Irrigation Manager

Job Description

Twenty people, two install crews, and a division that is yours to run.

You already know how the season goes. The phones start in April and do not quit until the first hard freeze, and somewhere in the middle of it you are the one everybody calls when a zone will not fire. At A+ Lawn & Landscape, that instinct runs a division. Our General Manager founded this company in Des Moines in 1988 and still runs it today, and the Irrigation Manager reports straight to him, so the person who decides how your division runs is you, and the person who signs off on it is the one who built the place.

You will lead about twenty people: twelve service technicians, a lead of your own, and two installation crews who put in systems and landscape lighting all over Central Iowa. They learn this trade from whoever is leading them, so your knowledge becomes theirs, and the reason we are looking for a manager who knows systems cold is that the crews only get as good as the person teaching them.

A+ runs lawn care, landscape, irrigation, lighting, tree and shrub care, pest control and snow, so as the weather turns and what our customers need changes, the work shifts and you and your team shift with it. That is what keeps this a year-round seat. We are a Hunter Preferred Contractor and an Irrigation Association member, and we are part of a national platform of nearly 40 home services brands, which puts real training and a bigger career path behind a company where the owner still knows your name.

Who This Role Is Built For

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• You know systems cold. Controllers, valves, zones, wiring, hydraulics, and the diagnosis nobody else on the truck can make. When a tech is standing over a manifold at 4:30 and the customer is watching, you are the call they make.
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• Three or more years running irrigation work, including time leading technicians, crews or a service team.
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• You can run a season. Startups in a window that does not move, repairs and installs all summer, and every system blown out before the freeze.
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• You teach. The crews get as good as the person leading them, so you explain the why, not just the fix, and you take advice as easily as you give it.
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• You move with the season. When the weather turns and customer needs change, you and your team change with them. One team, whatever the month.
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• You run the work by the numbers. Hours, callbacks, revenue per job and a schedule that keeps twenty people productive.
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• A valid driver’s license and an acceptable driving record.
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What Sets You Apart

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• You hold an Irrigation Association certification. Certified Irrigation Technician (CIT), Certified Irrigation Contractor (CIC) or Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditor (CLIA), or you are working toward one.
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• You have worked on the brands we run. Hunter and Rain Bird controllers, smart and Wi-Fi controllers, two-wire decoder systems and drip irrigation.
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• You have designed and estimated irrigation systems. You can read a set of plans, lay out a system, count heads and zones, and price the job.
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• You have installed and serviced landscape lighting. Low voltage wiring, transformers and timers, whether that work sat with your irrigation crews or ran as its own service.
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• You have run a Midwest season. Spring startups, backflow testing and fall winterizations on a short calendar, where one missed blowout means a cracked backflow in January.
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• You speak Spanish and English. You can train, coach and troubleshoot with your crews in the language they work in.
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What You’ll Own

1. The Irrigation Division

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• Service, repair and installation for residential, HOA and commercial customers across the Des Moines metro
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• The daily schedule: dispatch, routing and crew assignments that keep service calls moving and technicians on billable work
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• Quality from the first zone to the final walkthrough, with callbacks tracked and the cause fixed, not just the symptom
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• Parts, inventory and vehicle readiness, so crews leave the shop with what the day calls for
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2. The Team

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• Hire, train and develop twelve service technicians, a lead who reports to you, and two installation crews
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• Teach the trade: diagnostics, installation standards, backflow testing and safety, and build the technicians who become your next crew leads
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• Lead from the field. Ride along, take the service calls nobody else can solve, and set the standard by working to it.
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3. Customers and Growth

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• Own the escalated customer and make it right, personally
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• Grow the division. Build the recurring irrigation service program, quote the repairs, upgrades and smart controller work your technicians find, and bring in new system installs across the metro.
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• Work alongside lawn care, landscape, lighting and pest so irrigation fits the whole A+ relationship, since most of these customers buy more than one service from us
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4. The Season

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• Spring. Startups and backflow testing across the customer base in a window that does not move.
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• Summer. Fast service response, installs and lighting on schedule, and mid-season check-ups that catch problems before the customer does.
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• Fall. Winterizations and blowouts, every system finished before the first hard freeze.
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• Winter. Snow season with the team, technician training, and the plan that makes next spring run better than this one.
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How Success Is Measured

Your first ninety days are for learning the customers, the crews and the equipment, and for finding where this division is strong and where it is stretched. By the end of your first full season, startups and winterizations finish on schedule, service calls get answered fast, callbacks are down, and backflow testing is done right and on time. A year in, the growth shows up in three places. The division is selling more work, with the recurring service program bigger than you found it and more repairs, upgrades and system replacements coming off your technicians’ service calls. The team is stronger, because you hired well, taught the trade, and have technicians ready to step into a crew lead seat. And the numbers hold, with labor, revenue and margin where the business needs them.

Compensation and Benefits

Base salary is $70,000 a year, and the bonus program rewards performance at three levels. A monthly team bonus pays when your division meets its production goals. A quarterly bonus pays on the sales your team generates. An annual bonus pays on company profitability. The bonus program has no cap, so it grows as your division grows. A strong year pays more than $35,000 on top of your base, and the stronger the team you build and the more customers you serve, the more it pays.

Beyond the paycheck, the benefits are built to take care of you:

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• Health covered the way you actually use it. Medical, dental and vision through Cigna, with three medical plans to choose from, plus HSA and FSA options.
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• A 401(k) match worth taking. Safe Harbor 401(k) matching up to 4 percent, with immediate 100 percent vesting. Roth or traditional, your call.
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• A safety net for the unexpected. Optional life and AD&D, short- and long-term disability, and legal coverage at group rates.
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• Real support for real life. A free, confidential assistance program for you and your whole household, plus optional pet insurance.
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• Time to live. Paid time off and company holidays.
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• Room to keep building. We put you through the state backflow certification class in the winter, support the certifications that grow your expertise, and promote people into bigger roles across a national family of brands.
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Ready to Lead Our Irrigation Division?

This seat carries real scope: a division of about twenty people, a customer base built over more than 35 years, and a leadership team that backs the person running it. If you know this trade at a level most people in the market do not reach, and you want a team that knows it because you taught them, we would like to meet you.

Apply today and let’s talk.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer visa sponsorship, now or in the future. A+ Lawn & Landscape is a partner company of Perennial Services Group, which participates in E-Verify and confirms the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. Employment is contingent on a satisfactory background check and an acceptable driving record.

A+ Lawn & Landscape and Perennial Services Group are equal opportunity employers. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or any other status protected by law.