Vice President of Operations

THE ROLE

All the relevant skills, qualifications and experience that a successful applicant will need are listed in the following description.

VP of Operations | Remote | Total Cash Compensation of $150,000 - $225,000 | Benefits

We're hiring a Vice President of Operations to lead the day-to-day operating rhythm of the business, while preparing the company for the next phase of growth. You will use the EOS structure to drive clarity and accountability throughout the organization. You will be a member of the executive leadership team, and a key contributor to the quarterly planning cadence with the founders. 

Among your responsibilities will be ownership of the Franchise Success team, coordination with Franchise Expansion and Supply vendors, and ensuring the business generally runs on schedule. Under your leadership, new franchisees will get trained and onboarded smoothly, existing franchisees will receive world class support, and the team at large will be poised to support TourScale's growth to 200 units and beyond.

This is a hands-on leadership role, requiring the ability to think strategically about the big picture while also diving into details. You will drive the day-to-day work of the team, and will regularly work through launch checklists, resolve franchisee issues, or follow up with suppliers yourself. You should be comfortable building better systems while keeping today's work moving. 

You will initially report to both founders, who will work together to give you a single, unified direction. The founders will route operating requests through you so you can control the team's priorities and workload, and will support your authority with the team. You will have direct access to both founders, who will remain active in the business and will meet with you several times per week. You will be equipped to turn operating objectives into real results.

The opportunity also includes a possible path to Chief Operating Officer as the business continues to grow. TourScale will continue to develop and purchase new brands, and build future capabilities to grow those brands. Operational leadership will be paramount to those efforts. Advancement and compensation growth will depend on results, including system sales growth, company profit and cash flow, and the additional responsibility you take on. A promotion is not automatic or tied solely to tenure.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

Franchise Onboarding and Launch

• Own the path from signed agreement to opening and the first full season, across all brands and both countries.
• Maintain a dated launch plan for every signed location awaiting opening, with clear responsibilities, dependencies, and weekly progress reporting.
• Coordinate permitting and licensing support, training, equipment delivery, local launch marketing, and readiness reviews.
• Build and deliver practical training for new owners, their staff, and the existing network.
• Personally work through launch issues when needed and improve the process so recurring problems become less common.

Franchise Success & Marketing Performance

• Serve as the senior operating point of resolution for franchisee issues and escalations.
• Collect and benchmark operator financial and performance data, identify underperforming locations, and coach owners on pricing, labor, utilization, and execution.
• Hold marketing partners accountable for agreed franchisee performance measures, reporting, and follow-through. The founders will retain brand strategy.
• Oversee booking and revenue systems from an operating perspective and use their data to improve performance.
• Maintain brand standards, training materials, and the Confidential Operations Manual. Coordinate enforcement recommendations with the founders.
• Manage the operating work for renewals, transfers, resales, territory questions, and expansion, bringing matters requiring founder or legal approval forward.
• Own ongoing network communications, franchisee advisory council coordination, and future annual conferences, including agenda, content, sponsors, budget, and follow-through.
• Own the safety and risk program using existing staff and resources initially, including operating standards, training, incident reporting, claims coordination, and insurance tracking.
• Oversee gross sales reporting, royalty billing, collections, and related follow-through with the bookkeeper and operating team.
• Identify gaps in expertise or resources and bring recommendations to the founders.

Supply Chain and Vendors

• Manage the vessel and vehicle supply vendors, including production slots, quality, pricing, shipping, delivery, and warranty follow-through. Ensure vendors are meeting production timelines.
• Keep equipment delivery aligned with franchisee launch plans and escalate risks early.
• Manage vendor sourcing, performance, renewals, and negotiations within agreed authority.
• Develop the approved vendor program, purchasing opportunities, and conference sponsorship relationships.
• Authorize routine spending and vendor agreements within the approved budget. 

Team and Operating Rhythm

• Lead all operating staff from day one, including goals, priorities, one-on-ones, development, and reviews.
• Own the staffing plan within the approved staffing budget. Leadership staffing changes require founder approval.
• Run the EOS operating rhythm, including the weekly accountability meeting, scorecard, quarterly priorities, and preparation for annual planning with the founders.
• Manage the performance of operating partners, including franchise sales and franchisee marketing providers.
• Lead operational integration after acquisitions and build a repeatable integration playbook.
• Use AI and automation to improve workflows, increase capacity, and reduce recurring manual work. Define operating needs for our internal tools and work with Kai on priorities.

WHO YOU ARE

Required

• Deep franchise experience, including leadership responsibility for franchise operations, franchisee success, development, or a combination of those functions.
• A record of influencing independent franchise owners, improving execution, and holding partners accountable.
• Comfort making operating decisions and carrying work through to completion without repeated founder direction.
• Financial fluency: you can read a P&L, manage a budget, understand cash flow, and coach an owner-operator on business performance.
• Experience leading teams and willingness to work directly on detailed operating problems.
• Demonstrated use of AI and automation to improve real operating workflows. We will ask what you changed and what results it produced.
• You're tech savvy, and comfortable with learning new tools and technologies
• Willingness to travel about monthly, with occasional seasonal peaks.
• Obsession with maintaining organization and clarity
• You do not need to have held a company-wide leadership title before. We are open to a strong franchisor functional leader ready to take broader responsibility.

Particularly Valuable

• Experience with emerging or multi-brand franchisors and owner-operator franchisees
• Sales partner management and the transition from franchise sale to opening
• Familiarity with franchise disclosure processes and working within counsel-approved sales procedures
• Capital equipment supply chains, particularly boats or vehicles
• Remote and international team leadership
• Acquisition integration experience
• US and Canadian operational experience
• EOS or a comparable operating system

This role is probably not for you if...

• You want to inherit a large team and fully established processes.
• You prefer designing plans to personally working through execution.
• You expect founders to resolve routine operating decisions for you.
• You are uncomfortable with active founder involvement, direct feedback, or working with independent business owners.
• You would rather not spend a July afternoon on a dock helping a franchisee prepare for their first cruise.

ABOUT TOURSCALE

TourScale builds and franchises tour and activity experiences that bring people together. We operate five brands today, including Cruisin' Tikis, Tiki Pub, Pedal Pub, Paddle Pub and Trolley Pub. Combined, we support roughly 110 franchise locations across the U.S. and Canada. We have grown organically and through acquisition, most recently adding Pedal Pub in April 2026. We have an active pipeline of new brands to develop and brands to acquire. The company is founder-led, profitable, and runs on EOS.

TourScale brand experiences are decidedly analog, but are enabled by TourScale's internal technology. Technology is embedded into every part of our operations, with AI agents part of our daily workflow. Our in-house development team builds the software that runs TourScale and our franchisees' businesses, from booking to marketing to reporting. AI is wired into every aspect of how we operate, enabling us to support over 100 locations with a lean but mighty team.

We live in a time when nearly everything that lives on a screen is getting cheaper to build and easier to copy. But, a Saturday on the water with twenty of your friends is beyond the ability of even the most advanced technology to replicate. As AI enables us to do more with less, in person experiences become more in demand than ever. xhyhwjd We use the newest technology to deliver the oldest product there is: people having a great time together.