Chief Operating Officer

Job Description

Job Description

Lighting Maintenance, Inc. (LMI) is a privately held, 35-year-old specialty electrical and lighting contractor serving the mid-Atlantic. We design, install, maintain, and provide emergency service for roadway and street lighting, traffic signal systems, sports and stadium lighting, commercial lighting,. LMI operates five locations across Maryland and Virginia, employs approximately 130 people, maintains more than 200,000 lights, and serves public agencies, municipalities, universities, institutions, major venues, and commercial customers.

Position Summary

Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, the COO will lead the operating and commercial performance of the company across all locations. The role is responsible for strengthening execution, improving profitability, developing managers, standardizing operating systems, and supporting disciplined growth. The successful candidate will be credible with field teams and equally effective with customers, public-agency leaders, design professionals, financial partners, and the executive team.

Key Responsibilities

• Multi-site operations: Lead construction, recurring service, maintenance, and 24/7 emergency response across five locations. Establish consistent expectations for safety, quality, schedule, productivity, customer service, and closeout.
• Financial performance: Own divisional and job-level results, including gross margin, budgets, forecasts, WIP, working capital, cash conversion, cost control, and operating-plan execution.
• Management systems: Build a consistent operating cadence using job-cost reviews, branch scorecards, scheduling and dispatch metrics, work-order controls, and clear management accountability.
• Government and commercial growth: Oversee business development, estimating, capture strategy, pricing, bonding, prequalification, public procurement, contract compliance, claims, change orders, and key customer relationships.
• Leadership development: Assess, coach, and develop managers and supervisors; clarify roles and decision rights; strengthen recruiting, succession planning, and performance management.
• Fleet and capital planning: Lead fleet strategy, utilization, replacement planning, maintenance performance, telematics, facilities, and capital-allocation decisions in partnership with Fleet and Finance.
• Safety and compliance: Maintain strong performance around OSHA, DOT, traffic control, electrical licensing, prevailing wage, certified payroll, and contractual requirements.
• Strategic expansion: Evaluate and execute organic growth, new locations, new services, and potential acquisitions while protecting margin, cash flow, service quality, and management capacity.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in construction management, business, finance, or a related discipline.
• Operating leadership in a multi-site business with at least $50 million in annual revenue, including direct P&L responsibility.
• Experience leading field service, construction, industrial services, infrastructure, or another skilled-trades operation in which company crews perform work at customer sites.
• A documented record of developing technical or field-based employees into effective managers and making sound accountability and staffing decisions.
• Substantive public-sector or institutional contracting experience, including competitive bids, IDIQ or term contracts, bonding, prequalification, compliance, claims, and change orders.
• Strong financial and commercial judgment, including job costing, WIP, budgets, forecasts, margin analysis, working capital, capital planning, and cash-flow management.
• Executive presence and the ability to represent the company with customers, agencies, sureties, lenders, insurers, attorneys, architects, engineers, and other stakeholders.
• Willingness to work primarily on-site and travel regularly among LMI locations in Maryland and Virginia.

Preferred Qualifications

• Electrical, utility, roadway lighting, telecommunications, heavy-highway, mechanical, HVAC, or comparable specialty-contracting experience.
• Experience with state DOT, municipal, federal, GSA Schedule, IDIQ, NAVFAC, USACE, prevailing-wage, or certified-payroll work.
• M&A, due diligence, integration, greenfield branch development, or geographic expansion experience.
• MBA, PE, CPA, or another relevant advanced credential; experience with contractor ERP, project-management, fleet, and business-intelligence systems.

Travel, Technology, and Work Environment

LMI operates from Harmans, Rockville, and Alexandria in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, as well as Richmond and Norfolk, Virginia. The first 90 days will require substantial travel among locations and job sites; regular regional travel and periodic overnight trips will continue afterward. This is not a remote position. LMI has invested in BuildOps, Sage Intacct, Miter, Motive, and related field and fleet systems. The COO will use these tools to create visibility, consistency, and accountability across the company.