A basement waterproofing chief operating officer decides how every office installs, services and stays safe once a contract is signed. When rain floods one office with calls and leaves another quiet, the COO moves crews and trucks between them.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, specialty trade contractors · BLS, May 2025
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) will be responsible for optimizing operations within our basement waterproofing division. Their primary role will be to streamline installation processes and monitor efficiency, ensuring the highest level of customer satisfaction and operational excellence.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Streamline and optimize operational processes within the basement waterproofing division.
Monitor and measure operational efficiency, implementing improvements as necessary.
Coordinate with other department heads to ensure smooth operations across the organization.
Ensure all operations comply with industry standards and regulations.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Oversee daily operations, ensuring tasks are completed in a timely and efficient manner.
Collaborate with the CEO to set operational goals and develop strategies to achieve them.
Regularly review and analyze operational data to identify areas for improvement.
Maintain constant communication with management, staff, and vendors to ensure proper operations of the organization.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Operational Efficiency %: >90%
Customer Satisfaction Rating: >4.8 stars
Project Completion Rate: 100%
Cost Reduction in Operations: >5% annually
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration or related field.
Minimum of 10 years’ experience in a similar role, preferably in the basement waterproofing industry.
Exceptional leadership and communication skills.
Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience in the home services industry, specifically basement waterproofing.
Proven track record of successfully implementing operational improvements.
Experience in a high-growth organization is a plus.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to work in various conditions including wet and damp environments.
Must be able to lift up to 50 lbs.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours are Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm.
Some travel may be required for company-wide meetings or training sessions.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $150,000 - $200,000 based on experience.
Bonus based on achievement of KPIs.
Benefits include Health, Dental, Vision and 401k.
10. Company Culture and Overview
At [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE], we believe in fostering a culture of growth and achievement. We are committed to creating a work environment that encourages innovation, teamwork, and a relentless focus on customer satisfaction. We believe that each team member plays a vital role in our success, and we are committed to providing opportunities for growth and advancement.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
Sales sells the system. The COO owns everything after the signature, in every office, for as long as the warranty runs.
The silica plan is a company document
Interior drains start by cutting concrete, so OSHA's silica rule shapes the whole operation. The employer must have a written exposure control plan covering at least the dusty tasks, the controls for each, housekeeping and how access is limited, and review it at least once a year. A named competent person inspects job sites, materials and equipment often. Anyone required to wear a respirator for 30 or more days a year must be offered medical exams at no cost. The COO owns that plan for every office. Source: OSHA: Respirable crystalline silica in construction (29 CFR 1926.1153).
Rain falls on one office at a time
A storm can soak one market and miss the next. The COO decides when crews, trucks and service techs move from a quiet office to a busy one, who pays for their lodging, and how a borrowed crew learns local permit and discharge rules. Without that plan, customers in the wet market wait weeks while crews in the dry one sweep the shop.
One install standard in every office
Pit depth, pipe and gravel, pump models, check valves, bracing hardware and liner tape should match from office to office. Then any service tech can fix any system, parts stock stays simple, and the homeowner gets the same job whichever office sold it. The COO writes the standard, trains crews to it, and decides when a new product earns a place.
Service calls grow every year
Each install adds one more pump that will wear out, one more backup battery to replace and one more customer who calls after the next big rain. The COO sizes a service team to that installed base, sets how fast a warranty customer whose basement is taking on water gets a visit, and decides whether to sell yearly pump checkups. Keeping service apart from installs stops a rainy week from stalling the install calendar.
How much basement waterproofing chief operating officers make
The closest BLS group for basement waterproofing chief operating officers is chief executives. Chief executives who work for specialty trade contractors earned a median of $169,170 a year ($81.33 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $213,990 median for chief executives in all industries. About 3,830 of the 204,350 chief executives in that survey work for specialty trade contractors.
Salary, with a bonus tied to the template's KPIs, such as jobs completed and customer ratings. Add warranty callbacks to the bonus, since the install standard the COO sets drives how many there are.
