Each week, the commercial HVAC operations manager splits one pool of techs three ways: agreement maintenance, repair calls, and install jobs that run on a general contractor's calendar. Dispatch, the install crews, the trucks and the warehouse report to them. So does fixing what keeps causing repeat failures and missed dates.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, HVAC and plumbing contractors · BLS, May 2025
Oversees the efficient management of commercial HVAC operations by allocating crews, organizing schedules, and ensuring resource availability to maintain high service quality. Plays a pivotal role in streamlining processes to enhance customer satisfaction and operational performance.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Allocate HVAC crews to projects and assignments with precision and accountability.
Organize and monitor daily and weekly schedules to ensure optimal resource utilization and efficiency.
Coordinate with other departments and vendors to ensure timely delivery of equipment and services.
Identify potential operational improvements and implement strategies that reduce downtime and improve customer satisfaction.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review and adjust daily work schedules based on project demands and crew availability.
Communicate with field crews to address any schedule changes, resource constraints, or urgent service requests.
Liaise with customers and vendors to confirm service appointments and address concerns proactively.
Analyze daily performance data to ensure targets are met and quality standards are upheld.
Schedule Adherence: 98% adherence to planned schedules.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: >4.8 stars on post-service surveys.
Reduction in Operational Downtime: <2%.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Engineering, or a related field.
5+ years of experience in operations management within the HVAC or related home services industry.
Strong leadership, communication, and organizational skills.
Proficiency in scheduling software and resource management tools.
6. Preferred Experience
Prior experience managing operations in the commercial HVAC sector.
Demonstrated success in optimizing fleet and crew schedules.
Familiarity with industry safety and compliance standards.
Experience with budget management and cost control measures.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to occasionally lift up to 25 lbs.
Frequent movement within warehouse, production, and field environments.
Capability to work in varying temperature conditions typically found in service environments.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Occasional extended hours during high-demand periods or emergencies.
Minimal travel between project sites and the main office required.
On-call duties may be required to address urgent service issues.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $70,000 - $90,000 USD annually, commensurate with experience.
Eligibility for performance-based bonus structure.
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance plans.
401(k) plan with company matching contributions.
Additional fringe benefits including paid time off and professional development opportunities.
10. Company Culture and Overview
At [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE], we foster a growth-oriented culture where teamwork, innovation, and customer satisfaction are at the core of our operations.
We are committed to creating an inclusive environment that supports professional development and rewards dedication, making it an ideal place for motivated individuals to excel.
Join us to contribute to cutting-edge solutions in the commercial HVAC industry while advancing your career.
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
What changes when you run commercial HVAC operations
Commercial operations answer to contracts, GCs and property owners at once. The same techs cover all three, and customers judge you by how long their space goes without heat or cooling.
One crew pool, three kinds of work
Maintenance visits are booked months ahead. Repair calls come in at any hour. Install jobs move when the GC's dates move. Pull two techs off a job for a chiller failure, and one customer is happy while another falls behind. This manager sets which customers come first, by agreement level, and carries enough staff that the choice rarely comes up.
Summer is crunch time for schools
Schools want replacements done while students are out, which lands in the same weeks cooling calls peak. The operations manager plans that summer in the spring: which techs move to projects, which jobs go to subcontractors, how much overtime to allow, and who to hire. A school job that runs past opening day is hard to live down.
On-call coverage follows the agreements
Each agreement promises a response time, and some customers can't wait until morning. Think of a school boiler in January or a cooling unit over a server closet in July. The operations manager decides how many techs take call each night and which skills the rotation needs each season. They also pick where those techs start from, so the contract's promise is one you can keep.
Specialty tools and lifts need a schedule
Recovery machines sized for chillers, combustion analyzers for boilers, and rented boom or scissor lifts get shared by the whole team. Two jobs that need the same lift on the same morning is a planning failure, not bad luck. The operations manager keeps a booking calendar for shared gear and decides what stays on each truck. They book rentals before the busy season fills them up.
