Director of Field Operations — Heavy Civil — Houston, TX
Environmental Allies is a $100M+ heavy civil contractor in Houston. We self-perform storm drainage, concrete paving, asphalt paving, and earthwork on public infrastructure across the region — TxDOT, the City of Houston, Fort Bend County, Harris County, and municipal utility districts throughout the metro. We own our concrete batch plant, our equipment, and our crews.
We are hiring a Director of Field Operations. This is a new seat, created because a field organization at our scale needs a leader dedicated to it — which means you would be building the function rather than inheriting somebody else’s version of it.
The Job, Stated Plainly
You will be dispatched to wherever the problem is, and you will solve it end to end. A job that is behind. A crew that is not producing. A conflict with an inspector. A sequencing decision that has three jobs waiting on it. You carry full field authority on every job you set foot on, delegated by ownership — including jobs that already have a superintendent running them.
You will also close the loop with the office. Field problems generate paperwork consequences: quantities, time and material tickets, delay documentation, change order backup. You will work directly with our project management team so the resolution you reach in the field is the resolution that survives the pay application and the audit. Solving the problem is half the job. Making it stick is the other half.
This role is built to grow. As you earn it, our General Superintendents will report to you and field operations becomes yours to run. We are direct about that sequence because the candidate we want will read it as the reason to take the job rather than as a hedge.
The First Year
First 30 days
You walk every active job. You learn the crews, the superintendents, the owners, the inspectors, and how we build. You start taking the calls.
Months 2+
You are the first call on field problems across the portfolio. You resolve, you document, you coordinate with project management on the paperwork consequences, and you build the standards we run on.
What You Will Do
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Deploy to active jobsites across the Houston region and take ownership of whatever is wrong — production, sequencing, manpower, equipment, subcontractor performance, owner or inspector conflict.
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Make decisions in the field with full authority and stand behind them.
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Coordinate directly with project managers so field resolutions are documented correctly: quantities, T&M tickets, delay and impact records, and change order backup that will hold up in a pay application and an audit.
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Drive production standards and accountability across superintendents and crews.
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Own field safety performance in partnership with the Safety Manager, including compliance with all company and OSHA requirements.
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Manage equipment and manpower allocation across concurrent jobs.
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Build the field systems this company needs at the next revenue level — reporting, production tracking, and consistency across crews.
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Develop superintendents and foremen. Build the bench, do not just manage it.
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Work directly with ownership on operational strategy and long-range field planning.
What You Bring
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Fifteen or more years in heavy civil, underground utility, or site work construction, with substantial time in senior field leadership — General Superintendent, Area Superintendent, or Director of Operations.
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A record of running multiple concurrent jobs and being accountable for their production, not just their supervision.
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The presence to walk onto a job you have never seen and be taken seriously by the people already running it. This role has no direct reports on day one and still has to be followed.
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Real command of heavy civil production: crew rates, equipment utilization, sequencing, and where a job actually loses money.
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Experience with Texas public work — TxDOT, City of Houston, Fort Bend County, county precinct, or municipal utility district projects — and the documentation discipline public work requires.
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Fluency in the paperwork consequences of field decisions: quantities, T&M, delay documentation, and change order substantiation.
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The judgment to know which problems you solve yourself and which ones ownership needs to hear about the same day.
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Authorization to work in the United States, and the ability to pass a pre-employment background check and drug screen.
Preferred
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Self-perform contractor background — owned crews, owned equipment.
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Storm drainage, detention, and underground utility depth.
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Concrete and asphalt paving production experience.
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Experience building or restructuring a field operations function — standing up structure and accountability where little existed before.
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Construction ERP and field technology experience — Acumatica, HCSS, B2W, Viewpoint, or comparable.
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Bilingual English/Spanish.
Compensation & Benefits
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Competitive executive-level base salary, commensurate with experience.
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Performance bonus tied to field productivity, safety, and project margin.
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Truck allowance and fuel card.
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401(k) retirement plan.
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Health, dental, and vision insurance.
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Health savings account (HSA) and flexible spending account (FSA) options.
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Company-paid life insurance.
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Paid time off and paid holidays.
Why This One Is Different
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You report to the CEO. Not to a regional vice president, not into a matrix. One person, direct.
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The function is genuinely open. You are not inheriting someone else’s system and defending it — you are building the one this company runs on next.
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We self-perform. Drainage, paving, earthwork, and utilities. When you make a call in the field, it is our people and our equipment that execute it.
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Public infrastructure backlog. State, city, county, and district capital programs that keep moving through market cycles.
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Decisions take days, not committees. That is the whole reason a person at your level would take a job at a company our size.
Schedule & Work Environment
Full-time and on-site, based out of our Northwest Houston office at 9730 Windfern Road, with daily travel to active jobsites across the Houston region. This is a field role — expect to spend most of your week on jobs rather than at a desk. Heavy civil is a deadline business, and extended hours or weekend coverage come with the territory during critical operations. On jobsites, all company and OSHA safety requirements apply, including required personal protective equipment.
How to Apply
Apply through this posting with your resume. Our process is a confidential phone conversation, an in-person interview with the CEO and ownership, and a jobsite visit where you will see our work and meet the people you would be leading. We move quickly for the right person, and we treat every conversation at this level as confidential.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Environmental Allies is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. Applicants who require a reasonable accommodation during the hiring process should contact Human Resources.
- Fifteen or more years in heavy civil, underground utility, or site work construction, with substantial time in senior field leadership — General Superintendent, Area Superintendent, or Director of Operations.
-
A record of running multiple concurrent jobs and being accountable for their production, not just their supervision.
-
The presence to walk onto a job you have never seen and be taken seriously by the people already running it. This role has no direct reports on day one and still has to be followed.
-
Real command of heavy civil production: crew rates, equipment utilization, sequencing, and where a job actually loses money.
-
Experience with Texas public work — TxDOT, City of Houston, Fort Bend County, county precinct, or municipal utility district projects — and the documentation discipline public work requires.
-
Fluency in the paperwork consequences of field decisions: quantities, T&M, delay documentation, and change order substantiation.
-
The judgment to know which problems you solve yourself and which ones ownership needs to hear about the same day.
-
Authorization to work in the United States, and the ability to pass a pre-employment background check and drug screen.
Preferred
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Self-perform contractor background — owned crews, owned equipment.
-
Storm drainage, detention, and underground utility depth.
-
Concrete and asphalt paving production experience.
-
Experience building or restructuring a field operations function — standing up structure and accountability where little existed before.
-
Construction ERP and field technology experience — Acumatica, HCSS, B2W, Viewpoint, or comparable.
-
Bilingual English/Spanish.
