A plumbing operations manager leads the people who do the work in customers' homes and everything that gets them there: service plumbers, drain techs, install crews, dispatch, the stockroom and the trucks. They staff each day to the call volume and keep plumbers on billable work instead of on the road.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, plumbing and HVAC contractors · BLS, May 2025
Lead and coordinate all plumbing field operations to ensure efficient service delivery and customer satisfaction. Oversee scheduling, resource allocation, and on-site work quality across multiple projects. Serve as a critical interface between the field technicians and upper management. Drive process improvements and operational excellence within the plumbing division.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Supervise and manage the day-to-day activities of field technicians to guarantee job completion within quality standards.
Develop and implement effective scheduling strategies to maximize resource utilization.
Ensure compliance with safety protocols and regulatory requirements.
Collaborate with other departments to prioritize and allocate resources efficiently.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review and manage daily work schedules and technician assignments.
Monitor job sites to ensure adherence to company standards and client expectations.
Communicate with customers to provide status updates and resolve concerns.
Oversee inventory management and coordinate with vendors for timely material supplies.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
On-time job completion rate: ≥ 95%.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: >4.8 stars.
Technician utilization rate: ≥ 85%.
Callback rate: <5%.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, or a related field.
Minimum of 5 years of experience in operations management, preferably within the home services or plumbing industry.
Strong leadership and communication skills.
Proficient in scheduling software and resource management systems.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience working directly in the plumbing, HVAC, or home maintenance sectors.
Proven track record of improving operational efficiency in a field services environment.
Familiarity with plumbing industry standards and local regulations.
Experience managing multi-location operations considered a plus.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to conduct on-site visits which may involve walking on uneven surfaces.
Regularly required to inspect job sites in various weather conditions.
Must occasionally lift items up to 20 lbs as needed during site evaluations.
Ability to stand and walk for extended periods.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Occasional weekend or evening hours required to meet project deadlines.
Some local travel required between job sites.
May be required to handle on-call duties for urgent service issues.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $70,000 - $90,000 USD per year, commensurate with experience.
Performance-based bonus opportunities.
Health, Dental, and Vision insurance options.
401(k) retirement plan with company matching.
Additional fringe benefits such as paid time off and professional development support.
10. Company Culture and Overview
At [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE], we are committed to excellence, innovation, and fostering an inclusive work environment where every team member can thrive.
We value creativity, continuous improvement, and the collective success of our team.
Our innovative approach ensures that every employee is empowered to contribute to our mission of outstanding customer service.
Join us and become part of a dynamic team dedicated to setting new standards in the plumbing home services 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
What makes plumbing operations management different
Any field operation is a daily puzzle of people, trucks and jobs. In residential plumbing, three kinds of work compete for the same people, parts runs quietly eat billable time, and sewer crews haul equipment heavy enough to bring federal driver rules into play.
Three kinds of work share one board
Service plumbers fix leaks and fixtures in timed windows. Drain techs clear lines and run cameras. Install crews spend a full day or more on tank swaps, repipes and sewer replacements. Each group uses different trucks, gear and skills. Ops decides who can cross over. A drain tech may not hold the license a water heater swap needs, and borrowing installers for service calls can push a repipe back a day.
Parts runs eat billable hours
A plumber who leaves a job to buy a fitting is paid for the drive but bills nothing for it. The template has this role overseeing stock and vendors, so the operations manager sets what each truck carries, which supply house accounts plumbers may use, and when the warehouse runs a part out instead. Supply house trips show up in the utilization numbers.
Two shops, one service area
A second shop brings its own choices. The operations manager decides which neighborhoods each shop covers, where trucks park overnight, and how stock moves between the two. Take-home trucks let plumbers drive straight to the first job, but those trucks need another way to get restocked. Draw the lines by drive time, not by city limits.
Sewer crews tow heavy equipment
A sewer line crew may pull a mini excavator or a jetter on a trailer. Federal rules call for a Class A commercial driver's license when the truck and trailer are rated at 26,001 pounds or more combined and the trailer is rated over 10,000 pounds. The operations manager checks the weight ratings on each truck and trailer, and your state's rules, before deciding who drives. Source: eCFR: 49 CFR 383.91, commercial motor vehicle groups.
How much plumbing operations managers make
The closest BLS group for plumbing 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 plumbing and HVAC contractors.
The template sets a salary and a performance-based bonus. Tie the bonus to numbers this role controls, such as technician utilization, callbacks or on-time completion.
Plumbing and HVAC 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
Plumbing and HVAC 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 plumbing and HVAC 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 plumbing service or install crews, or crews in a close trade
Turns job cost, utilization and callback reports into changes on the board
Moves people between service, drain and install work without losing the day
Knows how to staff crews within your state's license rules
Calms an angry homeowner and owns the fix when a crew gets it wrong
Teach these on the job
Your job management software and its reports
Which permit offices you deal with and how each inspector works
Your warranty terms on repairs and installs
Your fleet, GPS and equipment upkeep schedule
How you log injuries, near misses and vehicle damage
The board, job costing and reports sit in job management software like ServiceTitan, Successware or Housecall Pro. Add GPS on the fleet and a tracker for licenses, registrations and renewal dates, even if it's a spreadsheet.
Plumbing 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.
Review these weekly with your leads and monthly with the general manager. Swap in your own targets once you have six months of numbers, and read freeze weeks on their own.
On-time job completion rate
Share of jobs closed out on the day the board planned, from your software's job status history. Give service, drain and installs their own lines, and count a planned two-day repipe as on time if it ends on day two.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Group survey and review scores by plumber and by service, drain or install. A manager calls back every low score and logs the cause.
Technician utilization rate
Paid hours spent on job sites, divided by total paid hours, from time cards and job clock-ins. Tag each supply house run in the software so you can see how much of the gap it causes.
Callback rate
Jobs where a plumber had to go back for the same leak, clog or heater problem inside your warranty period, divided by completed jobs. Review each with the plumber to learn whether the part, the diagnosis or the install failed.
Career path
Master plumberTakes the toughest calls and may be the license holder for the company.
Field supervisorCoaches plumbers and settles problems before the customer calls the office.
Operations managerIn charge of every field team, the board, the stockroom and the trucks.
General managerOwns the full profit and loss, not just the field.
Where does a plumbing operations manager's job end and the general manager's begin?
Ops covers the field: plumbers, crews, the board, the stockroom and the fleet. The general manager answers for the entire company, adding sales, marketing, money and the office, and the operations manager usually reports to them. When there's only one shop, the owner may be the general manager too, and may hire an operations manager before any other leader.
How much does a plumbing 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.
Which numbers should a plumbing operations manager watch every week?
Start with callbacks by plumber and by cause, technician utilization, and jobs that slid to another day. Add spending on supply house accounts outside the warehouse, truck stock counts, and license and registration renewals coming due. Split each report into service, drain and installs, since a strong month in service can mask a bad one in drain.
Does a plumbing operations manager need a college degree?
A four-year degree plus five years running operations is what the template lists, with plumbing or HVAC field work as a plus. Some strong candidates came up through the trade instead, running crews for years. If you'll weigh that experience against the degree, say so in the posting, or you may never hear from them.
What should you ask a plumbing operations manager in an interview?
Ask how they'd staff the day after a hard freeze with three plumbers out. Ask how they have cut supply house trips or drive time before, and how they measured it. Hand them a sample utilization report and ask what they'd change first. The answers show whether they've run a board or only watched one.
