Operations Manager (Utility Design)

OPERATIONS MANAGERAbout Radius Design

Radius Design is a growing Bay Area utility design and consulting firm specializing in dry utility, electric, gas, and joint trench design. We are looking for an experienced Operations Manager to help us build efficient systems, improve coordination, and keep our growing organization running smoothly.

The Opportunity

The Operations Manager owns the day-to-day operations of the company, working under the COO and closely with leadership, project management, engineering, design, and administration to ensure our people, processes, priorities, and resources are aligned.

This is a heavily operations-driven leadership role for someone who enjoys solving complex problems, creating structure, improving processes, and bringing clarity to ambiguous situations. The ideal candidate is an influential, solutions-oriented leader who can bring teams together, make thoughtful decisions, lead change, and remain calm when things get complicated.

If you are someone who can bring calm to complexity, turn ambiguity into clarity, and help both people and operations work better, we’d love to hear from you.

What You'll Do

• Partner with the COO and leadership team on operational strategy, organizational needs, and company-wide initiatives.
• Lead organizational and process changes by creating clear expectations, communicating effectively, and ensuring follow-through.
• Identify complex operational problems, determine root causes, and develop practical solutions that improve how teams and processes work together.
• Bring teams together to resolve process gaps, improve accountability, and strengthen handoffs between departments.
• Turn ambiguous situations into clear expectations, processes, and accountability.
• Recognize when something isn't working, challenge the status quo, and bring leadership thoughtful, actionable solutions.
• Step into escalated project, client, or team situations when leadership involvement is needed and help drive issues toward resolution.
• Support hiring, onboarding, employee development, performance conversations, and team development.
• Oversee training programs and communicate department needs to the Training Manager to ensure new hires get the support they need.
• Provide informed feedback on new hires during training and confidently recommend when a candidate is not the right fit.
• Reinforce Radius Design's core values of Teamwork, Integrity, Commitment to Clients, Quality, and Employee Wellness.
• Own and improve day-to-day operational processes, workflows, and systems.
• Monitor team workload, capacity, priorities, utilization, and operational metrics, while avoiding ownership of day-to-day scheduling and break-in work.
• Establish and maintain processes for priorities, urgent requests, handoffs, and operational accountability.
• Partner with the Operations Analyst and Project Coordinator to maintain effective operational systems, reporting, and coordination.

Who You Are

You are an operations leader first who also happens to be great with people.

You are:

• A strong critical thinker and creative problem solver who enjoys figuring out complex "puzzles."
• Calm and effective in high-intensity, high-stakes situations.
• Highly conscientious and naturally aware of the cause and effect decisions can have across teams, projects, clients, and the business.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and skilled at creating structure where none exists.
• Influential and collaborative, with the ability to bring people together around solutions.
• Willing to challenge the status quo and speak up when something isn't working.
• Comfortable making decisions, holding boundaries, and having difficult conversations when necessary.
• Caring and approachable, while maintaining appropriate professional boundaries.
• Someone who genuinely cares about employee growth and success without becoming the person employees use as a therapist.
• Able to understand organizational dynamics and recognize the strengths and core competencies already within the team.
• A strong change leader who can help people understand and successfully adopt new expectations and processes.
• Solutions-oriented: you don't just identify problems—you come prepared with ideas for how to solve them.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in operations, project management, business administration, or a related field.
• Experience leading people, processes, or operational initiatives.
• Strong problem-solving, organizational, communication, and decision-making skills.
• Experience with change management and process improvement.
• Some experience with HR functions, employee development, onboarding, performance management, or hiring.
• Experience in engineering, construction, architecture, utilities, or professional services is a plus.
• Experience with Asana or similar project management systems is a plus.
• Six Sigma or other continuous improvement experience is a plus.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $120,000.00 - $135,000.00 per year

Benefits:

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

Education:

• Bachelor's (Preferred)

Experience:

• Operations or Project Management: 10 years (Required)

Ability to Commute:

• Walnut Creek, CA 94596 (Preferred)

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Walnut Creek, CA 94596