A restoration operations manager makes sure every flood, fire and mold job has a crew, from the midnight emergency call to the last week of a rebuild. They run the on-call schedule, decide when to rent equipment or bring in temp help during a storm, and keep drying gear moving from finished jobs to new ones.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Oversees daily operations for restoration contracting services by allocating crews, organizing schedules, and monitoring daily tasks to ensure timely and quality project execution. Acts as a critical link between field teams and upper management to drive performance improvements and maintain excellent service standards.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Allocate crews efficiently to meet project demands and optimize resource utilization.
Organize daily schedules and assign tasks ensuring adherence to project timelines.
Monitor and supervise daily activities to maintain high-quality standards and operational consistency.
Collaborate with project managers to resolve on-site challenges and adjust plans as necessary.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review daily schedules and update task assignments based on evolving project needs.
Conduct on-site inspections and support field teams for immediate issue resolution.
Communicate daily priorities and project updates to crew members and management.
Track and document performance metrics and operational efficiencies to inform continuous improvement.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Crew Utilization Rate: Achieve a minimum of 90% active deployment per day.
On-Time Project Completion: Maintain a target of 95% projects completed on schedule.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: Exceed 4.8 stars based on post-service surveys.
Safety Compliance: Ensure a 100% adherence rate to safety protocols and standards.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Construction Management, or related field.
Minimum of 3-5 years of operations management experience in the restoration or home services industry.
Excellent organizational and time management skills.
Strong interpersonal and communication skills for effective team coordination.
6. Preferred Experience
Previous experience managing crews or field teams in restoration contracting or a similar industry.
Familiarity with project management software and operational analytics tools.
Experience in change management and process improvement initiatives.
Proven record in meeting and exceeding key operational performance metrics.
7. Physical Requirements
Capable of sitting or standing for extended periods as needed during on-site visits.
Ability to move around various work environments including construction sites and restoration projects.
Occasional lifting of materials up to 25 lbs.
Comfortable working in environments that may have varying temperatures.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typically Monday through Friday; occasional weekend or evening work may be required.
On-call duties during emergency restoration situations as needed.
Work involves both office-based planning and frequent site inspections.
Minimal travel within the service region to inspect multiple job sites.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Competitive base salary between $75,000 - $90,000 per year.
Performance-based bonus opportunities tied to key operational KPIs.
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
401(k) plan with company match and additional fringe benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are an innovative and growth-oriented company dedicated to providing exceptional restoration services.
Our culture is built on transparency, accountability, and continuous professional development.
We value teamwork, creativity, and a proactive approach to problem-solving.
Join us to elevate your career in a supportive environment that recognizes and rewards performance.
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 a restoration operations manager handles that others don't
Every loss needs people, a truck and a stack of drying gear, often within hours, and the next loss can land before the last one is staffed.
Temp crews are still your crews on site
When a storm outruns your staff, temp workers fill the gap. OSHA says the staffing agency and the host company are jointly responsible for a temp worker's safety. The host gives the training on its own equipment and hazards. So the operations manager plans a short site briefing and the right gear for every temp before they walk into a sewage or soot job. Source: OSHA: Protecting temporary workers.
Drying equipment is capacity too
A crew can't start a water job without dehumidifiers and air movers. Every unit still running on a dry job is one you can't send to a new loss. The operations manager pushes project managers to pull gear on time, and decides when to rent more and when to buy.
Every crew starts with a safety walk
IICRC S500 lists what a crew should do, at minimum, on its initial response to a water loss. The list includes a site safety survey, confirming the source and setting drying goals. The operations manager builds those steps into the first-visit checklist in your job software. On site visits, they look for what a survey should catch, like sagging wet ceilings and cords in standing water. Source: IICRC S500 Consensus Body: Category of water damage and weather-related events (2026).
Storm weeks run on overtime
A freeze or hailstorm can push hourly techs past 40 hours by Wednesday. Federal law says workers who aren't exempt earn at least one and a half times their regular rate once they pass 40 hours in a week. A long week can't be averaged with a slow one. The operations manager plans crews and temp help with that cost in mind. Source: U.S. Department of Labor: Overtime pay.
