A flooring chief operating officer answers for how installs get done company-wide: which crews can lay which floors, how much work each channel gets, and how every finished room is checked. The COO also owns the claim process when a floor fails and the safety records OSHA expects from a construction employer.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, specialty trade contractors · BLS, May 2025
Responsible for overseeing daily flooring install operations and leading strategy to boost efficiency and enforce quality standards to ensure superior customer experiences and profitable growth.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Lead and manage the operations team of flooring installers across multiple projects.
Oversee daily install operations, ensuring strict adherence to quality and safety standards.
Implement operational strategies that boost efficiency and drive performance improvements.
Establish and enforce standards to maintain high-quality service delivery and compliance with industry best practices.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Monitor installation schedules and progress to ensure timely completion of projects.
Collaborate closely with flooring installers to address operational challenges and provide on-site guidance.
Review performance metrics daily and adjust resource allocation to maximize efficiency.
Conduct regular quality control inspections and customer feedback reviews.
Operational Efficiency: Achieve a minimum 20% improvement in installation throughput.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: >4.8 stars based on post-install surveys.
Safety Compliance: Maintain zero workplace accidents and 100% adherence to safety protocols.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, or a related field.
Minimum of 8 years of progressive leadership experience in operations management.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with proficiency in operational metrics.
Excellent leadership, communication, and team collaboration abilities.
6. Preferred Experience
Previous experience in the home services industry, particularly in flooring installation operations.
Proven track record in managing large teams and multiple project sites.
Experience implementing process improvements and technology solutions in operational settings.
Familiarity with industry-specific safety and quality standards.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to occasionally visit installation sites and perform on-site inspections.
Capability to navigate through varied work environments, including active construction zones.
Occasional light lifting and maneuvering of standard operational devices.
Comfortable with extended periods of standing and walking during site visits.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM.
Occasional extended hours during peak project periods.
Frequent travel between sites within the region.
On-call availability for urgent operational issues as needed.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Base salary range: $120,000 - $150,000 per year, commensurate with experience.
Performance-based bonuses tied to operational efficiency and project KPIs.
Comprehensive Health, Dental, and Vision insurance.
401(k) plan with company matching contributions.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We foster an inclusive and innovative environment that encourages professional growth and career advancement.
Our culture values teamwork, transparency, and a commitment to excellence in every project.
We are passionate about exceeding customer expectations and supporting employee development.
Join a company dedicated to redefining the home services industry with a forward-thinking approach.
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
Flooring crews work inside other people's schedules and other people's houses. The COO's job is a system that still gets the right crew, the right floor and the right record to every job.
Tile, wood, carpet and vinyl are four trades
A crew that lays click vinyl all day may not set tile or stretch carpet well. The COO keeps a skills list for every installer and crew, plans hiring and cross-training around the mix sales is booking, and stops sales from promising tile dates the tile crews can't meet. Look at your own history for weeks when one floor type bunches up, such as a builder pushing to close houses before its year ends, and staff for them early.
OSHA counts flooring as construction
OSHA doesn't exempt construction from its injury records, so a flooring company keeps them if its headcount went above ten at any time during last year. Each location with 20 or more employees at some point in the prior year also sends OSHA its Form 300A numbers online, due March 2. Building finishing contractors aren't among the industries that must also file the full 300 log and 301 reports at 100 or more. The COO decides who records each case. Source: 29 CFR 1904 Subpart E: Electronic submission (eCFR).
A failed floor often ends with an inspector
Cupped boards, open seams and cracked tile start an argument between the maker, the installer, the builder and the owner. NWFA's certification manager, writing in Hardwood Floors magazine, says many wood floor makers accept only reports from NWFA certified inspectors. The COO sets one claim process for every crew: the original install photos and readings, a fast first visit, and a log of every claim by product, crew and cause. Source: Hardwood Floors magazine (NWFA): The path to inspector certification, 2024.
