A cover letter is required for consideration for this position and should be attached as the first page of your resume. The cover letter should address your specific interest in the position and outline skills and experience that directly relate to this position.

Facilities & Operations, Logistics, Transportation & Parking (LTP), is seeking an Operations Manager to lead the University of Michigan's Waste Management Services (WMS) operation. This position is responsible for the safe, reliable, efficient, customer-focused, and environmentally responsible collection of refuse, compost, recycling, and other designated waste
streams across campus. Waste Management Services also provides street-sweeping services for campus-owned roads and athletic facilities.

The Operations Manager provides administrative and operational leadership for a bargained workforce of approximately 10 skilled trades Heavy Equipment Operators, as well as seasonal
temporary labor. The manager oversees daily service delivery, staffing, safety, vehicles, equipment, customer relations, data management, and continuous improvement. 

This position works closely with campus customers and partners, including U-M Procurement Services, U-M Fleet Services, architects, engineers, project managers, event organizers, construction teams, and other Facilities & Operations units. The Operations Manager reviews new-building construction plans to ensure that refuse, recycling, compost, and other waste-
collection needs are incorporated into building and site designs. The position also works with U-M Fleet Services to develop specifications for new waste-collection and street-sweeping
vehicles.

The position coordinates waste-management and street-sweeping services for significant campus activities, including student move-in and move-out, athletic events, commencement activities,
concerts, and construction projects.

The Operations Manager position is not part of a bargaining unit. The Waste Management Operations Managers reports to the General Manager of Transportation and Waste Management.

Waste Management and Street-Sweeping Operations

• Direct the daily collection of refuse, compost, recycling, and other designated waste streams throughout campus.
• Direct street-sweeping services for campus-owned roads and athletic facilities.
• Plan and assign collection routes, street-sweeping routes, and other work activities to meet established service levels and campus needs.
• Adjust staffing, vehicles, equipment, routes, and schedules in response to operational conditions, service requests, special events, and emergencies.
• Ensure collected materials are transported, staged, and delivered to the appropriate facilities in accordance with university requirements and applicable regulations.
• Monitor daily service completion and promptly resolve missed collections, contamination issues, equipment failures, access concerns, and other service disruptions.
• Coordinate waste-management and street-sweeping support for construction and renovation projects, athletic activities, and other non-routine campus operations.
• Evaluate routes, collection frequencies, street-sweeping schedules, staffing plans, and work methods to improve safety, productivity, service reliability, and environmental performance.

• Maintain operational continuity during inclement weather, staffing shortages, vehicle or equipment downtime, and other unexpected conditions.

   

Staff Leadership and Labor Relations

• Hire, onboard, train, assign, coach, evaluate, and discipline staff in accordance with university policies and applicable collective bargaining agreements.
• Direct the work of approximately 10 bargained skilled trades Heavy Equipment Operators and seasonal temporary labor.
• Develop staffing plans and daily assignments for employees who normally operate Monday through Saturday.
• Establish clear performance expectations and hold employees accountable for safety, service, conduct, attendance, and work quality.
• Promote an inclusive, respectful, collaborative, and solutions-focused work environment.
• Conduct regular staff and safety meetings and communicate operational priorities, service changes, event requirements, and university policies.
• Ensure employees complete required training and maintain applicable licenses, qualifications, and certifications.
• Maintain accurate personnel, attendance, training, overtime, and performance documentation.
• Partner with Human Resources and labor-relations representatives to administer employment policies and collective bargaining requirements consistently.
• Develop employee capabilities and succession plans to support operational resilience and continuity.

Construction Planning and Design Review

• Review new-building construction plans to ensure the building's refuse, recycling, compost, and other waste-collection needs are adequately addressed.
• Evaluate projected waste volumes and recommend appropriate container types, quantities, sizes, and collection frequencies.
• Review proposed waste rooms, collection and staging areas, loading docks, exterior enclosures, compactors, containers, and roll-off locations for operational suitability.
• Confirm that waste-collection areas provide adequate capacity, access, equipment clearance, lighting, ventilation, drainage, and security, as applicable.
• Assess collection-vehicle access, including entry and exit routes, turning radius, overhead clearance, pavement capacity, backing requirements, traffic flow, and pedestrian safety.
• Ensure collection arrangements support safe and efficient year-round operations, including service during winter weather.
• Provide operational comments and recommendations to architects, engineers, project managers, and construction teams at appropriate design milestones.
• Participate in design-review meetings to resolve waste-collection concerns before construction.
• Review relevant design changes that could affect waste collection and participate in pre-occupancy inspections or project closeout activities as requested.
• Coordinate the transition from project planning to ongoing collection service, including container delivery, route changes, collection schedules, and customer communication.
• Document plan-review comments, decisions, and operational requirements.