Out-of-state storm work brings trucking rules
Big storms pull crews to other states. Under federal rules, a truck or truck and trailer rated or loaded at 10,001 pounds or more, used across state lines for business, is a commercial motor vehicle. Its driver must be medically certified. The operations manager checks trucks, trailers and drivers before anyone heads out. Source: 49 CFR 390.5T: Definitions, including commercial motor vehicle (Cornell LII).
How much restoration operations managers make
The closest BLS group for restoration operations managers is general and operations managers. General and operations managers who work for remediation companies earned a median of $108,300 a year ($52.07 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 9,490 of the 3,503,020 general and operations managers in that survey work for remediation companies.
Salaried, with a bonus on the template's operations KPIs. The BLS figures on this page group operations managers with general managers, so they can run higher than a restoration company's offer for this role.
Remediation companies
$108,300$108,300 median Middle half $79,490–$155,370 10th–90th $58,980–$212,470
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
Remediation companies
$58,980
$79,490
$108,300
$155,370
$212,470
All industries
$50,090
$72,320
$105,770
$167,280
$253,390
BLS doesn’t publish pay for restoration contractors on their own. These figures cover remediation and other waste management services, which include them. 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 crews through at least one major storm or freeze response
Can scan a list of open water jobs and see which are over-visited or forgotten
Knows drying equipment well enough to argue rent versus buy with numbers
Keeps techs from burning out in surge weeks and knows when to call temp help
Holds project managers to pickup dates without starting a turf war
Teach these on the job
Program rules for the carriers and third-party administrators you work with
Your equipment fleet and your rental sources
IICRC drying standards, for someone who built homes instead of drying them
How your temp labor agency places, trains and pays its workers
Where you will and won't send crews after a storm
Most of the day runs in your job management system's dashboards: crew hours, equipment out on jobs, and jobs stuck waiting on an approval. Add fleet GPS, a crew scheduling board, and Xactimate estimates from the project managers.
These four numbers pull against each other: push utilization too hard and safety and on-time work slip. Base targets on your own recent months, not just the template.
Crew Utilization Rate
Pull clocked hours and the hours charged to jobs from your job software. Watch for crews whose day is mostly drive time between monitoring visits, and leave training days out.
On-Time Project Completion
Compare each job's planned finish with the date on the signed certificate of completion. Split mitigation from rebuild, and tag delays caused by adjuster approvals apart from your own.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Ask for a rating at two points: when drying ends and when the rebuild closes. Sort results by project manager and crew to find where the experience breaks.
Safety Compliance
Run unannounced site checks for respirators, containment and ladder use, and keep training and fit-test records current. Count any missed item as a miss, not a partial pass.
Career path
Lead technicianLearns drying and equipment on the busiest jobs.
Can one person run both operations and production?
At this size, it's usually two jobs. The production manager is responsible for quality on open jobs: drying, cleanup, rebuild work and callbacks. The operations manager owns what that work runs on: people, trucks, equipment and the on-call schedule. A small company may hand one person both, but in a storm one side gets dropped.
How much does a restoration operations manager make?
General and operations managers who work for remediation companies earned a median of $108,300 a year ($52.07 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $79,490 and $155,370 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
What should a restoration operations manager look at each morning?
New losses from overnight. Every job with equipment on site and the date of its last moisture check. Who is out today. Jobs waiting on an adjuster's approval. Overtime so far this week. A short look at that list, before crews leave the shop, catches most of the day's problems while they're still easy to fix.
What should a restoration operations manager do before storm season?
Test every dehumidifier, air mover and generator. Line up a temp labor agency and an equipment rental source. Set how far out of your area you'll travel. Refresh fit tests and training so newer techs can work sewage jobs. Stock up with the warehouse. Then write down who decides when to stop booking new work, so nobody argues about it mid-storm.
Who should a restoration operations manager report to?
Usually the general manager or chief operating officer. If the owner still runs sales and estimating, the operations manager may report straight to the owner. Either way, give them clear say over crew assignments and equipment. If they have to ask before every move, losses wait.
