Operations Manager

Weeds B Gone, Cobourg, Ontario

Location: Based out of our main office and shop in Cobourg, Ontario. The role is hybrid, but expect to spend most of year one in Cobourg, in the shop, and out in the field. Service area: The Trent-Severn Waterway and southern Ontario, with a lot of seasonal travel. Type: Full time, year round, permanent Reports to: Chief Operating Officer Compensation: $90,000 to $110,000 base, plus a performance bonus tied to revenue and customer satisfaction Existing vacancy: Yes

About Weeds B Gone

We have been clearing shorelines across the Trent-Severn Waterway and southern Ontario for more than 20 years, and we do it without chemicals. We harvest and screen aquatic weeds, install aeration systems and fountains, build pond-scapes, and keep water open through the winter with de-icing. We use safe, natural bacteria and enzymes instead of herbicides, because the people who own these shorelines swim off them, fish off them, and plan to pass them on to their kids.

Our customers are cottage owners, marinas, property managers and municipalities. Most of our team grew up on these waterways. Local people, clear shorelines, real support.

The business has grown to the point where operations needs someone running it full time. That is this job.

The role

You will own everything that happens between the signed contract and the happy customer: crews, boats and harvesters, scheduling, inventory, SOPs and margins. In year one you will be in the shop and on the water, learning every route, every piece of equipment, every regulation and every customer's shoreline. After that you will spend more of your time building the operation and less of it running inside it.

The role is hybrid and can become more so over time. But you cannot learn this business from a laptop, and you cannot lead a crew you never see, so year one is in person.

We want someone who has done operations leadership somewhere before, and who wants to spend their working life outdoors and around water. We need both. Either one on its own will not work here.

What you will own

People. Recruit, hire and onboard seasonal field crews ahead of the season instead of scrambling once it starts. Build the training program covering equipment, boat safety, water quality and customer interaction. Manage day to day performance and scheduling. Develop crew leads who can eventually run routes without you.

Field operations. Be on the road and on the water during the season, working alongside crews and meeting customers. Own route planning, daily dispatch and job sequencing across a large service area. Deal with the weather, breakdowns and short-staffed days that come up every week.

Equipment and inventory. Own the fleet of harvesters, boats, trucks, trailers, and aeration and de-icing gear. Run preventative maintenance so equipment fails in the shop rather than out on the water.



Forecast and manage inventory so we neither tie up cash nor run out in July.

Financials and results. Carry the company revenue target. Manage the operating budget, including job costing, crew productivity, equipment spend and gross margin by service line. Know which jobs make money, which ones do not, and why.

Systems and SOPs. Document how the work actually gets done and make it repeatable, with written SOPs for every service line. Run and improve our operating software (Jobber and QuickBooks Online) so scheduling, invoicing and reporting stay clean. Build a reporting rhythm that keeps leadership informed without anyone having to chase you for it.

Customer satisfaction. Own the experience after the sale, including communication, follow through, and fixing things when we get them wrong. Handle escalations yourself. Protect a reputation that took 20 years on these waterways to build.

Safety and compliance. Own crew safety, boat safety and equipment protocols. Keep us compliant with Ontario environmental and aquatic vegetation regulations, permits and insurance requirements.

Who this is right for

You build things that are not there yet. There is no playbook waiting for you, because you will be writing it. If your last role handed you finished systems to run, this will feel like walking into an empty room. We want someone who finds that appealing rather than unsettling.

People want to work for you. Seasonal field labour is the hardest problem in this business and it never goes away. The best evidence is not a reference letter. It is that people have followed you from one job to the next.

You are ambitious and you are not above the work. You are also willing to spend a year in wet boots learning every route on the water.

You get quieter when things go wrong, not louder. Weather, breakdowns, no-shows and unhappy customers before 8am are all normal here. A crew takes its temperature from whoever is leading it, and ours are often young and in their first season.

You think about margin, not just the schedule. You can look at a crew's day and tell us whether it made money. You will want to know how aeration installs compare with harvesting before your second week is out.

You are the same person in both conversations. One is with a 19 year old on their first season. The other is with a cottage owner who has watched this shoreline for forty years and has strong opinions about it. Plenty of good field leaders are only positive at one of those.

You write things down. We will ask to see an SOP, checklist or process document that you have written.



If your systems only exist in your head, half of this job will not get done.

You care about machines. You do not have to turn the wrenches yourself, but neglected equipment quietly ruins a season.

You bring up safety before we do. Water, machinery and young seasonal staff is the combination that can end a company like ours.

You can disagree with the owner and still be comfortable at dinner. This is a family business. You will need to hold your ground on operations, say the difficult thing to the people who own the place, and do it in a way that builds trust instead of tension.

You can wort out of a busy shop when needed. Our Cobourg shop is the centre of everything. Equipment comes in and out, crews stage, phones ring, and people walk up to you with a problem while you are in the middle of something else. Decisions get made standing beside a trailer rather than in a boardroom. If you do your best thinking behind a closed door you will find this difficult. If you get most of your information from the noise, you will enjoy it.

What you need to have done

- Operations management in field service, landscaping, marine, construction, agriculture or a similar hands-on business, with responsibility for crews, equipment and a P&L; rather than just a schedule
- Hired, trained and kept field staff through more than one season
- Worked with budgets, job costing, margin and forecasting
- Willing to travel across the service area throughout the operating season
- Valid Ontario driver's licence with a clean abstract.
- Living within a reasonable daily commute of Cobourg, or willing to move
- Comfortable working out of a busy shop in a family run business

Helpful but not required: Jobber, QuickBooks Online or similar field service software; trailering experience, a DZ licence or equipment tickets; familiarity with Ontario aquatic vegetation and environmental regulations; marine or small engine aptitude; experience with municipal and commercial contracts. You will get wet, and you will get calls at 6am. We would rather you find that appealing than merely tolerable.

We should also be clear about the environment. This is a family business operating out of a working shop, not a corporate office. It is busy, it gets loud in the spring, there is no HR department to route things through, and the owner is in the building. For the right person that is an advantage, because you get direct access, quick decisions and nobody standing between you and the outcome. For someone who needs quiet, structure and distance, it is a poor fit.

Compensation and what we offer

- Base salary of $90,000 to $110,000 depending on experience
- Performance bonus tied to revenue targets, gross margin and customer satisfaction
- Vehicle allowance or company vehicle
- Paid vacation

Pay: $90,000.00-$110,000.00 per year Work Location: Hybrid remote in Cobourg, ON

📌 Operations Manager (Cobourg)
🏢 Weedsbgone
📍 Cobourg