A commercial electrical chief operating officer decides how the company installs, tests and turns over electrical work on many buildings at once. The COO owns the safety program general contractors check before they invite bids, sets how crews are planned and measured, and decides what the prefab shop builds.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, electrical contractors · BLS, May 2025
Lead and drive operational excellence in a commercial electrical home services environment. Oversee daily operations by streamlining processes and ensuring strict compliance with industry standards. Spearhead initiatives that boost efficiency, safety, and customer satisfaction while mentoring a dynamic team.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Oversee daily operations to ensure efficient and safe execution of commercial electrical projects.
Streamline processes and implement best practices to optimize project workflows.
Monitor compliance with industry, safety, and regulatory standards across all operations.
Collaborate with executive leadership to develop and execute strategic operational plans.
Mentor and support management teams to foster a culture of continuous improvement.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review project statuses, quality reports, and compliance metrics on a daily basis.
Conduct routine safety audits and process assessments at various job sites.
Engage with clients and stakeholders to resolve operational concerns and enhance service delivery.
Coordinate with technical teams to manage resource allocation and project scheduling.
Analyze operational data to identify trends and implement process improvements.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Project Completion Rate: Achieve a 95% on-time completion rate.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: Maintain a rating above 4.8 stars.
Process Efficiency: Realize a 15% improvement in operational efficiencies annually.
Compliance Adherence: Ensure 100% compliance with safety and regulatory standards.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Business Administration, or a related field.
A minimum of 10 years of experience in operational leadership within home services or the commercial electrical industry.
Demonstrated expertise in process optimization, compliance management, and operational strategy.
Strong leadership, communication, and decision-making skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Proven experience in commercial electrical services and managing large-scale projects.
Background in electrical contracting, construction, or related home services industries.
Track record of implementing effective process improvements in fast-paced environments.
Prior involvement with regulatory compliance and safety standard enforcement within commercial operations.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to occasionally visit job sites, which may involve walking on uneven surfaces.
Capacity to perform light physical tasks such as reviewing plans and operating digital devices.
Flexibility to adapt to varying environmental conditions at project sites.
Ability to work in both office settings and active field environments.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Occasional evening and weekend hours may be required by project demands.
Moderate travel is expected to various project sites.
Occasional on-call responsibilities for urgent operational matters.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range of $150,000 - $200,000 per year, commensurate with experience.
Performance-based bonus structure with annual incentive potential.
Comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, and 401k.
Additional fringe benefits such as company vehicle, professional development opportunities, and flexible work arrangements.
10. Company Culture and Overview
Our company embraces an inclusive, collaborative, and innovative work environment.
We are committed to continuous improvement and the professional growth of our team members.
Integrity, safety, and customer satisfaction are at the heart of our business practices.
Join us to drive impactful change and lead operational excellence in the dynamic commercial electrical industry.
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
A commercial electrical company sells field labor hours on buildings that run on someone else's schedule. The COO decides how those hours are planned, kept safe and measured on every job.
The safety record is checked before you bid
Many general contractors prequalify subcontractors and ask for their workers' comp experience mod. Under NCCI's rating plan, used in many states, the mod measures your own losses against employers in the same class, and the number of injuries weighs more than the cost of any one. The policy year you're in now isn't counted yet, so an injury today shows up later and stays for years. A poor mod can keep you off bid lists, so the COO's safety program is also a sales tool. Source: NCCI: ABCs of experience rating.
Temporary power serves every trade
On a new building, the electrical contractor often puts in the temporary power and lights every trade uses for months. OSHA's construction rules let temporary wiring be a lower grade than permanent work. But lamps must be guarded, lights can't hang by their cords unless made for it, and the wiring comes out when its job is done. Temporary 15- and 20-amp, 120-volt single-phase outlets need GFCIs, or a written assured equipment grounding conductor program with logged tests. The COO decides who installs, checks and removes it. Source: 29 CFR 1926.405: Wiring methods, components and equipment, including temporary wiring (eCFR).
Prefab moves hours off the ceiling
Many commercial electrical contractors build parts of the job in a shop: conduit racks, fixture whips, and device boxes made up ahead of time. Shop hours are easier to plan and watch than work overhead on a lift, and they put fewer people in a crowded building. The COO decides what to prefab, how orders flow from project managers to the shop, and how shop costs are charged back to jobs.