Campus Events and Project Support

• Plan and coordinate waste-management and street-sweeping services for campus events and activities, including but not limited to:
  • Student move-in and move-out
  • Athletic events
  • Commencement activities
  • Concerts
  • Construction and renovation projects
• Work with event organizers, athletics staff, construction teams, campus departments, and other stakeholders to identify service requirements.
• Develop staffing, container, equipment, vehicle, route, collection, and street-sweeping plans for special events.
• Coordinate setup, collection, material removal, street sweeping, and post-event cleanup support within the operation's scope.
• Evaluate event performance and adjust future service plans based on operational data, customer feedback, safety concerns, and service results.
• Work outside the regular schedule as needed to support special events, emergencies, and critical campus operations.

Customer Relations and Campus Partnerships

• Serve as a primary operational contact for campus customers receiving waste-management and street-sweeping services.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with building occupants, facility managers, event organizers, athletics staff, project managers, architects, engineers, construction teams, U-M Fleet Services, U-M Procurement Services, and Facilities & Operations partners.
• Provide responsive, professional, and solutions-oriented customer service. 
• Listen to customer needs, clarify service expectations, and develop practical solutions that balance customer requirements with safety, operational capacity, sustainability goals, and university standards.
• Investigate and resolve missed collections, contamination concerns, container issues, access limitations, street-sweeping concerns, event needs, construction impacts, and other service issues promptly and consistently.
• Communicate schedules, service requirements, operational constraints, and service changes clearly to affected stakeholders.
• Conduct site visits with customers to assess container placement, collection access, service frequency, street-sweeping needs, contamination, safety, and future service needs.
• Manage challenging customer interactions professionally and communicate decisions respectfully, even when operational or safety requirements limit available options.
• Follow up with customers to confirm that concerns have been addressed and identify opportunities for service improvement.

• Support educational and operational initiatives intended to improve material diversion, reduce contamination, and encourage responsible waste practices.

   

Safety and Compliance

• Maintain a strong safety culture and ensure work is performed in accordance with university policies and applicable federal, state, and local requirements.
• Develop, document, communicate, and enforce safe operating procedures for waste collection, street sweeping, vehicle operation, material handling, and equipment use.
• Conduct safety meetings, observations, inspections, and job-hazard reviews.
• Investigate incidents, injuries, property damage, and near misses; identify contributing factors and implement corrective actions.
• Ensure employees use required personal protective equipment and follow established procedures.
• Maintain required operating, inspection, training, safety, and compliance records.
• Identify and control risks associated with vehicles, heavy equipment, street sweeping, waste materials, traffic, outdoor work, special events, and active construction areas.

Fleet, Equipment, and Facility Oversight

• Oversee the safe and effective use of waste-collection vehicles, street sweepers, heavy equipment, compactors, containers, carts, roll-off equipment, and related tools.
• Work with U-M Fleet Services to develop technical and operational specifications for new waste-collection vehicles, street sweepers, and related mobile equipment.
• Evaluate operational needs, route conditions, collection methods, capacity, safety features, vehicle dimensions, maneuverability, payload, operator ergonomics, maintenance requirements, and life-cycle costs when developing vehicle specifications.
• Participate in vehicle and equipment evaluations and provide recommendations regarding acquisition, replacement, configuration, and acceptance.
• Coordinate preventive maintenance, required inspections, repairs, equipment downtime, and replacement planning with U-M Fleet Services and other university partners. 
• Perform or coordinate regular condition assessments of vehicles, equipment, and containers.
• Ensure vehicles and equipment are clean, safe, properly maintained, and ready for operation.
• Maintain oversight of supplies, tools, personal protective equipment, and other operational inventory.
• Develop vehicle and equipment replacement recommendations based on condition, utilization, safety, service requirements, and life-cycle cost.
• Ensure operating facilities and work areas are maintained in a safe, secure, clean, and orderly condition.

