A commercial refrigeration operations manager runs a branch's install work: the schedule, the crews, the trucks and tools, and the subcontractors behind each job. They make sure every new walk-in, case lineup or rack is started up and handed to service in working order.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, HVAC and plumbing contractors · BLS, May 2025
Refrigeration Install & Service - Operations Manager
Company Name:
[INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE]
Department:
Operations
Reports to:
General Manager
Location:
[INSERT LOCATION HERE]
1. Position Summary
You'll run the branch's install work and the crews, trucks and tools behind it. The Project Manager & Estimator sells and plans each job; you staff it, schedule the crews, line up equipment and subcontractors, and make sure every new system is started up and handed to service in working order.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Build and manage the install schedule across all active jobs, from walk-in and condensing unit replacements to full store remodels.
Assign the Field Supervisor and install crews to jobs based on size, skills and store hours.
Line up long-lead equipment, cranes, electricians and other subcontractors with the Project Manager & Estimator.
Run startup and handoff: pressure test, evacuation and charge records, controller settings, and a walkthrough with the service department.
Manage the branch fleet, tools and test equipment, including recovery machines, vacuum pumps and gauges.
Lead the Warehouse Manager so install equipment and parts are staged before each job starts.
Review job costs weekly with the Project Manager & Estimator and act on labor or material overruns.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review crew assignments, store access times and permits for today and tomorrow.
Visit active install sites, especially overnight work in open stores.
Cover crew shortages by moving installers or borrowing technicians from service.
Follow up on equipment deliveries, crane bookings and city inspections.
Review daily logs and photos from the Field Supervisor.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Installs finished on schedule: [your target].
Install labor hours against estimate: [your target].
Warranty service calls on new installs: [your target].
Crew utilization: [your target].
Safety incidents on install sites: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
[5+] years in commercial refrigeration or mechanical installs, including [2+] years supervising crews or projects.
Knows how walk-ins, display cases, condensing units and rack systems are set, piped, tested and started up.
Can read mechanical and refrigeration drawings, equipment schedules and piping layouts.
Experience scheduling several crews and subcontractors across many jobs at once.
6. Preferred Experience
EPA Section 608 Universal certification.
OSHA 30 construction safety training.
Experience with grocery store remodels and overnight work in open stores.
Experience with transcritical carbon dioxide rack installs.
7. Physical Requirements
Walk job sites, climb ladders to rooftops and work around active construction.
Lift up to [50] pounds when helping stage equipment.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Mostly in the field, with office time for scheduling and job reviews.
Overnight and weekend work when installs in open stores require it.
Heat on rooftops and cold inside walk-in freezers.
Company vehicle: [your vehicle policy].
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new operations manager gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
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's different about running refrigeration installs
Installs here happen in stores that stay open, on roofs reached by crane, and on equipment whose makers spell out the startup steps.
Crane picks need a certified operator
Rooftop condensing units and racks often go up by crane. OSHA's construction crane rule says each operator must be trained, certified or licensed, and evaluated before running a covered crane. When you rent a crane with an operator, get that in writing from the crane company, plan the pick and the swing area with them, and keep shoppers and store staff clear. Source: eCFR: 29 CFR 1926.1427, crane operator qualification and certification.
The maker's manual sets the startup
Each maker writes its own steps. Take Heatcraft's manual for its MAC condensing units. The installer pulls a vacuum to 1,500 microns and breaks it with refrigerant, then does that again. Next the whole system goes down to 500 microns. The manual ends with a startup checklist. Put the right maker's checklist in every handoff packet so service knows how the system started. Source: Heatcraft: MAC series condensing units installation and operation manual (H-IM-67H).
Open stores set the work hours
Many grocery remodels happen while the store stays open. Case changeouts run overnight, product has to move to another case or temporary cold storage before the old case is cut out, and the floor must be clean before the doors open. Agree on access times, product moves and who signs off each morning before you schedule the crew.
Borrowing a service tech has a cost
When an installer calls out, a service tech is the fastest fill, but that tech's emergency calls still need coverage. Agree with the service manager on who can be pulled, for how long, and how the hours post to the job. Then the install's labor report and the service board both stay honest.
How much commercial refrigeration operations managers make
The closest BLS group for commercial refrigeration 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.
Salary, often with a bonus for installs finished on time and labor hours held to the estimate.
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 doesn’t publish pay for refrigeration contractors on their own. These figures cover plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has scheduled several install crews and subcontractors across many jobs at once
Knows how cases, walk-ins, condensing units and racks are set, piped, tested and started
Reads refrigeration piping layouts and equipment schedules
Plans overnight work around a store's hours and its product
Keeps job cost in view while solving problems on site
Teach these on the job
Your crane, electrical and rigging subcontractors
Each manufacturer's startup checklist
Your field service and job cost software
Transcritical CO2 rack installs
Your company's handoff packet and closeout steps
The operations manager works from the install schedule, the weekly job cost report, the field supervisor's daily logs and photos, and the branch's fleet and tool lists. Recovery machines, vacuum pumps and other test gear get checked out by job, so tell applicants who tracks them.
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 · Covering crew shortages
Two installers call out sick before an overnight case swap in an open store. What do you do?
A strong answer: Checks who can cover from other crews or service, decides whether the job can be safely done with fewer people or must move, tells the store and Project Manager & Estimator early.
Behavioral · Fleet and test equipment
Tell me about a time you got control of test equipment that kept getting lost or broken, like recovery machines, vacuum pumps or micron gauges.
A strong answer: Set up check-out tracking by truck and job, ran audits, found causes like missing cases or training gaps, and shows fewer losses or repairs.
The template's targets are examples. Set them from your last season of installs, then adjust once a few months of clean job data come in.
Installs finished on schedule
Count installs that reached startup and handoff by the date promised to the customer, and write down why each late one slipped.
Install labor hours against estimate
Compare crew hours logged on each job with the estimated hours, phase by phase, and go over the largest gaps with the project manager and estimator.
Warranty service calls on new installs
Count service calls on new systems during the warranty period that trace back to the install, such as leaks at brazed joints or wrong control settings.
Crew utilization
Divide installer hours spent on job work by hours paid, and track idle time from late deliveries or locked stores on its own line.
Safety incidents on install sites
Record each injury and near miss on install sites, including subcontractor events your crews see, and review each with the field supervisor.
What tasks sit behind the operations manager's physical lines?
Keep the template's wording. For this role it points to real tasks: climbing a ladder to check a new condensing unit on the roof, and helping crews stage boxed equipment up to the weight your template names. They also mean walking active job sites and stepping into a walk-in freezer to look at a coil. Name them in the ad, beside the accommodation line.
How much does a commercial refrigeration 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.
Is OSHA 30 required for a refrigeration operations manager?
Federal OSHA doesn't require it. The agency describes its Outreach classes, the 10-hour and 30-hour courses, as a voluntary program that doesn't fulfill training required by its standards. Some states, cities or others may still require them for a job. A general contractor running a store remodel may ask for it on site, so it's worth keeping as a preferred skill.
How does the operations manager split work with the project manager and estimator?
The project manager and estimator sells the job, writes the scope and handles the customer and change orders. The two line up long-lead equipment and subcontractors together. The operations manager then turns the plan into crews, dates, trucks and tools, and runs startup and handoff. Anything that changes the price goes back to the project manager.
What should the field supervisor's daily log show?
Enough to defend the job without visiting it. That means who was on site and for how long, work done by area, and deliveries, including anything missing. It also means photos of brazed joints before insulation goes on, pressure test readings with the time, and any request from the store. Read the logs each morning so a problem gets caught while the crew is still on that job.