Specialty trade contractors
$169,170$169,170 median Middle half $100,570–$283,340 10th–90th $69,930–$386,670
All industries
$213,990$213,990 median Middle half $129,540–$356,200 10th–90th $75,700–$507,730
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Specialty trade contractors
$69,930
$100,570
$169,170
$283,340
$386,670
All industries
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
BLS doesn’t publish pay for chief executives at building finishing contractors on their own, so these figures cover specialty trade contractors. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has run install crews in more than one location, in waterproofing, foundation repair or a close trade
Has written a safety program, silica controls included, that crews actually follow
Builds install standards and checklists that work the same in every office
Plans crew capacity around rainy and dry stretches and the sales calendar
Finds the cause behind a pattern of callbacks or job cost overruns
Teach these on the job
Your drain, pump, bracing and liner products and their install specs
Permit and discharge rules in each town you serve
Your scheduling and service ticket software
Warranty terms on systems your company sold, including any from companies it bought
How each office's sales team hands off a signed job
The COO works from the install calendar and service tickets in your scheduling software, crew job photos, and parts counts from each warehouse. A dashboard by office showing jobs finished, callbacks and warranty visits waiting is often the first thing a new COO builds.
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Fixing crew quality gaps
Callbacks vary a lot by crew. What do you do?
A strong answer: Finds what the best crews do differently, writes it into a standard method, retrains, audits jobs, and holds crew leads to it.
Behavioral · Reducing warranty callbacks
Tell me about a time you cut warranty callbacks across crews, such as for water at the floor-wall joint or failed pumps. What did you change?
A strong answer: Sorted callbacks by cause and crew, fixed the top cause in the install method or materials, such as drain pitch or pump choice, trained crews, and shows callbacks dropping over months.
Go over these office by office each month with the general managers, with targets drawn from your own history.
Operational Efficiency %
Crew days spent on installs and service, against crew days paid, by office each week. Log rain-surge weeks and slow weeks on their own lines, so seasonal swings don't hide a scheduling problem.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Ratings and survey scores by office, crew and service tech. Track scores on warranty visits apart from installs, since a slow response after a storm drags down the whole company.
Project Completion Rate
Jobs finished out of jobs scheduled, by office each month. Leave out contracts the homeowner cancelled in time, and log jobs paused for a permit or a structural question separately.
Cost Reduction in Operations
Labor, materials, disposal, fuel and warranty costs per job against last year, by office. Count it as saved only after the books confirm it, and watch callbacks so cheaper work doesn't cost more later.
How do a waterproofing COO and the general managers split the work?
Each general manager runs a market day to day. The COO owns what every market shares: the install standard, the silica plan, the parts list and how fast the service team answers a warranty call. When a GM wants to skip a step to finish a job sooner, the COO's standard wins, and the COO answers for that standard when callbacks come in.
How much does a basement waterproofing chief operating officer make?
Chief executives who work for specialty trade contractors earned a median of $169,170 a year ($81.33 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $100,570 and $283,340 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Why does the COO template ask for lifting and wet conditions?
The template lists working in wet and damp conditions and lifting up to 50 pounds. On the job, that means walking active jobs in wet basements, stepping around open trenches, checking a pump in its pit, or carrying a spare sump pump to a crew. If the job you're filling skips that work, edit those lines first. Either way, offer reasonable accommodation.
What should a waterproofing COO do about a part that keeps failing?
Pull every service ticket that names it, by office, crew and install date, to learn whether the part or the install is the problem. Take the numbers to the supplier and ask what its parts warranty covers. Then decide with the CFO whether to switch products on new jobs, and whether to replace the part early in homes that already have it.
Should a waterproofing company sell yearly pump checkups?
It's worth a test. A paid visit can fill service techs' time in dry months and catch a worn pump or a dead backup battery before the next storm. Decide what each visit covers, such as a test fill, the check valve, the alarm and the battery, and price it with the CFO. Book the visits in dry months so they don't crowd out storm calls.
