A pest control operations manager answers for the technicians, routes, trucks and spray gear at every branch. They decide which techs cover which areas and services. They set the standard every truck is stocked to, and find out why routes run late or customers cancel.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, pest control companies · BLS, May 2025
Responsible for overseeing daily pest control operations and ensuring efficient allocation of technicians, routes, and equipment usage. Plays a pivotal role in maintaining high service standards and customer satisfaction while optimizing workflow efficiency.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Allocate and schedule technicians to strategically cover designated service areas.
Manage route assignments to optimize travel time and efficiency.
Oversee equipment usage, maintenance, and inventory to ensure operational readiness.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to address customer needs and resolve service issues.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review daily service schedules and adjust technician assignments as needed.
Monitor technician routes and performance for timely service delivery.
Conduct routine checks on equipment operation and maintenance.
Communicate with customer service teams to ensure high customer satisfaction levels.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Technician response time: Achieve an average response time of less than 30 minutes.
Route efficiency: Maintain a route efficiency rate of over 90%.
Customer satisfaction rating: Earn an average rating of >4.8 stars.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration or related field or equivalent experience.
5+ years of experience in operations management within a service-driven environment.
Proficiency in route scheduling software and fleet management tools.
Strong leadership, communication, and organizational skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience in the pest control or home services industry.
Background in logistics, scheduling, or supply chain management.
Familiarity with health and safety regulations pertinent to pest management.
Demonstrated success in managing operational efficiency and team performance.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to occasionally lift up to 25 lbs.
Frequent work in varying environmental conditions including outdoor pest control sites.
Must be able to navigate with agility on job sites where terrain may be uneven.
Prolonged periods of standing, walking, and climbing.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard business hours with occasional extended hours based on service demands.
Minimal travel between operational sites required.
Occasional on-call duties during peak service periods.
Office and field-based environment with dynamic work settings.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $65,000 - $85,000 per year depending on experience.
Performance-based bonuses available.
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
401(k) retirement plan with company match.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are a forward-thinking organization committed to fostering a culture of growth and innovation while prioritizing customer satisfaction and employee development.
Our team is dedicated to excellence and continuous improvement, ensuring a supportive work environment where every individual can thrive and succeed.
We value collaboration, diversity, and accountability in all aspects of our operations.
We encourage professional growth and are proud to offer ongoing training and career advancement opportunities.
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 makes pest control operations management different
In residential pest control, each truck is a small chemical store, exclusion crews work from ladders, and every branch needs people for several kinds of service.
Every truck is a rolling chemical store
Each truck carries the pesticides, gear and paperwork for a full route. Some states spell out what must be on board. Arizona requires locking storage that protects containers on the road, and enough absorbent for a one-gallon spill. Trucks must also carry protective gear, clean drinking water, a change of clothes, and the label and SDS for every product. Writing that truck standard, and spot-checking trucks against it, falls to the operations manager. Source: Ariz. Admin. Code § R3-8-305: Equipping a service vehicle.
Exclusion work happens on ladders
Wildlife exclusion means sealing gable vents, soffits and rooflines, often from an extension ladder. OSHA's general industry rules say ladders must be inspected before first use each shift, and a damaged one must be tagged and pulled from service. Workers must face the ladder and keep a hand on it while climbing. The operations manager builds ladder checks into the routine and trains each new exclusion tech. Source: OSHA: Ladders (29 CFR 1910.23).
Every branch needs every service line covered
Termite, mosquito, wildlife and general pest work each need their own training and equipment. License lines don't always match service lines. In Texas, termite work is its own license category, while mosquitoes and nuisance animals like raccoons fall under general pest control. If a branch has one termite tech and that person leaves, its termite work stops. The operations manager tracks who can do what at each branch and cross-trains before the season. Source: 4 Tex. Admin. Code § 7.124: Structural license categories.
Spray rigs and trucks get fixed in winter
Termite and mosquito trucks often carry a power sprayer, tank and hose reel on top of the route's products. When one quits in June, a whole route of customers gets moved. Put truck and rig service on the calendar for the slower winter months. Log every breakdown by vehicle, too: a truck that keeps failing should be replaced before it costs more in lost stops than a new one would.
