Shop Operations Manager

Description

Fundamental Objective:

The Shop Operations Manager leads the transformation of the Company’s repair and maintenance (R&M) operations, evolving an established shop into a modern, data-driven, metrics-focused organization. Reporting to the Director of Farming and working as a peer to the Farm Manager, Spray Manager, and Agronomic Manager, this role has overall responsibility for the shop, fleet, warehouse, and orchard-development equipment functions, supporting more than 500 pieces of equipment and a technician team of 20+ employees.

The Shop Operations Manager will establish and maintain the systems, processes, technology, and accountability practices required to operate a best-in-class, forward-looking maintenance organization. This leader will introduce innovative technologies, industry best practices, and performance-driven solutions while providing responsive, service-oriented support to Farm, Spray, and Agronomic operations. The role is responsible for reducing equipment downtime, optimizing cost per operating hour, strengthening workforce professionalism and accountability, and maximizing the reliability, productivity, and long-term value of the Company’s capital equipment investments.

Essential Functions:

A) Data-Driven Operations & Performance Management — Build the systems, processes, and reporting that enable the shop to make measurable, evidence-based decisions rather than relying on anecdotal information.

• •Implement and manage a CMMS/fleet management platform to provide centralized visibility into work orders, preventive maintenance schedules, parts usage, equipment downtime, and labor hours across 500+ pieces of equipment.
• •Establish, monitor, and report key performance indicators (KPIs)—including equipment uptime and availability, mean time to repair, cost per operating hour, PM compliance, and technician productivity—to the Director of Farming on a recurring monthly basis.
• •Analyze historical repair, cost, and equipment usage data to identify recurring failures, key cost drivers, and opportunities to standardize best practices, improve reliability, and drive operational efficiency across the shop.
• •Benchmark shop performance against industry standards and continuously improve processes by using data- driven results to identify opportunities for efficiency.
• •Develop and present a monthly Shop Performance Scorecard to the Director of Farming and Company Leadership, highlighting KPI trends, key cost and downtime drivers, performance gaps, and corrective actions in progress.
• •Escalate performance gaps promptly when KPIs fall outside target range, presenting root cause and a documented corrective action plan rather than restating the miss.
• •Compile and present an annual Capital & Fleet Performance Report to Company leadership, tying equipment replacement recommendations, capital spend, and lifecycle cost trends back to the data collected throughout the year.
• •Maintain a documented library of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and best practices derived from performance data, ensuring institutional knowledge is captured rather than held informally by individual technicians.
• •Ensure preventive maintenance (PM) tasks and work orders generated by the CMMS are completed on schedule by shop technicians assigned and verified day to day by the Shop Supervisor with the Farm Equipment Manager ensuring the process and completion data logged back into the system hold up to compliance and KPI standards.

B) Budget & Cost Control

• •Build, own, and manage the annual shop, fleet, and equipment budget in partnership with the Director of Farming; ensure shop operations stay in line with budget on a continual basis.
• •Track actual spend against budget monthly, explain variances, and adjust plans proactively rather than reactively.
• •Negotiate with vendors and suppliers for parts, machinery, and fuel to obtain the most cost-effective purchasing terms; own purchasing policies and procedures — with the Shop Supervisor submitting routine purchase requests and the Farm Equipment Manager reviewing and approving them, and the related vendor invoices, within Company policy and an approved spending threshold.
• •Evaluate outsourced vs. in-house repair decisions based on true cost comparisons.
• •Manage the warranty claim submission and manufacturer credit recovery process, ensuring the Company captures all eligible warranty reimbursements rather than absorbing preventable repair costs.
• •Ensure the Farm Equipment Manager compiles and provides timely, accurate field-level cost, usage, and vendor pricing input — sourced from the Shop Supervisor's daily operations — to support budget development and the monthly variance review.

C) Equipment Lifecycle Monitoring — track the health and cost history of the fleet as it naturally surfaces through the CMMS, and partner with Accounting on capital planning and depreciation decisions.

• •Continuously monitor and update the lifecycle status of major equipment assets — age, utilization, maintenance cost trends, and downtime history — as this data becomes visible through the CMMS platform, incorporating equipment condition and usage issues compiled by the Farm Equipment Manager from the Shop Supervisor's daily observations.
• •Flag equipment approaching the end of its economically useful life based on objective cost and performance data rather than age alone, and bring replacement or refurbishment recommendations to the Director of Farming on a quarterly basis, timed ahead of critical harvest windows.
• •Partner with Accounting to translate equipment lifecycle data into practical capital expenditure planning and depreciation schedule discussions, providing operational and cost data support rather than owning capital or accounting decisions.
• •Maintain accurate, real-time visibility of equipment location, condition, and utilization using GPS/telematics, supporting both daily operations and lifecycle tracking.

D) Workflow & Shop Efficiency — lead continuous improvement initiatives that eliminate waste, improve workflow efficiency, reduce downtime, and simplify shop processes.

• •Set the standards and priorities for shop layout, work order flow, and scheduling — executed day to day by the Farm Equipment Manager and Shop Supervisor — so equipment is available when Farm, Spray, and Agronomic operations need it.
• •Own the system-level design of real-time inventory and tracking (parts, tools, fluids, fuel) through the CMMS, with the Farm Equipment Manager and Shop Supervisor maintaining accurate day-to-day records that eliminate guesswork and reduce downtime waiting on parts.
• •Set the quality control standard all equipment must meet before release — enforced day to day by the Farm Equipment Manager and Shop Supervisor — so every piece of equipment released from the shop meets a consistent, prescribed standard.
• •Continuously identify and eliminate bottlenecks in the repair process, from intake through release.
• •Serve as a proactive support partner to the Farm, Spray, and Agronomic operations teams — anticipating equipment needs and providing responsive, high-quality service rather than functioning as a bottleneck.
• •Develop service level expectations with operational departments, including target response times, repair turnaround expectations, communication standards, and equipment availability goals, to make shop accountability measurable rather than assumed.
• •Establish and lead an emergency/after-hours breakdown response protocol, ensuring rapid mobilization of technicians and resources during harvest and other critical operational windows when equipment downtime carries the highest cost.
• •Solicit and act on operator feedback regarding equipment performance in the field, incorporating input from Farm, Spray, and Agronomic teams into maintenance priorities and shop processes.
• •Ensure no equipment leaves the shop until all identified issues have been fully resolved, not just the reported symptom, to preven