Sr Operations Manager

Operations: Assessment & Reclamation Full Time Calgary, AB $100,000 - $145,000 CAD per year
GCL Environmental Ltd. is seeking a Sr. Operations Manager to lead operational execution, people leadership, client delivery, and business performance across our reclamation and site assessment service lines.
This is a senior leadership role reporting directly to the CEO. It is built for someone who understands the environmental consulting business deeply, knows how to develop and lead people well, and can connect technical execution with financial performance, client trust, safety, and long term growth.
About GCLGCL Environmental Ltd. is a lean, high performing environmental consulting firm with a strong reclamation and assessment foundation across Alberta and Saskatchewan. Our work is practical, science based, and focused on returning disturbed land toward healthy, functioning landscapes.
We have contributed to more than
1,883
reclamation certificates, completed thousands of environmental site assessments, and supported the return of more than 10,000 acres of land toward equivalent land capability. Our mission is grounded in restoring impacted land, supporting communities, and delivering responsible outcomes with safety, integrity, and long term value.
Our culture is built around FIRE: Flexibility, Innovation, Resiliency, and Entrepreneurship. We are looking for a leader who can live those values while building a strong, accountable, technically excellent delivery organization.
The OpportunityThe Sr. Operations Manager will provide leadership across our delivery organization, including project execution, resourcing, staff development, client service, financial performance, quality control, safety culture, and adoption of GCL's operational systems.
This role is ideal for an environmental consulting professional with 12 or more years of progressive experience who has moved well beyond task execution and is ready to lead the business side of a multi service line practice. The successful candidate will understand field realities, regulatory expectations, client pressures, seasonal workload planning, project margins, team development, and the importance of calm, clear leadership in a remote and field based consulting environment.
You will build and lead a delivery structure organized around our major clients and programs, supported by a Delivery Manager working alongside our senior project leads. You will work closely with the CEO, Business Development, technical advisors, HR, Safety, and Finance to ensure GCL delivers high quality outcomes while supporting sustainable, profitable growth.
Reporting & Structure
Reports directly to the CEO.
Leads GCL's delivery organization across reclamation and site assessment, including senior project leads and field teams.
Will help design and build a client and program aligned delivery structure, including a Delivery Manager role positioned alongside existing senior leads to strengthen day to day support, coordination, and capacity management.
Partners closely with the Field Operations Manager on regional field logistics and with Business Development on client engagement and growth.
What You Will Lead
Lead annual and quarterly operational planning across the reclamation and assessment service lines, in alignment with GCL's corporate strategy and growth targets.
Own delivery performance and margin: oversee project execution so work is delivered safely, efficiently, on budget, on schedule, and to GCL's quality standards.
Manage team capacity, workload planning, utilization, and resourcing across seasonal peaks and slower operating periods, with particular attention to major client programs.
Serve as the single delivery and margin owner for GCL's largest client programs, coordinating scope, change orders, and reporting discipline.
Champion adoption of GCL One, our operational platform, field data capture, and project financial hygiene across all delivery teams.
Monitor operational KPIs, revenue, margin, project performance, budget health, and delivery risks, and act on them.
Partner with Business Development and Finance on monthly project and account reviews.
Support business development through client engagement, proposal input, market awareness, and identification of growth opportunities.
Reinforce GCL's health and safety expectations, including hazard assessment, field readiness, competency, incident prevention, and stop work authority.
Act as an escalation point for client delivery concerns, project quality issues, resourcing pressures, and operational barriers.
Promote clear, timely, professional communication with clients, internal teams, field staff, and leadership.
Developing the team is a core accountability of this role, not an afterthought. GCL is investing in this position specifically to strengthen how our people are supported, coached, and grown.
Provide leadership, coaching, and mentorship to delivery staff, including onboarding, technical development, performance feedback, and succession planning.
Put a documented development plan in place for each direct report within the first 90 days, and review progress on a regular cadence.
Actively delegate and build depth, so that no single person, including yourself, becomes a bottleneck. Support without creating dependency.
Own retention of key delivery and technical staff as a measurable outcome of the role.
Assign technical mentors for new field employees and ensure training, onboarding, and development feedback are completed.
Support project closeout, lessons learned, corrective actions, and continuous improvement across delivery workflows.
What You Bring
12 or more years of progressive experience in environmental consulting, with strong depth in reclamation and site assessment in Western Canada.
Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary delivery teams, including coaching, delegation, accountability, feedback, and conflict resolution.
A track record of developing people and building bench strength, not just delivering projects.
Strong business acumen, including project financials, budgets, margins, utilization, proposal support, client service, and operational planning.
Ability to translate technical work into practical business decisions, and to hold a service line accountable to its numbers.
Comfort leading in a modern, systems driven operation, including project management platforms and field data tools;
willingness to championthem personally.
Strong working knowledge of reclamation and remediation programs, site assessments, vegetation, soils, landowner considerations, field execution, reporting, and regulatory expectations in Western Canada.
Experience working with remote staff, field crews, contractors, and client representatives.
Strong judgment under pressure, especially when priorities shift due to weather, access, safety, client needs, or regulatory timelines.
Professional designation or eligibility is considered an asset, such as P.Ag., P.Biol., P.Eng., P.Geo., RTAg., or related professional standing.
Experience with oil and gas reclamation, upstream or midstream site closure, or land restoration programs is strongly preferred.
The Leadership Style We Are Looking ForWe are looking for someone who is steady, practical, and people focused.
You know how to lead experienced professionals without micromanaging them. You can support without creating dependency. You are comfortable having hard conversations respectfully, and you understand that accountability and psychological safety can exist together.
You are commercially aware, but not purely numbers driven. You understand that strong margins come from good planning, clear scope, competent people, strong client relationships, quality work, and proactive risk management.
You are the kind of leader who can help GCL grow without losing the culture, discipline, and high standards that make the company successful, and who measures success partly by how much stronger the team is a year from now.
Why Join GCL
You will help shape the future of GCL's delivery organization at a pivotal growth stage.
You will join a company with a strong reclamation and assessment legacy, a meaningful mission, and a practical, results based culture.
You will work in a remote first environment that values flexibility, accountability, and strong communication.
You will have the opportunity to influence business direction, team development, project delivery, client relationships, and operational systems.
You will be part of a company that values safety, technical excellence, mentorship, and long term impact on people, ecosystems, and the land.
LocationRemote based, with field and client travel across Alberta and Saskatchewan as required.
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