General Manager (Commercial Boilers)
1 month ago
Hillside
Job Description Our client is a ommercial and industrial boiler contractor serving building owners, property managers, hospitals, universities, manufacturers, and process facilities across New Jersey and the greater New York metropolitan area. Our work spans new boiler and boiler room installations, code repairs and alterations to pressure-retaining equipment, burner and controls retrofits, preventive maintenance agreements, emergency service, and efficiency upgrade projects. We are seeking a General Manager to take full operational and financial ownership of the business. This is a true P&L role. You will run service, construction, and shop operations day to day, own the numbers that ownership sees every month, protect and advance our code certifications, and build a durable leadership culture in a trade where skilled labor is scarce and loyalty is earned rather than bought. The right person is equal parts operator, financial thinker, and people leader — comfortable in a boiler room at 2 a.m. and in front of a spreadsheet the next morning. This role exists to professionalize how the business runs without breaking what already works. You will inherit experienced field technicians and long-standing customer relationships. Your job is to raise margin, tighten execution, and modernize systems while keeping the crew intact and the phone answered. Core Responsibilities Profit & Loss Ownership You own the P&L outright — top line, gross margin, overhead, and net. You will be accountable for annual budgeting, monthly forecasting, and the variance conversations that follow when actuals miss plan. • Build and defend the annual operating budget across every revenue line: service labor, preventive maintenance agreements, projects and retrofits, parts and equipment sales, rental, and shop work., • Own gross margin by division and by job. Understand where margin is made and where it leaks — mispriced service calls, unbilled work, warranty rework, unmanaged overtime, change orders never captured., • Manage work-in-progress and percentage-of-completion reporting on project work, including over/under billings, cost-to-complete accuracy, and backlog quality., • Drive cash performance: billing velocity, DSO, retainage recovery, unbilled revenue, and vendor terms., • Approve pricing, quoting standards, labor rates, and markup structures; make the call on which work is worth chasing and which is not. Financial Reporting & Analysis Produce the monthly financial package that ownership relies on to make decisions. This is not accounting support work — you are expected to build the reporting, interpret it, and act on it. • Assemble and present a monthly package including P&L with budget variance, gross margin by revenue line, backlog and WIP schedules, cash flow and aging, and KPI dashboards with commentary on what moved and why., • Build the operating metrics that run the business: technician billable utilization and labor efficiency rates, revenue per technician, first-time fix rate, callback percentage, average service ticket, quote-to-close conversion, PM agreement renewal and attachment rates, and overtime as a percentage of field labor., • Prepare capital request business cases for fleet, tooling, shop capacity, and headcount, with payback and return expectations stated plainly., • Develop customer-facing financial proposals for capital projects — installed cost, projected fuel and efficiency savings, simple payback and lifecycle cost, and applicable utility incentive and rebate capture. Operations, Code Compliance & the R Stamp Program You are the executive owner of our quality and code program. You are not expected to personally perform inspections or weld, but you are expected to understand what our certifications require and to make sure the organization never puts them at risk. • Maintain the integrity of the company’s National Board R Certificate of Authorization: enforce the Quality Control Manual in daily practice, support the designated QC Manager, manage the relationship with our Authorized Inspection Agency, and lead preparation for triennial National Board review and renewal audits., • Ensure repairs and alterations to pressure-retaining items are performed and documented to NBIC (NB-23) requirements, including R-1 and R-2 form execution, proper nameplate and stamping practice, and complete traceability of materials and welder qualifications., • Govern the welding program: ASME Section IX WPS, PQR, and welder performance qualification currency; continuity logs; and NDE coordination with third-party testing partners., • Apply ASME Section I, Section IV, and Section VIII Division 1 requirements appropriately across power boilers, heating boilers, and pressure vessels., • Enforce ASME CSD-1 controls and safety device requirements and NFPA 85 combustion safety practice on automatically fired equipment., • Own field execution across service dispatch, project scheduling, manpower planning, procurement and equipment lead times, subcontractor management, fleet, and shop throughput., • Own safety outcomes and the metrics that follow the company into every bid: TRIR, DART, and Experience Modification Rate. Lockout/tagout, confined space entry for boiler and vessel work, hot work, and respiratory protection are non-negotiable disciplines. Team Leadership & Change Management The technical problems in this business are solvable. The people problems are the hard part, and they are the reason this role exists. We are looking for high emotional intelligence — someone who reads a room, hears what a technician is actually saying under a complaint, and can hold a hard line without humiliating anyone. • Lead a multi-disciplinary team spanning field service technicians, boilermakers and welders, project managers, estimators, dispatch, and administrative staff., • Introduce process, measurement, and accountability into an environment that has historically run on relationships and tribal knowledge — and do it in a sequence the team can absorb. Sequencing and communication matter more than the changes themselves., • Build the succession bench: recruit, develop, and retain technicians in a labor market where the experienced boiler mechanic pool is shrinking and every competitor is fishing in the same pond. Own the apprenticeship and mentoring pipeline., • Set clear performance expectations, run consistent one-on-ones and reviews, coach the willing, and move decisively on the unwilling., • Serve as the escalation point for customer conflict, jobsite disputes, and internal friction — de-escalating without conceding margin. Commercial Growth & Customer Retention • Grow recurring revenue through preventive maintenance agreements and full-coverage service contracts; improve renewal rates and expand scope within existing accounts., • Support estimating and bid strategy on larger installations and retrofits; sit at the table on the accounts that matter., • Position the company on efficiency-driven work — burner and controls upgrades, condensing economizers, boiler plant optimization, fuel conversions, and decarbonization retrofits — where regulatory pressure is generating demand., • Maintain relationships with OEMs, distributors, engineering firms, mechanical contractors, and property management groups. Requirements Required Qualifications • Ten or more years of progressive operations leadership in commercial or industrial boiler, mechanical HVAC, power generation, or process piping contracting, including at least five years with direct P&L accountability., • Demonstrated experience operating inside an R Stamp certified organization — you have lived under a Quality Control Manual, worked alongside an Authorized Inspector, and been through a National Board review., • Working command of ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code and the National Board Inspection Code as they apply to repair, alteration, and new installation., • Track record of improving gross margin and operating income in a service-and-project business, with specific numbers you can speak to., • Proven ability to build financial reporting from operational data and present it credibly to an owner, board, or private equity sponsor., • Experience leading fifteen or more employees across field and office functions, including hiring, development, and performance management., • Fluency with service management and ERP platforms and the discipline to make a team actually use them., • Bachelor’s degree in engineering, construction management, business, or a related field — or an equivalent combination of trade credentials and operating experience., • Valid driver’s license and willingness to be present in the field and at customer sites throughout the NJ/NY territory. Preferred Qualifications • Direct experience managing or holding responsibility for an R Stamp quality program, including manual authorship or revision and audit preparation., • Additional ASME certifications in the organization’s scope, such as S, U, PP, or A stamps, and National Board VR experience., • Prior background as a boiler technician, boilermaker, welder, or field service engineer before moving into management., • Experience with combustion analysis, boiler efficiency testing, stack loss and thermal efficiency measurement, O2 trim, turndown optimization, and heat recovery., • Union contract administration experience in the NJ/NY market., • Formal change management, Lean, or continuous improvement training., • Experience integrating an acquired business or standing up new systems and processes post-acquisition. Benefits • Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision), • Retirement Plan (401k, IRA), • Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D), • Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays), • Short Term & Long Term Disability, • Compensation: $100,000 - 150,000 base salary + bonues and car allowance
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