Procurement and Contract Administration

• Work with U-M Procurement Services to develop, procure, administer, and evaluate hauling, disposal, processing, and material-recovery contracts supporting university waste-management operations.
• Manage contracts for roll-off waste hauling; refuse, recycling, and compost disposal or processing; scrap metal; and wood pallets.
• Develop service requirements and scopes of work that clearly define safety, documentation, reporting, service, and performance expectations.
• Monitor contractor responsiveness, documentation, regulatory compliance, and contract performance.
• Review invoices and supporting documentation for accuracy and compliance with contract terms.
• Resolve billing, documentation, capacity, scheduling, disposal, processing, and contract-performance concerns.
• Track contract utilization, expiration dates, costs, and anticipated procurement needs.
• Make recommendations regarding contract changes, renewals, competitive solicitations, and contractor performance.

Data Management and Performance Reporting

• Maintain the waste management database used to track the volume of all collected waste streams.
• Establish processes to ensure collection, disposal, and processing data are entered accurately, completely, and consistently.
• Review reported volumes for accuracy and reconcile discrepancies with staff, campus partners, haulers, processors, or disposal facilities as needed.
• Produce regular reports regarding refuse, recycling, compost, and other collected materials.
• Use waste-volume, route, labor, equipment, financial, street-sweeping, and service data to assess performance and identify operational improvements.
• Develop and monitor performance measures related to safety, service reliability, productivity, cost, material diversion, contamination, equipment utilization, and customer satisfaction.
• Provide data and operational information to support university reporting, planning, sustainability initiatives, and decision-making.
• Maintain appropriate records and documentation in accordance with university requirements.

Budget and Administration

• Assist with the development and administration of the waste management operating budget.
• Monitor labor, overtime, vehicles, equipment, supplies, disposal and processing costs, and contracted services.
• Identify budget variances, forecast operational needs, and recommend corrective action.
• Prepare business cases and recommendations for staffing, vehicles, street sweepers, equipment, containers, contracts, technology, and other resources.
• Maintain accurate operational records and use applicable university work-management and business systems to assign, track, and document work.
• Prepare reports, analyses, presentations, and recommendations for department leadership.

• Develop annual operating plans and identify future staffing, equipment, facility, contract, and infrastructure needs. 

   

Sustainability and Continuous Improvement

• Support university waste reduction, reuse, recycling, composting, material-diversion, and campus-cleanliness initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to reduce landfill disposal and improve the recovery of compostable, recyclable, reusable, and other materials.
• Analyze collection and street-sweeping data to identify trends, assess performance, and support operational and sustainability decisions.
• Evaluate new equipment, technologies, collection methods, and industry practices that could improve safety, service, efficiency, data quality, or environmental performance.
• Develop and standardize operating procedures to improve service consistency, accountability, and continuity.

• Lead process-improvement efforts in collaboration with employees, campus customers, and university partners.

   

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Minimum of five years of related professional experience.
• Minimum of five years of experience in waste-management operations, including refuse, compost, and recycling collection.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating or supervising a complex, service-oriented operation involving employees, routes, vehicles, equipment, and customer requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to provide employee coaching, training, feedback, and performance oversight. 
• Strong customer-relations skills, including the ability to listen to customer needs, communicate service expectations, resolve concerns, and develop practical solutions.
• Ability to build effective relationships with a wide range of stakeholders and manage difficult or sensitive customer interactions professionally.
• Knowledge of workplace safety principles and demonstrated ability to establish and maintain safe operating practices.
• Ability to respond effectively to urgent operational issues and make sound decisions in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience reading and interpreting construction drawings, site plans, or similar technical documents and identifying requirements for a building's refuse, recycling, compost, and other waste-collection services.
• Ability to communicate waste-collection requirements effectively to architects, engineers, project managers, construction teams, customers, and other stakeholders.
• Strong organizational, analytical, problem-solving, and written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience using databases, spreadsheets, and standard business software to maintain records and report operational information.
• Ability to interpret and apply policies, procedures, contracts, safety requirements, and collective bargaining agreement provisions.
• Valid driver's license and ability to meet university requirements for operating university vehicles.
• Ability to work onsite and respond outside regular working hours as necessary for special events, emergencies, and critical operations.