Labor tracking has to go below the job
Electrical estimates are built from labor units: hours per foot of conduit, per device, per light fixture. If foremen report only total hours, no one knows which task ran over until the job has lost money. The COO sets the cost codes and the weekly reports of work put in place, so field hours can be checked against the estimate while the job can still be saved.
How much commercial electrical chief operating officers make
The closest BLS group for commercial electrical chief operating officers is chief executives. Chief executives who work for electrical contractors earned a median of $172,410 a year ($82.89 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 630 of the 204,350 chief executives in that survey work for electrical contractors.
Salary, an annual incentive and a company vehicle come with the template. Base the incentive on company-wide results rather than one division's, since the COO's systems run through all of them.
Electrical contractors
$172,410$172,410 median Middle half $118,510–$266,910 10th–90th $90,720–$403,030
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
Electrical contractors
$90,720
$118,510
$172,410
$266,910
$403,030
All industries
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
BLS reports residential and commercial electrical contractors together. 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 the field side of a commercial electrical contractor with many jobs open at once
Has kept a safety record that passes general contractors' prequalification
Plans crews from labor-unit estimates and installed-quantity reports
Knows how general contractors sequence trades on new buildings and tenant work
Has used prefab or shop assembly to cut field hours
Teach these on the job
Your union agreement's crew and overtime rules, or your open-shop policies
Each general contractor's prequalification forms and portals
The daily report app your foremen use
Your temporary power and lighting setup
Your prefab catalog and shop layout
Field teams often work in Procore or Autodesk Construction Cloud for drawings, RFIs and daily logs, and many general contractors collect safety records through prequalification services such as ISNetworld or Highwire. A COO who has kept those profiles current knows how much paperwork each general contractor's review takes.
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 · Electrical safety program
You find that the company's energized-work and arc flash program exists on paper, but crews don't follow it. What do you do?
A strong answer: Visits jobs to see why, fixes what's unworkable, trains foremen first, provides PPE and meters, and enforces it consistently, starting with leadership.
Behavioral · Holding leaders accountable
Tell me about a project manager or foreman you had to hold accountable for repeated problems, such as labor overruns or skipped energized-work permits.
A strong answer: Made expectations specific (labor tracking, change orders, safety), coached with a plan and dates, followed up, and acted when it didn't change.
Define each measure before you put a number on it: which milestones count, which rating form every job uses, which repeat tasks you track. Once every job reports the same way, last year's results become fair targets.
Project Completion Rate
Milestones met against milestones due each month across all open jobs, from permanent power to turnover, so the trend shows up before jobs close.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Use the same short rating form on every job, so foremen and divisions can be compared fairly. Go over the lowest scores monthly with the operations manager.
Process Efficiency
Track installed quantity per labor hour on repeat tasks, such as conduit, devices and fixtures, and field hours saved by shop work, against the same measures last year.
Compliance Adherence
Count OSHA citations, failed inspections, lapsed licenses or training, and missed site safety audits each quarter. The target is none, so report each one with its cause and fix.
Career path
Field supervisorKeeps a large site's labor hours on budget and its safety walks clean.
Often the COO sets it up and a shop foreman runs it day to day, with orders coming from project managers and foremen. Some companies put it under the warehouse manager, since material flows through the same doors. Whoever runs it needs a weekly plan tied to job schedules. Without one, the shop builds what's easy instead of what's next.
How much does a commercial electrical chief operating officer make?
Chief executives who work for electrical contractors earned a median of $172,410 a year ($82.89 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $118,510 and $266,910 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
What changes when the company moves from tenant work to new buildings?
Jobs run longer and crews get bigger. The company may own temporary power for the whole site, set the utility service and switchgear, and work under a general contractor's full safety program and site plan. Bonds, schedule penalties and gear lead times grow too. A careful COO takes on one larger job at a time and staffs it with the strongest foreman.
How should a COO judge foremen?
On labor results against the estimate, safety, punch lists and closeout, and how well they train apprentices. Don't rank foremen only on hours under budget. That can push them to skip steps or hide problems until the end. Review results job by job, with the project manager in the room.
How much time does a commercial electrical COO spend on job sites?
Expect regular site audits, as the template says. On a new building that means checking temporary power panels and cord runs, walking floors where conduit is stubbed up through the slab, and spending hours in an unfinished shell with no heat or cooling. The COO wears the general contractor's required gear on every visit. If a finalist asks how these visits could be adjusted, treat it as a request for reasonable accommodation.