A finished floor still has to survive the other trades
On builder and commercial jobs, painters, trim carpenters, appliance crews and movers often come in after the floor. The COO sets the company standard for floor protection, dated photos at completion and a sign-off from the superintendent, so damage found at the final walk can be traced. Without that record, the flooring company is left paying to fix scratches its crews didn't make.
How much flooring chief operating officers make
The closest BLS group for flooring 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.
Base salary plus bonuses on efficiency and project KPIs, per the template. That range tops out under the median BLS lists for chief executives at specialty trade firms, so let the bonus carry a strong COO's upside and tie it to on-time installs and claims.
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 operations for an install business with several crews and more than one floor type
Builds a skills list and cross-training plan by floor type
Runs a claim process that ends with a cause, a payer and a fix
Keeps injury records and OSHA's online filings on time
Writes install standards a field supervisor can check in the room
Teach these on the job
What each flooring maker needs to see before it pays a claim
Your builders' sequence and sign-off habits
Each store program's on-site rules for crews
How your photo app files each job's completion pictures
Which crews hold which certifications today
The COO lives in the install calendar, a skills list for every installer, the claim log and the injury log. A finalist who brings a claim log they kept, with causes tallied, has done the part of this job that matters most in flooring.
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 · Seasonal capacity
Your busy season is starting, and you're short [three] installers for jobs already booked. What do you do?
A strong answer: Measures the gap by specialty, moves start dates honestly before they're missed, brings in vetted subcontractors with a quality check, has helpers take over prep, and stops sales from booking past capacity.
Behavioral · Killing repeat callbacks
Tell me about a time callbacks for one install problem, like gaps, peaking or seams, kept coming back. What did you change?
A strong answer: Traced it to a cause, changed a standard or training, and shows callbacks by crew before and after.
Record a season of installs, square footage and claims for each floor type first. A crew doing stairs and tile will never match one laying builder vinyl, so their targets should differ.
Project Completion Rate
Installs finished on the scheduled day, by floor type and by channel. Tag each miss with what caused it: a late delivery, a slab that failed testing or a house the builder hadn't finished.
Operational Efficiency
Square feet installed per crew day, by floor type, next to the same months of last year. Judge a crew only against crews on similar floors and customers.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Post-install scores across all crews and channels each month. Pull every low score into the claim log, so a pattern by product or crew shows up before the next survey.
Safety Compliance
Recordable injuries from the OSHA log, plus spot checks on knee pads, dust control on saws and grinders, and how crews carry rolls and cartons. Count near misses too, since a zero target can hide them.
Career path
Field supervisorChecks rooms across crews and catches install habits before they become claims.
Operations managerLearns where install days get lost: late material, unready houses and short crews.
Chief operating officerHolds tile, wood, carpet and vinyl crews to one company standard.
Should one COO run both builder and homeowner installs?
At this size, usually yes, with a different manager under each side. Builder work rewards speed and steady crews on a few products. Homeowner and store jobs reward care in lived-in houses and a wider range of floors. One standard for quality, claims and safety covers both sides, while each schedules its own way.
How much does a flooring 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.
How does a COO keep builder and store program work from colliding?
Set a company rule that reserves crew days for each channel, sized from the last few months of volume, and releases unused days a few days out. Operations and dispatch then book within it. That stops a builder push from bumping store jobs with a promised date, and leaves room for repair visits. Review the split each month as the mix changes.
What should a flooring COO change after a big claim?
Trace the failure back through every step: was the slab or subfloor tested, did the crew follow the maker's guide, was the right adhesive on the truck, and did the measure or the order go wrong? Then change the step, not just the floor. That might mean a new checklist line, a crew retrained, or a different product sent from the warehouse. Have the field supervisor check the next few jobs of that type.
How should a COO ad put the template's site visit lines?
Spell out a visit: walking a house where other trades are still at work, standing through a crew's layout check, looking over seams and transitions, and carrying a moisture meter or laptop. The template's lines on construction zones, light lifting and long stretches on your feet stay as written. Add those tasks and an accommodation contact.
