and retail centers, mostly on recurring contracts. Our residential business provides window and gutter cleaning for homeowners. We have offices in both metros. The two businesses run separately today, and we plan to bring them together.

We are hiring an Operations Manager to run field operations for both businesses day-to-day: crews, scheduling, quality, safety, and hiring field staff. This is a hands-on role. You will be in the field most days, and you will jump on a job yourself when a crew is short.

This role is designed to grow into General Manager. We are growing, and we want the person who runs operations today to help lead the company tomorrow. Once you meet the goals below, you become eligible for promotion to General Manager, with higher pay and a larger bonus. We review progress with you at 6 and 12 months.

• Location: Bethesda/Ellicott City, Maryland; field work across the Baltimore and Washington, DC metro areas
• Type: Full-time, salaried
• Reports to: Acting General Manager

What you'll do

Run the crews

• Schedule and dispatch commercial and residential crews daily and weekly in our field service software; build routes that cut drive time, and share crews and equipment between the two businesses where it makes sense.
• Lead crew leads and technicians: set expectations, check work, coach, and handle discipline.
• Cover call-outs by reshuffling crews, and work jobs yourself when needed: window cleaning and pressure washing, on the ground, on ladders, and on lifts.
• Inspect jobs and keep quality consistent with written checklists for each service.

Hire and build the field team

• Recruit, interview and hire technicians and crew leads; keep a bench of candidates ahead of the spring season.
• Run onboarding and training: equipment, chemicals, ladder and lift safety, and customer conduct.
• Track turnover and fix the reasons people leave.

Own safety and equipment

• Enforce the safety program: training records, periodic equipment checks, incident reporting.
• Keep trucks, pressure washers, lifts, and water-fed poles maintained and stocked.

Keep and grow customers

• Be the field contact for commercial property managers: walk sites, handle complaints, and fix problems before they reach the Acting General Manager/President.
• Grow the commercial book: win at least 2 new commercial accounts or added services (such as adding pressure washing at an existing window account) per quarter, with the Acting General Manager/President approving pricing.
• Keep residential service quality high; work with office staff, who handle residential booking and customer calls, to resolve complaints quickly.
• Make sure every job is closed out correctly so billing goes out on time.

Run the numbers that matter

• Report weekly on revenue per crew per day, labor cost as a share of revenue, callbacks, safety incidents, and schedule backlog.
• Help price commercial jobs and bids by estimating crew hours accurately.

Field work is part of the job, not the whole job. Plan on working jobs some days, especially in peak season. If you're regularly covering for a crew, the answer is hiring, and you'll lead that.

Path to General Manager

You become eligible for promotion when you consistently:

• run day-to-day operations without the owner stepping in;
• build strong relationships with our key commercial customers and keep them renewing;
• hit agreed labor-cost, quality, and safety targets;
• build a field team that stays.

We review progress together at 6 and 12 months. Your offer letter sets specific targets, which we may adjust together as the business changes. Promotion is based on results, not time served.

As General Manager, you would take on the budget for both businesses, commercial sales and renewals, and hiring for all roles. You would lead the effort to bring the two businesses together into one company and build a team of supervisors under you.

What we're looking for

Required

• 5+ years in field services (window cleaning, pressure washing, commercial cleaning, landscaping, facilities maintenance or similar), including 2+ years running multiple crews.
• A track record of hiring and keeping field staff, and of letting go of people who don't work out.
• Hands-on skill: comfortable doing the work yourself on ladders and with pressure washing equipment.
• Experience with scheduling or field service software (Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, or similar).
• Comfort with numbers: you've tracked labor cost, job hours, or crew productivity before.
• Valid driver's license and a clean driving record; able to lift 50 lbs and work outdoors in all seasons.

Preferred

• Mid-rise or high-rise window cleaning experience: aerial lifts, rope descent systems or suspended platforms, and working knowledge of OSHA 1910.27 and the ANSI/IWCA I-14.1 window cleaning safety standard.
• Commercial accounts: you've worked directly with property managers or facilities managers and kept them happy.
• Aerial lift certification, OSHA 10 or 30, or experience running a safety program.
• Soft washing or water-fed pole experience.
• Some experience estimating or bidding commercial jobs.

The kind of person who does well here: you own problems instead of passing them up, you stay calm when two crews call out on a full schedule, and you want to build something bigger than the job you have today.

Pay and benefits

• Base salary: $70,000–$80,000
• Bonus: up to $10,000 a year, paid quarterly, based on labor-cost, safety, quality and sales goals
• At promotion to General Manager: a significant base salary increase, a profit-based annual bonus, and eligibility for a long-term incentive plan

Benefits: Company truck or vehicle allowance for work, phone, and paid training and certifications (lift, OSHA).

Pay: $70,000.00 - $80,000.00 per year

Work Location: In person