Operations Manager

Description


Responsible for the safe, reliable, and efficient day-to-day operation of a school bus transportation facility supporting approximately 120 employees and the students, families, and school districts they serve. This position provides hands-on leadership to drivers, transportation coordinators, assistant managers, and other operational personnel. Accountable for safety, service reliability, staffing, employee engagement and retention, operational execution, customer satisfaction, labor efficiency, and financial performance. The successful candidate will be a visible leader who spends significant time in the operation, understands the challenges facing frontline employees, establishes clear expectations, and follows through on commitments. Essential responsibilities include:

Safety & Compliance

• Establish and maintain a strong safety culture across the location.
• Ensure drivers and employees follow company, state, DOT, and school district requirements.
• Monitor preventable accidents, incidents, near misses, Lytx/coaching results, and safety trends.
• Ensure corrective actions are completed timely and effectively.
• Partner with the Safety team on driver observations, safety meetings, audits, investigations, and coaching.
• Hold leaders and employees accountable for safe behaviors.
• Ensure all drivers maintain required qualifications, certifications, training, and documentation.
• Lead by example in all safety-related activities.
• Respected, supported, and connected to the organization.
• Monitor employee turnover, particularly new-hire turnover within the first 90 days.
• Conduct regular check-ins with new employees during their first 30, 60, and 90 days.
• Partner with HR and Talent Acquisition to maintain an effective driver pipeline.
• Identify root causes of turnover and implement corrective actions.
• Recognize and retain high-performing employees.
• Address performance issues consistently and fairly.
• Develop future leaders within the operation.

Daily Transportation Operations

• Own daily AM and PM service execution.
• Ensure buses, drivers, monitors, and routes are ready for service.
• Lead daily operational meetings and establish clear priorities.
• Monitor route coverage, late buses, missed trips, breakdowns, driver call-offs, and service disruptions.
• Ensure dispatch is actively managing the operation and communicating issues quickly.
• Develop contingency plans for staffing and vehicle shortages.
• Ensure effective AM and PM turnover processes between shifts.
• Maintain strong communication between operations, maintenance, dispatch, and senior leadership.

Staffing & Workforce Management

• Maintain staffing levels necessary to meet contractual service requirements.
• Develop daily and weekly staffing plans.
• Monitor driver availability, absenteeism, open routes, overtime, and vacancies.
• Ensure appropriate coverage during vacations, leaves, call-offs, and other absences.
• Partner with recruiting and training teams to maintain a healthy candidate pipeline.
• Review open positions and backfills with leadership before adding labor.
• Use cross-training and scheduling optimization to improve workforce flexibility.

People Leadership & Retention

• Lead, coach, develop, and hold employees accountable.
• Create a workplace where drivers and frontline employees feel

Financial & Labor Management

• Manage the location in accordance with the approved operating budget.
• Monitor labor costs, overtime, staffing levels, training costs, and other controllable expenses.
• Identify opportunities to improve labor efficiency without compromising safety or service.
• Reduce unnecessary driver, dispatch, and fleet overtime.
• Monitor productivity and staffing against actual operational demand.
• Participate in monthly financial reviews and develop corrective action plans for unfavorable variances.
• Understand the relationship between employee turnover, overtime, training expense, and profitability.

Customer & School District Relationships

• Build strong relationships with school district leadership and key customer contacts.
• Respond quickly and professionally to service concerns.
• Participate in district meetings, operational reviews, and start-of-school planning.
• Communicate proactively when service issues occur.
• Develop corrective action plans when service standards are not met.
• Ensure commitments to the customer are documented and closed out.

Leadership & Communication

• Establish clear expectations for Assistant Managers, Dispatchers, Transportation Coordinators, and other leaders.
• Conduct regular leadership meetings.
• Create accountability through action plans and follow-up.
• Promote teamwork between operations, maintenance, safety, HR, and recruiting.
• Eliminate silos and ensure information flows throughout the operation.
• Maintain a visible presence in the yard, dispatch area, driver room, and other frontline areas.
• Build a culture of "see it, own it, solve it."

Leadership Expectations

• Be visible. Employees should regularly see and interact with the Operations Manager.
• Be accountable. Problems should have an owner, action plan, and completion date.
• Be proactive. Identify issues before they become service failures.
• Develop people. Build the next generation of supervisors and managers.
• Protect safety. Safety is never compromised for operational convenience.
• Know the numbers. Understand the financial impact of staffing, turnover, overtime, and fleet decisions.
• Close the loop. Commitments to employees, customers, and leadership must be followed through.
• Build teamwork. Operations, Maintenance, Safety, HR, and Recruiting must operate as one team.

Must-Have Skills, Experience, & Education:

• Experienced military leader with 5+ years of supervisory experience, preferably in transportation, logistics, fleet operations, or a related industry.
• Demonstrated experience managing hourly/frontline employees.
• Strong organizational and communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced operating environment.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Ability to work early mornings, afternoons, evenings, and occasional weekends as operational requirements dictate.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and operational/transportation software.

Nice-To-Have Skills, Experience, & Education:

• Experience managing a 100+ employee operation.
• Experience with recruitment, training, retention, and workforce planning.
• Experience managing budgets and financial performance.
• Experience with safety programs and DOT/state transportation regulations.
• Experience with continuous improvement.
• Excellent organizational and analytical skills

Fleet & Maintenance Partnership

• Partner closely with the Maintenance team to maintain fleet readiness.
• Review daily bus availability and buses out of service.
• Prioritize repairs based on operational requirements and safety.
• Ensure PM schedules are maintained.
• Monitor recurring mechanical issues and repair comebacks.
• Communicate fleet needs and operational priorities to maintenance leadership.
• Participate in fleet readiness meetings and establish accountability for unresolved issues.