Service Maintenance Manager

Let's be honest about this role We're not looking for someone who just manages tickets and schedules. We're looking for the person our technicians actually want to call when something goes sideways at 2 PM on a Tuesday. The one who knows the equipment, knows the client, and knows how to keep a team moving without burning everyone out. That's the job. And if that sounds like you, keep reading. A little about us — and we mean a *little* The ComResearch is a new company. We launched in **2024**, we're based in **Philadelphia, Pennsylvania**, and we're building a commercial service and maintenance operation from the ground up. We're not going to pretend we have a 20\-year legacy, a wall of awards, or a "family culture" that took decades to build. What we do have is this: a clear plan, real funding, and a founder who spent **15 years running field service teams** at larger companies and got tired of watching good technicians get buried under bad management. So we're doing it differently. Smaller. Faster. Less corporate theater. More actual work. We're early — which means the person we hire for this role won't be inheriting a department. They'll be **building one**. If that excites you, keep reading. If it makes you nervous, that's fair too — this isn't the right fit for everyone. Why Philadelphia matters to us We chose Philadelphia on purpose. The city has a dense, aging commercial infrastructure — old buildings, legacy systems, tight service windows — and not enough well\-run maintenance operations to keep up with it. That's a real problem, and it's the problem we're built to solve. We're working with clients across **Center City, University City, the Navy Yard, and the industrial corridors along the Delaware River**. Some of them are small. Some of them are growing. All of them need someone who actually picks up the phone and shows up on time. That's where you come in. What you'll actually be doing Because we're new, this role is broader than a typical Service Maintenance Manager position at an established company. You'll wear a few hats. Not forever — but for now. **Building the team.** We're starting with a small crew of technicians, and you'll help us hire, train, and shape them. You'll have real input on who joins and how the team operates — not just who gets scheduled where. **Setting up the systems.** There's no inherited scheduling software, no legacy maintenance plan, no "this is how we've always done it." You'll help choose the tools, design the workflows, and build the preventive maintenance program from scratch. That's a rare opportunity, and it's also real work. **Leading from the field.** You'll be hands\-on at first. Riding along with techs, learning our clients' sites, and getting your own hands dirty when needed. As the team grows, you'll shift more toward leadership — but you'll never be the manager who's never touched the equipment. **Being the calm voice.** When something breaks and a client is stressed, you're the person who picks up the phone. You listen, you assess, you dispatch, and you follow through until it's resolved. No passing the buck. **Keeping people safe.** Safety isn't a poster on the wall here. You'll enforce OSHA standards, run safety briefings, and make sure every tech goes home the same way they came in. Especially in a new company — this is non\-negotiable. **Watching the details.** Managing spare parts, keeping service records clean, staying on top of the maintenance budget — the unglamorous stuff that keeps everything else running. What we're looking for We don't need a perfect resume. We need someone who's been in the field, gotten their hands dirty, and figured out how to lead people without losing their cool. Experience at a startup is a plus, but not required — what matters is that you're comfortable with ambiguity and don't need someone to hand you a playbook. **You'll need:** * At least 3–5 years in a service or maintenance role, with some of that spent leading a team * Real technical chops in **commercial telecom and industrial equipment maintenance** * The ability to read a schematic, a work order, and a room full of tired technicians — all in the same afternoon * Strong English communication skills (you'll be talking to clients, techs, and leadership — sometimes all at once) * A valid driver's license and the willingness to travel up to **25%** across the **Greater Philadelphia region and occasionally into New Jersey or Delaware** * The legal right to work in the United States * **Comfort with building things that don't exist yet.** This is the big one. **Bonus points if you have:** * A bachelor's degree in engineering or a related field * Certifications in **OSHA 30, NFPA 70E, or manufacturer\-specific training** * Experience with **field service management software (ServiceTitan, Salesforce Field Service, or similar)** * Experience at an early\-stage or growing company * **Familiarity with Philadelphia's commercial building stock** — old HVAC, older electrical, tight loading docks, and the particular headaches that come with Center City service calls What you'll get from us Let's talk about the good part. **The pay.** $35 to $60 per hour, depending on your experience and what you bring to the table. We don't lowball people who know what they're doing. **The benefits.