Air Conditioning Vice President, Commercial Operations

Air Force HVAC - Vice President, Commercial Operations (Southeast, FL)

The Opportunity
Air Force HVAC has rapidly accelerated to $10M+ of revenue in its first year of operations, largely focused on the commercial multifamily market in the Southeast USA. The company is backed by the founders of TurnPoint and United Water Restoration with over 15 years of residential & commercial service. Our commercial scope is broad - multifamily and institutional housing (student housing, senior living, affordable, dormitories, government housing) in addition to traditional commercial property types (office, retail, industrial, hospitality, healthcare, education). Anywhere a property owner needs reliable, well-engineered mechanical work, we're at the table. Our model is deliberately modern: AI-augmented business development & client value creation with a vetted sub-contractor bench. We are looking for the founder's right hand - a Vice President of Commercial Operations who will help build this division from the ground up. The founder owns the customer relationship and leads the sales; you own everything that makes the sale credible and the project successful: technical scoping, estimating, sub bench, project handoff, and over time, the team itself. This is a builder seat for someone with deep, varied commercial HVAC installation experience who is ready to stop executing someone else's playbook and start writing one. What You'll Own

• Estimating and pre-construction: walk commercial properties, evaluate existing systems, scope the right solution (HVAC, roofing, electrical, controls, and plumbing where relevant), and craft value-engineered proposals that win
• Co-selling with the founder: ride along on prospect meetings as the technical authority, help shape pitches around what the property actually needs, support proposal walkthroughs and objection handling
• Sub-contractor bench development: recruit, vet, qualify, and grow a deep network of installation, service, and specialty subs across South Florida & more broadly where our clients are - this is one of the most strategic outputs of the role
• Project handoff and quality oversight: define scope packages for subs, lead kickoffs, monitor execution against sold scope, resolve issues before they become escalations
• Some business development: warm referrals, repeat-customer expansion, vertical-specific outreach, trade association relationships, and partnering with the founder on strategic accounts
• Methodically build the team: as the division scales, hire, mentor, and manage your direct reports - estimators, project managers, account managers, additional subs - at a pace that keeps quality high
• Operating system: stand up the SOPs, templates, sub agreements, scope checklists, QA processes, and AI-augmented workflows that let a small team punch above its weight
• Partner with the founder on go-to-market: vertical focus, pricing strategy, service mix, and how the brand shows up in the commercial market

What You Bring

• 10+ years in residential and commercial mechanical contracting with a wide variety of installation experience: rooftop units, splits, VRF/VRV, chillers (air-cooled and water-cooled), cooling towers, boilers, controls/BAS, ductwork, hydronics, exhaust and ventilation systems
• Deep estimating and pre-construction experience - you can walk a building, read existing equipment, identify what's salvageable and what's not, and build a defensible scope and number
• Hands-on familiarity with a wide range of commercial property types: institutional housing (student housing, senior living, dormitories, government and military housing), office, industrial/warehouse, retail, hospitality, healthcare, and education
• Sub-contractor network in South Florida (or the demonstrated ability to build one quickly through industry relationships)
• Project management chops - you've owned multi-million-dollar mechanical projects from sold to closeout, and you know what good handoff looks like
• Comfortable in a co-selling role: you don't need to be the closer, but you can hold a room with a property manager, GC, or facilities director and earn their trust on technical merit
• Tech-forward mindset: you reach for AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, takeoff platforms, AI proposal tools) to multiply your output, not to replace judgment
• Builder temperament: you are energized by ambiguity and a clean slate, not paralyzed by it. You move methodically - quality over speed
• Florida driver's license, clean record, comfortable on rooftops and in mechanical spaces. Florida-licensed (CMC or equivalent) a strong plus

How This Role Is Different
You will not be parachuted into a legacy organization with entrenched processes and politics. You will be the second senior person in the room. You will help decide what verticals we chase, which subs make the bench, what our proposals look like, and how the team grows. The founder owns the customer relationship and leads the sale; you are the technical authority who makes the sale real and the project successful. The trade-off is intensity and ownership - there's no playbook to inherit, you are helping write it. The reward is real upside in something you helped build. Compensation
Component Detail Base Salary$130,000 - $170,000 (commensurate with experience and book of relationships)Performance BonusUp to 20% of base, paid quarterly, tied to division revenue, gross profit, and sub-bench / project delivery KPIsSales Commission5.0% of gross profit on all sourced and sold projectsEquity / Profit SharePhantom equity or profit-share package available after Year 1 - meaningful, founder-aligned, structured for the long termVehicle AllowanceVehicle to be providedTechnologyLaptop, phone, premium AI tool subscriptions (Claude Pro/Teams, ChatGPT, takeoff and proposal software)BenefitsHealth insurance stipend, paid time off, paid holidaysReports ToOwner / FounderDirect ReportsNone at hire - grows over time as the division scalesLocationSouth Florida - hybrid; expect significant time in the field with prospects, clients, subs, and active projects How to Apply
Send a resume to [email protected]. No formal cover letter required. We respond to every applicant within 5 business days.