Residential vs. commercial pest control operations
Commercial work runs on contracts and inspections, which changes what the operations manager watches.
Topic
Residential
Commercial
Customers
Homeowners on recurring service plans
Restaurants, apartment complexes, warehouses and food plants on contracts
When techs work
Daytime routes at people's homes
Often before the business opens or after it closes
What the customer keeps
A service ticket after each visit
A logbook of every visit, a map of each trap and bait station, and pest sighting trends for auditors
Biggest revenue risk
Cancellations after a missed re-service or a bad visit
Losing a contract after a failed audit or health inspection
How much pest control operations managers make
The closest BLS group for pest control operations managers is general and operations managers. General and operations managers who work for pest control companies earned a median of $81,890 a year ($39.37 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $105,770 median for general and operations managers in all industries. About 9,200 of the 3,503,020 general and operations managers in that survey work for pest control companies.
Salaried, plus the template's performance bonus, which fits measures like route efficiency, truck downtime and plan cancellations.
Pest control companies
$81,890$81,890 median Middle half $62,550–$112,040 10th–90th $44,920–$157,830
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
Pest control companies
$44,920
$62,550
$81,890
$112,040
$157,830
All industries
$50,090
$72,320
$105,770
$167,280
$253,390
BLS reports residential and commercial pest control companies 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 led route technicians, ideally in pest control or lawn care
Starts hiring and truck plans for spring while it's still winter
Uses downtime, cancellation and re-service reports to redraw routes and retrain techs
Sets a service standard and backs the field supervisors who enforce it
Takes the homeowner a supervisor couldn't satisfy, then fixes why it happened
Teach these on the job
Your state's license categories and renewal rules
The reports your routing software can pull
Your truck standard and vehicle checklist
Ladder safety for exclusion crews
Your spill response plan and incident log
Day to day, the role lives in route software such as FieldRoutes or PestPac, plus GPS on each truck. Keep two more records beside it: a fleet repair log, and a list of every tech's license categories, renewal dates and training hours.
Pest control operations manager interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
Pull these by branch every month. Hold off on fixed targets until a whole year of data is in, so the spring swarm weeks and the winter lull both count.
Technician response time
Average time between an urgent call or re-service request and a tech heading there, by branch. When one branch runs slow, check whether it's short on techs or its routes are drawn too wide.
Route efficiency
Stops completed and service hours per route-day compared with drive time, from GPS and route reports. Compare branches and techs, and watch for routes that thin out as customers cancel.
Equipment downtime
Route-days lost to a truck or rig in the shop, out of all scheduled route-days, from the fleet repair log. Record why each breakdown happened so repeat failures get fixed.
Customer satisfaction rating
Monthly survey average for each branch and route, set beside that branch's cancellations and re-service calls. Good scores with rising cancellations mean something the survey isn't catching.
Does a pest control operations manager need a pesticide license?
Not always, but it helps. Federal rules require certification to apply or supervise restricted use pesticides, and many states require it for any commercial pesticide work. A licensed manager can step in to supervise, cover a route, or serve as a branch's license holder where the state allows it. Ask which categories they hold and whether any are close to expiring.
How much does a pest control operations manager make?
General and operations managers who work for pest control companies earned a median of $81,890 a year ($39.37 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $62,550 and $112,040 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
How does a pest control operations manager's job differ from a field supervisor's?
A field supervisor stays close to the routes: follow-up inspections, ride-alongs and the techs who need help. The operations manager sits above the supervisors and owns the plan: routes, staffing, trucks, equipment, budgets and licenses in every branch. At one branch the two jobs can blur. With several branches, they need to be separate people.
Should pest control technicians take their trucks home?
Many route companies allow it, so the first stop starts closer to where the tech lives. If you do, put the rules in writing: products locked in the truck's storage, parking where you've approved, and no personal use. Check the storage directions on your product labels for very hot or freezing nights, and find out how your state treats pesticides left in vehicles overnight.
What comes first for a newly hired pest control operations manager?
Early on, ride a full route day at every branch and open each truck against your standard. Build or check the list of who holds which license category and its renewal date, since a lapsed license can stop a service line. Then pull a year of cancellations and re-services by branch to see where problems cluster.
