Rigging Operations Manager (Houston)

Company and Regional Office :

MEI Industrial Solutions is the premier provider of end-to-end industrial solutions across North America. Our safety-first approach offers a single-source industrial solution rooted in expertise from coast to coast demonstrated by 30 locations across 23 states.

MEI Industrial Solutions Houston delivers exceptional rigging, heavy equipment moving, millwrighting, and specialized packing services across Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. Our Houston team excels in transloading services, project packaging, and certified hazardous materials handling. We are seeking a highly experienced Rigging Operations Manager to work alongside the Houston General Manager to contribute to organizational and strategy discussions and be highly involved in the financial performance of $20M - $100M+ in annual revenue.

A highly competitive salary and extensive benefits package are available for MEI employees.

Position Summary :

The Rigging Operations Manager (ROM) leads the rigging business unit and is accountable for its safety, performance, operational execution, and contribution to the Regional Office’s financial results and growth. Reporting to the Regional Office (RO) General Manager (GM) and participating in quarterly regional meetings, this role manages superintendents, dispatch, and field leadership. The role partners closely with the GM on P&L performance, owns capacity planning and the standardized processes that let the operation scale profitably and safely, and contributes to organizational structure and strategy for the office and region.

Essential Job Duties and Responsibilities :

• Safety & Risk Leadership : Collaborates with the Safety team; owns safety results for the business unit (incidents, injuries, and motor vehicle accidents [MVAs]); lift planning governance and critical-lift review as needed; incident root-cause and corrective-action closure, including disciplinary recommendations.
• Financial Performance : Drives the rigging business unit’s contribution to the office P&L through labor productivity, overtime control, and equipment utilization; works closely with the GM to implement improvements; reviews rigging business unit financial results monthly with the GM.
• Operational Excellence & Scalability : Capacity planning and resource leveling across concurrent projects; reinforces development and training of rigging crews in best known methods (BKMs), rigging operation practices, standard work, and SOPs; dispatch optimization; and project execution.
• Functional Partnership : Customer-facing; works closely with the Sales team for job walks as needed, assists with estimating and pricing strategy, Works closely with project managers through the project lifecycle to support planning, forecasting, logistics, schedule changes, customer deliverables, and execution of readiness., particularly related to manpower and equipment utilization; works closely with the Sales team to manage customer complaints involving operational issues.
• Asset & Fleet Management : Assists the GM with CAPEX planning. Owns equipment utilization, tooling, preventive maintenance, repairs, and inspection records. Works closely with the DOT team on all related issues including fleet camera installation.
• Warehouse & Logistics Coordination : Partners closely with warehouse operations to ensure project materials are properly planned, received, staged, and loaded to support project schedules. Establishes communication flow between Rigging Operations, Warehousing, Project Management, and Dispatch to ensure manpower, equipment, and material readiness for all active projects.
• People & Organizational Development : Builds superintendent and foreman/lead bench strength, succession planning, retention, and performance management through direct reports; career ladder discussions; works closely with Training & Development (T&D), Safety, and Dispatch to ensure all certifications and training are current; co-owns, with T&D, the Rigging Apprenticeship Program (RAP) at the RO level.
• Systems, Data & Reporting : KPI dashboards, operating reviews, fleet telematics, and data-driven decisions.
• Organization, Strategy & Engagement : Contributes to RO strategy discussions and the annual budget; participates in quarterly regional meetings with operational, safety, and financial updates for rigging; provides input on organizational structure; engages with other ROMs to share crews, equipment, and best practices across Regional Offices; helps develop or adopt company-wide rigging standards.
• Professional Development : Consistently demonstrates professional conduct representative of MEI corporate mission, vision, and values; works to gain knowledge regarding industry and market information and trends; develops professional and technical knowledge by attending educational workshops, reviewing professional publications, establishing personal networks, and participating in professional societies.

Qualifications :

• 8+ years in operations, including 3+ years leading supervisors or other managers.
• Demonstrated budget management related to utilization and productivity and working knowledge of P&L drivers for an operation of comparable size within a $20–$100M+ organization; multi-office experience preferred.
• HS diploma required.
• Continuing education in Construction Management, Engineering, or Business (or equivalent experience) preferred.
• OSHA 30; NCCCO Rigger II/Signalperson or ability to obtain.
• Working knowledge of lift planning preferred.
• Basic financial literacy (reading P&L statements and forecasts), contract and scope understanding, and data-driven decision-making.
• Basic proficiency with ERP and fleet management systems.

Physical Requirements and Travel :

This is physical, hands-on work. Must be able to perform General Physical Activities that require considerable use of arms, legs, and activities requiring moving the whole body such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, or crouching. May regularly lift items up to 80 pounds. Frequently uses senses involving sight, smell, touch, and hearing. May work off the ground at varying heights; must not be affected by flashing lights, noise, or moving machinery. May perform occasional work in a warehouse or non-temperature-controlled environment and/or outdoors over uneven terrain or with exposure to inclement weather. Travel within the RO area for job sites and occasional overnight travel to other ROs, training, and quarterly regional meetings.

Additional Requirements:

Work with a Top-of-Mind Awareness for the safety of yourself and everyone at the job site. Must be able to work in a high functioning team environment. Display the highest levels of honesty, integrity, and professionalism. Take pride in your work and in the company. Communicate openly and strive for peak performance in daily tasks. Know and deliver the quality service MEI’s customers have come to expect.

Disclaimer: This job description is intended to summarize the type and level of work performed by a Rigging Operations Manager and is not an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and/or requirements. MEI reserves the right to change or modify this job description or the essential duties of the job, as necessary.

MEI is an Equal Opportunity, M/F/Disabled/Vet Preferred Employer.