Operations Manager

Larry Walker Associates (LWA) is a small, family-owned business based in Davis, California. Our company is organized into self-directed teams that provide opportunities for employees to take responsibility for their own career path, work on diverse and interesting projects, and assume leadership roles from day one. LWA is committed to our values of passion for excellence, caring, building meaningful relationships, forward thinking, and serving the public good, and our successful employees embody the behaviors that support those values. LWA is known for our expertise in the environmental consulting field as well as the great care we take of our clients and employees alike.

LWA's dynamic Business Team includes operations, finance, human resources, and marketing and design, with team members performing activities across the various disciplines. LWA is looking for a new Operations Manager in our main office in Davis, California.

To be a successful member of the Business Team at LWA, candidates should be professional, polite, attentive, and accurate. You should always be prepared and responsive, willing to meet each challenge directly, fast at solving problems, and able to prioritize and manage multiple tasks. Most importantly, candidates should have a genuine desire to meet the needs of others.

The Opportunity:

We are seeking an extraordinary and experienced Operations Manager to join our team. Our ideal candidate has a background in managing all aspects of administrative operations, including, but not limited to:

• office services, facility, and vendor management
• administrative process development, refinement, and implementation
• operations administrative staff management
• contract process management
• IT vendor management and service delivery oversight

The ideal candidate has a demonstrable bias toward taking action and successfully getting things done. We are looking for a highly motivated systems thinker and implementer who is willing to take on varied responsibilities based on the company's annual priorities. This person will help us implement structures and processes to support our growth. While you are able to lead a team on a project and delegate work effectively, you are not above rolling up your sleeves to do the hard work yourself when need be. As an Operations Manager, you will quickly gather information and apply your keen eye for detail to help prioritize needs and make critical decisions.

You will be a part of a small business team supporting a big mission. The Business Team leverages diverse prior experiences to creatively solve problems and increase efficiencies for the company.

The Position

The position is full-time, 40 hours a week, Monday to Friday. As a family-owned business, LWA supports hybrid work arrangements that give staff flexibility in balancing work and family obligations. New hires may request a hybrid arrangement in consultation with their office manager but this position requires at least 3 days per week in the office.

What you will be doing

Key responsibilities

• Oversee and manage the daily operations of the operations administrative staff
• Manage administrative systems, including IT, events and meetings, and office support services
• Oversee and manage workplace health and safety program in all offices
• Develop, document, and oversee implementation of systems to streamline administrative operations and other business team functions
• Manage execution of annual strategic planning initiatives for the operations administrative team
• Oversight and coordination of 2 to 3 on- or offsite Northern California staff meetings or events per year
• Manage execution of projects assigned by the President and Executive Vice President

What you bring to the table

• BA/BS degree or higher, ideally in business administration, information technology, or a related field
• At least 5 years of progressively responsible and relevant work experience, including at least 1 year of management experience
• An understanding of the breadth of administrative needs that span a growing small business
• In-depth experience with MS Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint) and file access through cloud platforms (Azure, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.)
• Understanding of vendor and professional services contracting structure
• Excellent attention to detail
• Ability to maintain a high level of confidentiality
• Ability to organize a daily workload by priorities and meet deadlines in a fast-paced, quickly changing environment
• A proactive approach to problem-solving with strong decision-making skills
• Warm personality with strong verbal and written communication skills
• Self-directed and motivated; able to work well with limited supervision
• Experience with workstation desktop support, deployment of software systems, cloud storage, and Azure-based authentication systems is highly valued but not required

Qualified applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. and able to pass a background check. This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

Salary and Benefits

The salary range is $70,000 to $85,000, depending on experience and skillset. Salary is just one component of LWA's total compensation package for employees. Total compensation includes an annual bonus program, a fully funded profit-sharing retirement program, a full range of health benefit offerings, flexible paid vacation time, paid sick leave, 10 paid holidays each year, and an annual training budget.