General Manager

Chesapeake Search Partners is seeking a General Manager to join a growing, private equity-backed organization in Rockville, MD. The General Manager is the senior operational and commercial leader responsible for the overall performance, growth, and long-term success of the greater Maryland market.

Reporting directly to the Regional Vice President, this role owns full business accountability including safety, customer experience, revenue growth, profitability, field execution, talent development, and operational excellence across multiple business lines.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic & Business Leadership:

• Own annual operating plans, forecasts, budgets, and KPI execution.

• Drive organic growth through customer expansion, service penetration, and market development.

• Lead process standardization and adoption of operational best practices throughout the branch.

Operations Management:

• Lead all day-to-day operations, including oversight of service, inspection, installation/project, administrative, and warehouse functions.

• Improve deficiency conversion to repair and project opportunities.

• Drive scheduling, dispatch, documentation quality, productivity, field utilization, and backlog execution.

• Review operational reports and analyses to identify performance gaps, ensure consistency, and drive corrective actions.

Financial Management:

• Maintain full P&L and budget ownership for branch operations.

• Own and support forecasting processes, including reviewing, researching, and reconciling forecasted financial results against actual performance.

• Improve working capital through billing, collections, and repair/project backlog management.

Compliance, Safety & Quality:

• Ensure compliance with applicable NFPA, OSHA, DOT, AHJ, and state and local requirements.

• Maintain technician licensing, certifications, and service quality standards.

• Ensure compliance with applicable workplace safety laws, company safety policies, and operational safety requirements.

People Leadership & Culture:

• Lead, supervise, develop, and motivate managers, operational leaders, administrative personnel, and warehouse staff.

• Build and retain high-performing teams while developing leadership bench strength and succession capability.

Customer & Stakeholder Relations:

• Maintain strategic customer relationships and serve as the executive escalation point for significant customer issues.

• Ensure customer concerns are resolved effectively and service commitments are consistently achieved.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, Construction Management, or a related field — or equivalent industry experience.

• 7+ years of progressive operational and P&L leadership experience in a field-services, construction/installation, or trades environment; 3+ years leading and developing managers.

• Demonstrated ownership of a branch, division, or business-unit P&L with a track record of revenue growth, margin improvement, and cash/working-capital management.

• Strong operational acumen across scheduling, dispatch, field utilization, backlog execution, and service-quality management.

• Proven ability to build, lead, and retain high-performing field and office teams and to establish accountability-based operating rhythms.

• Experience in fire and life safety, building services, or a comparable field-services industry.

• Familiarity with NFPA, OSHA, DOT, and AHJ compliance requirements and technician licensing/certification.

• Experience in private-equity-backed and/or multi-site, multi-brand organizations, including M&A or new-branch integration.