A fence company operations manager builds the install schedule and matches each job to a crew. They time each start to a valid locate ticket and a complete material pull, give posts time to set before gates hang, and keep crews building when weather or rock stops a job.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, other specialty trade contractors · BLS, May 2025
Serve as the pivotal leader responsible for allocating crews, scheduling fence installation projects, and managing daily workflows to ensure operational excellence and customer satisfaction.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Allocate and oversee installation crews, ensuring optimal resource utilization.
Develop and maintain efficient work schedules for fence installation projects.
Monitor daily workflow and adjust priorities to meet project deadlines.
Collaborate with project managers and site supervisors to resolve operational challenges.
Maintain clear communication with all stakeholders regarding project status and updates.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review and adjust installation schedules each morning to meet service demands.
Conduct daily briefings with crews to outline daily tasks and safety protocols.
Interface with customers to confirm installation timelines and address any concerns.
Track project progress and update workflow management systems accordingly.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Crew Efficiency Rate: Achieve a minimum of 90% on-time project completions.
Installation Accuracy: Maintain a defect rate of less than 2% per project.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: Secure ratings greater than 4.8 stars.
Scheduling Efficiency: Reach a target of 95% adherence to established timelines.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, or a related field.
Minimum of 3 years of experience in operations management within the home services industry.
Strong organizational and leadership skills with excellent communication abilities.
Proficiency in scheduling software and basic project management tools.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience in fence installation or similar home improvement project management.
Background in managing installation teams within a service-oriented company.
Previous experience working in a fast-paced, customer-centric environment.
Familiarity with safety regulations and procedures in outdoor project settings.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to lift up to 40 lbs when required.
Capacity to work outdoors in varying weather conditions.
Frequent walking, standing, and occasional bending during site visits.
May require extended periods of supervision on active installations.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM with occasional overtime.
Flexibility to adjust hours based on project schedules and customer needs.
Occasional travel to various job sites is required.
Minimal on-call duties, primarily during high-demand installation periods.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Competitive salary range: $65,000 - $85,000 per annum, based on experience.
Performance-based bonus structure aligned with key operational KPIs.
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance packages.
Participation in a 401k retirement plan with company contributions.
10. Company Culture and Overview
Our organization thrives on a supportive team environment that encourages professional growth and continuous improvement.
We value inclusivity, innovation, and a strong work ethic in our pursuit of excellence in the home services industry.
Our culture is built on trust, integrity, and a collective commitment to customer satisfaction and quality service.
Join our journey to redefine the standard of home improvement services and elevate your career in a dynamic, forward-thinking company.
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 fence crew can lose a day to an expired locate ticket, a post that can't take a gate yet, or a pile of old pickets with nowhere to go. The operations manager clears those before the truck leaves.
South Carolina's locate clock
South Carolina's 811 law changed on May 22, 2026. Excavation now includes hand digging, along with augering, driving and staking. Notice goes in three to twelve full working days before the start date, not counting the day it's given, and lapses 15 working days after the commencement date in it. A notice covers a quarter mile or five adjoining addresses at most, whichever is less. On builder lots, a fence sub may rely on the builder's notice only if it names the sub. Source: South Carolina Code, Title 58, Chapter 36: Underground facility damage prevention.
Posts need time before gates hang
One maker's data sheet for fast-setting post concrete says it sets in 20 to 40 minutes, but to wait four hours before the post takes any strain and to protect it from freezing for at least 48 hours. It also warns that set times shift in very hot or cold weather. So the schedule sets posts first and hangs heavy gates or stretches chain-link later that day or the next, with extra time in cold weeks. Source: Quikrete: Fast-Setting Concrete Mix (No. 1004) data sheet.
The old fence leaves on your truck
Tear-outs are waste your company creates. Before 2004, according to EPA, wood treated with chromated arsenicals went into home structures such as decks and playsets, so an older fence may contain it. A business disposing of it must decide if the load is hazardous waste, state or local rules may add steps, and EPA says not to burn it at a home. The operations manager books dump runs to sites that take treated wood, and gives crews goggles and dust masks for cutting it. Source: U.S. EPA: Chromated arsenicals (CCA).
Load the truck from the job sheet
A fence job needs dozens of parts: posts, rails, panels or pickets, caps, brackets, gate frames, hinges, latches and bags of concrete. One missing latch means a return trip for the whole crew. The operations manager has the yard check each job against its material list the day before, confirms special-order colors and styles when they land, and holds the start date until every piece is in.
