Vice President Operations

Role overview

This is a retained executive search for a fast-growing infrastructure services business backed by private equity and recognized as an industry leader. The organization employs more than 1,200 people and operates across North America, delivering specialized services that help safeguard critical infrastructure and support communities in the United States and Canada.

The company is looking for a Vice President of Operations to guide a large field organization spread across multiple geographies and responsible for delivering hundreds of projects each year. In this senior role, you will be expected to help the business scale, strengthen core operating systems, build leadership depth, and prepare the organization for its next stage of expansion.

Key responsibilities

• Direct a field workforce of more than 700 people handling complex, project-driven work across North America.
• Create repeatable operating systems, management cadences, and standard procedures that can support ongoing growth.
• Lead Lean transformation efforts and raise the organization’s level of operational excellence.
• Strengthen leadership capability and improve succession planning across the company.
• Put KPI-based accountability and disciplined execution processes in place.
• Work closely with Engineering, Finance, Safety, and Commercial teams to deliver strong customer results.
• Help incorporate new service lines, acquisitions, and additional organizational capabilities as the business expands.
• Streamline highly complicated operations into practical and scalable solutions.
• Promote a culture rooted in continuous improvement, ownership, and servant leadership.
• Act as an important member of the senior leadership team and a possible future successor within the Service Delivery function.

Qualifications

• Background leading large, dispersed field operations or service delivery teams in areas such as construction, utilities, infrastructure, industrial services, telecommunications, or comparable sectors.
• Clear experience creating operating frameworks, leadership processes, and scalable infrastructure from the ground up.
• Strong leadership in Lean, continuous improvement, or operational excellence initiatives.
• Experience managing multi-site operations with accountability for sizable P&L performance and overall business outcomes.
• Proven ability to scale organizations and lead through periods of rapid growth and change.
• Strong systems-level thinking with the ability to bring structure to highly complex environments.
• Success in developing leaders and building a deeper management bench.
• A humble, accountable, and hands-on leadership approach.

Additional details

Location is Denver, Colorado, and relocation assistance is available. The position requires approximately 30% travel. Compensation includes a competitive base salary, annual incentive, and long-term equity participation.

Next Level Partners is a retained executive search and consulting firm focused on operations, manufacturing, supply chain, and continuous improvement leadership. The firm works with private equity and growth-oriented organizations to identify leaders who can scale businesses and build durable competitive advantages.

This position is intentionally structured as a potential successor role within the Service Delivery organization. Candidates should bring the enterprise perspective and leadership capability needed to take on broader strategic responsibility as the company continues to grow.