Administrative Operation Manager- Long term contract

Hands-On  Administrative Operations Manager

Beltsville, Maryland
Long-term temporary to hire

Our Company is a long-standing rigging, crane, storage, and specialty services company located in Beltsville, Maryland. The company has served customers for decades and is entering a new phase of growth, structure, and operational improvement under new ownership.

We are seeking a hands-on Operations Manager who can bring organization, accountability, follow-through, and daily operational structure to the business. This is a practical, roll-up-your-sleeves role for someone who understands construction, field operations, union labor environments, customer service, and the importance of keeping administrative and operational details moving.

Position Summary

The Hands-On Operations Manager will serve as the central point of coordination between ownership, field operations, dispatch, sales, administration, accounting, customers, vendors, and union labor-related activity.

This person will help manage the daily flow of the office and operations, ensure tasks are assigned and completed, improve communication, track job-related activity, support billing and documentation processes, and help the company operate with greater consistency and accountability.

The successful candidate will be organized, direct, dependable, and comfortable working in a small-business environment where priorities can shift quickly. This person must exercise sound judgment when determining what requires immediate attention, what can be delegated, and what should be elevated to ownership.

This role requires someone who is comfortable navigating an environment where processes may still be developing and there may occasionally be ambiguity. The Operations Manager will be expected to ask thoughtful questions, gather the necessary information, think critically, and move work forward without waiting for detailed instructions at every step.

This role is not for someone who only wants to delegate. United Rigging needs someone who can manage, follow up, organize, document, problem-solve, and execute.

Key Responsibilities

Daily Operations Management

• Serve as the day-to-day operational point person for the office and administrative workflow
• Act as a buffer between ownership and daily operational issues, bringing matters to the owner with context, options, and recommendations
• Track open tasks, customer requests, internal deadlines, job status items, and follow-up needs
• Exercise good judgment in prioritizing urgent, high-risk, and time-sensitive matters
• Ensure operational and administrative matters are assigned to the appropriate person and completed in a timely manner
• Help create a more organized and predictable daily operating rhythm for the company
• Identify recurring issues, evaluate their underlying causes, and recommend practical solutions
• Make informed decisions and move routine matters forward when complete direction may not be available

Staff Coordination and Accountability

• Provide day-to-day direction and accountability for administrative support staff
• Clarify roles, responsibilities, and expectations for office personnel, temporary support, interns, or subcontracted administrative help
• Monitor workload, follow-up, and performance of assigned administrative functions
• Help determine whether current support roles and resources are adding measurable value
• Escalate staffing gaps, performance concerns, or process issues to ownership with clear recommendations
• Promote accountability while maintaining professional and respectful working relationships

Union Labor and Field Operations Support

• Support coordination related to union labor, field staffing, dispatch, and job scheduling
• Maintain awareness of union requirements, labor classifications, reporting expectations, and related administrative processes
• Coordinate with dispatch, field supervisors, and administrative staff to ensure labor-related documentation is accurate and timely
• Help ensure union-related paperwork, timesheets, job records, and supporting documentation are properly maintained
• Serve as an internal point of coordination for union-related operational questions and follow-up
• Help connect office processes with the realities and changing needs of field operations

Job Tracking and Documentation

• Track project activity from request to bid through site visit, MOP creation, estimate preparation, submission, invoicing, change orders, and closeout
• Ensure job files are complete, organized, current, and accessible
• Help maintain documentation for estimates, customer approvals, MOPs, invoices, change orders, lessons learned, and related correspondence
• Follow up with internal team members to ensure missing information is obtained before it creates billing, customer service, or operational delays
• Support the development and ongoing use of checklists, trackers, and standard operating procedures
• Use Microsoft Excel and other business tools to maintain accurate operational trackers, schedules, and reports

Customer, Vendor, and Internal Communication

• Serve as a professional point of contact for customers, vendors, and internal team members as assigned
• Follow up on customer requests, billing questions, storage billing issues, documentation needs, and outstanding operational items
• Coordinate communication between sales, dispatch, accounting, administration, field personnel, and ownership
• Make sure issues are not left unresolved because everyone assumes someone else is handling them
• Bring urgent, sensitive, or high-risk matters to ownership in a timely and organized manner
• Communicate clearly and professionally, both verbally and in writing

Billing, Storage, and Administrative Workflow Support

• Support timely and accurate storage billing processes
• Coordinate with accounting and administrative staff to ensure billing information and supporting documentation are complete
• Help track invoices, job records, customer approvals, supporting documents, and customer communication
• Identify gaps in administrative workflows that may affect cash flow, customer service, or internal accountability
• Assist with process improvements related to accounts receivable, accounts payable, job-costing support, and documentation flow
• Help ensure financial and operational information is provided to the appropriate parties accurately and on time

Process Improvement

• Help document current workflows and recommend improvements
• Create and maintain simple systems, checklists, trackers, templates, and procedures to support consistency
• Reduce reliance on memory, verbal instructions, and last-minute follow-up
• Help transition the company from reactive problem-solving to a more structured operating model
• Partner with ownership and executive advisory support to implement practical operational improvements
• Evaluate challenges critically and identify solutions that are practical for a growing small business
• Help create systems that can expand as the company continues to grow

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of five years of experience in operations and office management in construction, logistics, rigging, crane services, mechanical contracting, specialty trades, transportation, industrial services, or another comparable fast-moving environment
• Experience working in a union labor environment is required
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, take initiative, and move assignments forward without requiring constant direction
• Sound judgment and the ability to prioritize competing tasks based on urgency, business impact, customer needs, and operational risk
• Strong critical-thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills
• Ability to work effectively in an environment where processes may not yet be fully documented and some ambiguity may exist
• Strong understanding of how field operations, office administration, billing, scheduling, and customer follow-up connect
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-moving small-business environment
• Strong follow-up skills, task-management abilities, and attention to detail
• Ability to hold people accountable in a professional and respectful manner
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Comfortable working directly with owners, field personnel, administrative staff, customers, vendors, and union-related contacts
• Comfortable using Microsoft Excel and Word for operational tracking, written communication, reporting, templates, and process documentation
• Experience with QuickBooks Online, Paychex, job-tracking systems, dispatch systems, or similar platforms is preferred

This Might Be the Ideal Job for You If You Are...

• A self-starter who sees what needs to be done and takes the initiative to move it forward
• Curious and willing to ask thoughtful questions so you can understand how the business works and why certain processes matter
• A critical thinker who looks beyond the immediate issue to identify underlying causes, risks, and practical solutions
• A task master who enjoys keeping assignments, deadlines, documentation, and follow-up from falling through the cracks
• A strong prioritizer who can distinguish between what is urgent, what is important, what can be delegated, and what requires the owner’s attention
• Comfortable with ambiguity and able to make progress even when every process, responsibility, or next step has not yet been fully defined
• Hands-on and willing to jump in where needed rather than waiting for someone else to resolve an issue
• Organized and resourceful, with the ability to bring order to a busy and sometimes informal environment
• Someone who understands both office operations and field realities
• Experienced in construction, logistics, specialty trades, or another fast-moving operational environment
• Comfortable working around union labor requirements and coordinating with field personnel
• A clear communicator who can work effectively with owners, office staff, field employees, customers, vendors, and union-related contacts
• Dependable and accountable, with a reputation for following through without repeated reminders
• Confident but respectful when holding others accountable or addressing unresolved issues
• Able to manage details without losing sight of the larger operational picture
• Interested in helping build structure, systems, and processes that will support the company’s next phase of growth