Vice President of Operations
Location: Milwaukee, WI
National Commercial Landscaping Company
Position Overview
We are seeking a strategic, hands-on Vice President of Operations to lead and scale operations across a national footprint of commercial landscaping branches. This executive leader will be responsible for driving operational excellence, margin improvement, safety performance, and consistent service delivery across multiple regions. The VP of Operations will partner closely with executive leadership to execute growth initiatives, standardize best practices, and develop high-performing regional and branch leadership teams.
This role is ideal for a proven operations leader with deep experience in commercial landscaping, facilities services, or a related field that involves labor-intensive, multi-site operations.
Key Responsibilities
Operational Leadership
- Lead day-to-day operations across multiple regions/branches, ensuring consistent execution of company standards.
- Drive efficiency, productivity, and profitability across maintenance, enhancement, irrigation, snow, and specialty services.
- Establish and monitor KPIs related to safety, quality, labor efficiency, retention, customer satisfaction, and EBITDA.
Financial Performance
- Own operational P&L performance in partnership with finance and regional leadership.
- Develop and execute annual operating plans, budgets, and forecasts.
- Identify and implement cost-control initiatives while maintaining service quality.
People & Culture
- Build, coach, and develop Regional Directors, General Managers, and Branch Managers.
- Create a culture of accountability, safety, and continuous improvement.
- Support leadership development, succession planning, and talent retention initiatives.
Safety & Risk Management
- Champion a strong safety culture across all operations.
- Ensure compliance with OSHA, DOT, and company safety standards.
- Reduce incidents, claims, and risk exposure through training and accountability.
Process Improvement & Scalability
- Standardize operational processes, systems, and best practices across the organization.
- Partner with HR, Sales, and IT to improve onboarding, training, CRM/ERP adoption, and operational workflows.
- Support M&A integration by aligning acquired branches with company standards and performance expectations.
Customer Experience
- Ensure consistent, high-quality service delivery for national, regional, and local commercial clients.
- Partner with sales and account management to support retention, renewals, and organic growth.
Qualifications
- 10+ years of progressive operations leadership experience in commercial landscaping, green industry services, or a related multi-site service business.
- Proven success leading large, geographically dispersed teams.
- Strong financial acumen with experience managing multi-million-dollar P&Ls.
- Demonstrated ability to drive operational improvements, margin expansion, and scalable growth.
- Experience supporting acquisitions and integration preferred.
- Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or advanced degree a plus.
- Willingness to travel regularly (national scope).
What We Offer
- Competitive executive compensation package (base + bonus + long-term incentives)
- Comprehensive benefits (medical, dental, vision, 401(k) with match)
- Opportunity to play a key leadership role in a growing, national organization
- Collaborative executive team and strong platform for long-term career growth