Uptime is what customers buy
A rooftop unit down over a server room, or a boiler out at a school in January, costs the customer far more than the repair. The operations manager keeps a list of repeat failures by site and unit. That list lets sales offer a repair or a replacement before the next breakdown. Fewer surprises is what renews an agreement.
How much commercial HVAC operations managers make
The closest BLS group for commercial HVAC operations managers is general and operations managers. General and operations managers who work for plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors earned a median of $105,740 a year ($50.84 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 40,250 of the 3,503,020 general and operations managers in that survey work for HVAC and plumbing contractors.
A salary, with a performance bonus that can be based on labor use, job profit or agreement renewals.
HVAC and plumbing contractors
$105,740$105,740 median Middle half $79,040–$158,540 10th–90th $57,570–$214,590
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
HVAC and plumbing contractors
$57,570
$79,040
$105,740
$158,540
$214,590
All industries
$50,090
$72,320
$105,770
$167,280
$253,390
BLS reports HVAC and plumbing contractors together, residential and commercial. 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 managed field teams that look after many commercial buildings at once
Builds a staffing plan from agreements, the project backlog and the season
Turns labor, job cost and agreement profit reports into changes
Keeps crews safe on roofs, in mechanical rooms and on job sites
Talks plainly with facility managers, GCs and property owners
Teach these on the job
Each customer's agreement terms and response tiers
Your field service and project software
Your license holders and local permit offices
Your subcontractors, lift rental and crane companies
Your bonus and job costing formulas
Expect field service software that handles agreements and projects together, such as BuildOps, ServiceTitan or Simpro, plus truck GPS, and often a construction tool like Procore when you work under general contractors. In the posting, give the team size, the mix of service and project work, and the area you cover.
Your own history beats any template: start from its targets, then reset each one from last year's months. Look at service and project work apart, since one delayed project can drag every number.
Crew Allocation Efficiency
Crews and techs on site at their planned start, out of all assignments, from dispatch and GPS time stamps. Sort the late ones by cause: drive time, parts, staffing or an earlier job running long.
Schedule Adherence
Planned maintenance visits and project tasks finished in the week they were scheduled, out of all planned. Go over the misses weekly with dispatch and the production manager.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Survey scores after service visits, by account and by tech, read alongside each agreement's renewal date. A slipping score on a large account calls for a visit from you before renewal talks.
Reduction in Operational Downtime
Hours that customer equipment you cover sat down waiting on your people or parts, plus hours your crews sat idle. Watch the trend monthly and against last year's season.
What does a commercial HVAC operations manager do?
They own the field's week. That covers the staffing plan for agreements and projects, the after-hours rotation, safety in the field, the fleet and the warehouse. When a facility manager or a GC is unhappy, the call comes to them. The production manager, field supervisors, dispatch and the warehouse manager usually answer to them.
How much does a commercial HVAC operations manager make?
General and operations managers who work for plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors earned a median of $105,740 a year ($50.84 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $79,040 and $158,540 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Where does the operations manager sit next to the production manager?
Usually one level above it. The production manager is judged on installs: done on the GC's dates and on budget. The operations manager has to weigh those jobs against agreement customers waiting on service. When both sides want the same techs, truck or lift on the same day, the operations manager makes the call.
What are the signs it's time to hire a commercial HVAC operations manager?
The clearest sign is broken promises in your contracts. Agreement visits slip past the quarter they were due. After-hours calls miss the response time you signed for. A GC calls about a crew that never showed because service pulled it. When those pile up, nobody is planning the field as a whole. A general manager can cover it for a while, but not while also selling and estimating.
Should a commercial HVAC operations manager come up through the trade?
The template wants a bachelor's degree, plus at least five years of operations work in HVAC or a related home services trade. Field years count on top of that. Someone who has worked on rooftop units and chillers can judge whether a repair quote or an install's hours hold up. In the interview, ask about a service week and a project they ran, start to finish.
Should the operations manager also run dispatch?
Dispatch normally sits under the operations manager, but the manager shouldn't work the board. While they're dispatching, nobody plans next month's staffing or looks into why repeat calls keep happening. Hire a dispatcher. Keep the manager on the rules for the schedule, not each change during the day.