How much fence company operations managers make
The closest BLS group for fence company operations managers is general and operations managers. General and operations managers who work for other specialty trade contractors earned a median of $102,680 a year ($49.36 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about the same as the $105,770 median for general and operations managers in all industries. About 26,090 of the 3,503,020 general and operations managers in that survey work for other specialty trade contractors.
This template's pay is a base salary, and its bonus rides on the operational KPIs. The BLS median shown runs higher than the template's range because BLS lumps general managers in with operations managers. Tie the bonus to on-time starts and install defects, which this role controls.
Other specialty trade contractors
$102,680$102,680 median Middle half $75,710–$147,200 10th–90th $51,310–$203,280
All industries
$105,770$105,770 median Middle half $72,320–$167,280 10th–90th $50,090–$253,390
$0k$50k$100k$150k$200k$250k$300k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Other specialty trade contractors
$51,310
$75,710
$102,680
$147,200
$203,280
All industries
$50,090
$72,320
$105,770
$167,280
$253,390
BLS doesn’t publish pay for fence contractors on their own. These figures cover other specialty trade contractors, which include them. 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 kept three or more install crews busy through a spring backlog
Can look at a yard sketch and tell how many crew days and bags of concrete it needs
Never sends a crew to dig on an expired or missing locate ticket
Calls customers about a changed install date the same day it changes
Knows which yards are rock, clay or slope before the crew gets there
Teach these on the job
How long locate tickets last where you work
Set and cure times for the concrete mixes you use
Which disposal sites take treated wood
Your job sheets and how the yard pulls material
Each fence line's parts and hardware
The job lives in the install schedule, the 811 ticket portal, town permit sites and the yard's pull sheets, plus a phone list of suppliers and dump sites. If the yard and its stock also report to this role, say so in the posting.
Fence company operations manager interview questions
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 · Allocating crews
Tomorrow you have [4] crews, [9] jobs, a vinyl job with a delivery delay and a commercial chain link job that needs a full crew. How do you assign them?
A strong answer: Matches crew skills to material type, holds the delayed job, protects the commercial commitment and calls affected customers early.
Behavioral · Safety briefings
Tell me about how you ran daily safety briefings that crews actually paid attention to.
A strong answer: Short, specific to the day's hazards such as augers or traffic, and crews took part and asked questions.
Pull these from the schedule each Friday, with rain-out days counted apart, so a wet April and a planning miss don't blur together.
Crew Efficiency Rate
The template counts on-time completions. Weekly, for each crew: jobs completed on or before the promised day, over all its completed jobs. When a crew misses, check whether the job was sized wrong at scheduling or ran long on site.
Installation Accuracy
Defects found at the final walk or reported in the first weeks, per job: posts out of line or plumb, wrong height, gates that bind, damaged panels. Track them by crew and material.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Pull out the survey comments about timing and cleanup: the reminder call, arrival time, leftover concrete and whether the old fence left with the crew. Go over them with the crew lead at the next morning meeting.
Scheduling Efficiency
Each week, jobs that started on the customer's scheduled day, over all jobs started. Compare dates set before special-order material arrived with dates set after; if the early ones slip more, stop promising dates that soon.
Yes. The American Fence Association runs an Operations Manager School on running the day-to-day work of a fence or gate business. Its Certified Operations Manager credential asks for at least one year in the fence industry and a 100-question exam, and the school is encouraged but not required. Count the credential in a candidate's favor, then still test them on a real week of your schedule.
How much does a fence company operations manager make?
General and operations managers who work for other specialty trade contractors earned a median of $102,680 a year ($49.36 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $75,710 and $147,200 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
How hands-on is a fence operations manager?
More than the title suggests. The template's 40-pound lifting and long supervision lines mean carrying a gate, a bundle of rails or a bag of concrete when a crew is short, walking long fence lines, and staying on site while a tricky gate goes in. Ship those lines unchanged, put these tasks under them, and name the person who handles accommodation requests.
How many jobs should one fence crew get in a day?
It depends on footage, material, gates and ground. A short wood repair and a long chain-link run might each fill a day. Size each job in crew days when it's sold, check that guess against how long it really took, and leave slack for rocky areas and rainy weeks.
When is a yard too wet for a fence crew?
When holes fill with water or cave in, or when a loaded truck or skid steer would rut the lawn. The crew lead reports from the site, and the final call belongs to the operations manager. Keep a list of ready jobs on gravel, pavement or high ground so a rained-out crew still builds that day.