• Associate degree in operations management, environmental services, logistics, business administration, public administration, or a related field.
• Five or more years of management experience.
• Experience supervising skilled trades employees in a unionized environment.
• Experience with large-scale refuse, recycling, compost, roll-off, street-sweeping, or material-recovery operations.
• Experience supervising Heavy Equipment Operators or other employees who operate commercial vehicles and heavy equipment.
• Commercial Driver's License, Class B.
• Experience administering collective bargaining agreements and collaborating with represented employees, Human Resources, and labor-relations partners.
• Experience planning waste-management or street-sweeping services for large events, construction projects, or complex institutional operations.
• Experience administering or monitoring waste-hauling, material-disposal, or processing contracts.
• Experience working with a centralized procurement organization on competitive solicitations, scopes of work, and service agreements.
• Knowledge of applicable occupational safety, commercial vehicle, waste-handling, transportation, and environmental requirements.
• Experience with fleet management, route planning, preventive maintenance, and vehicle or equipment replacement planning.
• Experience developing specifications for specialized waste-collection vehicles, street sweepers, or heavy equipment.
• Experience maintaining waste-volume databases and validating information received from collection staff and receiving facilities.
• Experience using data to improve collection routes, street-sweeping schedules, service levels, staffing, costs, waste diversion, and operational performance.
• Experience reviewing new-building plans for waste-collection operations, including waste rooms, container capacity and placement, loading areas, vehicle access, collection routes, and pedestrian safety.
• Knowledge of waste reduction, recycling, composting, material-diversion, and contamination-reduction practices.
• Experience in a university, municipal, public works, healthcare, institutional, or other large-campus environment.
• Experience working with procurement processes or service contracts.
• Experience assigning work, coordinating staffing, and responding to planned and unplanned operational needs.

Being part of something greater, of serving a larger mission of discovery and care ? that's the heart of what drives people to work at Michigan. In some way, great or small, every person here helps to advance this world-class institution. It's adding a purpose to your profession. Work at Michigan and become a victor for the greater good.

In addition to a career filled with purpose and opportunity, the University of Michigan offers a comprehensive benefits package to help you stay well, protect yourself and your family, and plan for a secure future. Benefits include:

• Generous time off, including vacation time, sick time, holidays, and season days
• A retirement plan that provides two-for-one matching contributions with immediate vesting
• Many choices for comprehensive health insurance
• Life insurance
• Long-term disability coverage
• Flexible spending accounts for healthcare and dependent-care expenses
• Strong commitment to work/life balance

This position is considered an onsite position.

Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes.

The regular work hours for this position are 5:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. M-F.

Waste Management Services staff normally work Monday through Saturday from 5:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. The Operations Manager is responsible for ensuring appropriate operational coverage
across this service schedule.

Because this position supports essential campus services, the Operations Manager will participate in on-call coverage and must respond outside regular working hours when necessary. Evening, weekend, holiday, and schedule adjustments may be required for emergencies and campus activities, including student move-in and move-out, athletic events, commencement activities, concerts, and construction projects.

Facilities & Operations is a positive organization dedicated to the principles of being respectful, collaborative, solutions-based, and proactive.

This position is not represented by a collective bargaining unit. The position supervises bargained skilled trades employees and seasonal temporary labor.

This position works in both office and field environments. The employee regularly visits waste-management facilities, loading areas, event locations, athletic facilities, construction sites, campus roads, and collection points. Work may involve exposure to outdoor weather, vehicle traffic, noise, odors, waste materials, uneven surfaces, and moving equipment. Required personal protective equipment will be provided and must be used as directed.

The University of Michigan conducts background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer and may use a third party administrator to conduct background checks.  Background checks are performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Job openings are posted for a minimum of seven calendar days. The review and selection process may begin as early as the eighth day after posting. This opening may be removed from posting boards and filled any time after the minimum posting period has ended.

The University of Michigan is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.