** Health, dental, and vision insurance starting on day one. 401(k) with a 4% company match. Three weeks of paid time off, plus paid holidays. Company vehicle and fuel card for field travel. **The growth.** This is the honest pitch: as the company grows, this role grows. The person we hire now has a real shot at leading a much larger department in two or three years — because there's no one else above them waiting for the spot. We're not promising a title. We're promising that if you build something good, you'll get to keep building it. **The culture.** No corporate theater. No "we're a family" speeches while everyone quietly updates their resume. Just a small team of competent people who respect each other and do good work. **The tools.** Van, equipment, phone, laptop — whatever you need to do the job without fighting the company for it. **The honesty.** We're new. Some things will be messy. We'll tell you that upfront instead of pretending otherwise. If you'd rather join a company where everything's already figured out, we're genuinely not the right fit — and that's okay. Meet the team you'll be joining Here's the truth: the team doesn't fully exist yet. That's part of the job. Right now, The ComResearch has **4 people** — a founder, an operations coordinator, and two field technicians. You'd be the **fifth hire** and the first dedicated manager. The founder, **Marcus Delgado**, spent **15 years** running field service teams at **two regional telecom companies** before starting The ComResearch. He's not a first\-time founder chasing a trend — he's a guy who knows this industry and got tired of watching good operations get strangled by bad process. You'll report directly to him. Fair warning: he'll expect you to make decisions and own them. That's not a threat. It's the reason this job is actually satisfying. The two technicians you'd be working with are experienced — **8 and 11 years in the field**, respectively. They're not junior hires. They took a chance on a new company because they wanted to build something, not just collect a paycheck. They'll have opinions. You should listen to them. And the clients? We're starting with **three anchor contracts** — a **Center City property management group**, a **small manufacturing facility in the Northeast**, and a **logistics operator near the Navy Yard**. Small, but real. Revenue is coming in. This isn't a pitch deck with no customers. We're not pretending to be bigger than we are. We'd rather be honest and find the right person than impress the wrong one. Your first 90 days We're not going to throw you in and hope for the best. Here's roughly how we see your ramp\-up. **Days 1–30: Listen and learn.** You'll ride along with our two technicians, visit all three client sites, and get your hands on the systems you'll be managing. You'll meet the team one\-on\-one — not to evaluate them, but to understand what's working and what's been frustrating them. You'll also sit down with **Marcus** and get the real story: what's been tried, what's failed, and what he actually wants this department to become. By the end of month one, you should be able to answer: *What are the three biggest gaps in our current operation?* And you should have a rough idea of how you'd close them. **Days 31–60: Start building.** You'll take over scheduling and dispatch. You'll begin running the daily standups and safety briefings. You'll help hire the next one or two technicians — writing the job posts, screening candidates, sitting in on interviews. You'll also start evaluating field service management software and drafting the preventive maintenance program. By the end of month two, the team should know who you are and trust that you're not just passing through. And we should have a working draft of the systems you're putting in place. **Days 61–90: Put your stamp on it.** You'll present a plan for the next two quarters — staffing, scheduling, training, budget, software, whatever needs attention. You'll have built relationships with our three anchor clients. You'll have identified at least one process that's broken and fixed it. And you'll have a clear picture of where you want this team to be in a year. By day 90, you're not the new manager anymore. You're the manager. And the department you're running is one you built. What success looks like in this role We don't measure success by how busy you look. We measure it by: * **Client retention** — are our three anchor clients renewing, and are they happy? *(Target: 100% in year one — we can't afford to lose any)* * **Response time** — when something breaks, how fast do we show up and fix it? *(Target: under 4 hours for priority calls within the Philadelphia metro)* * **Team retention** — are your technicians staying, growing, and recommending us to their friends? *(Target: 85%\+ annual retention)* * **Safety record** — zero incidents is the goal. Every incident gets investigated and learned from. * **Budget discipline** — you don't need to be a spreadsheet wizard, but you need to know where the money's going and why. *(Target: within 5% of quarterly service budget)* * **Hiring** — did we grow the team without lowering the bar? *(Target: 2–3 quality hires in year one)* If those six things are healthy, you're doing the job. If they're not, we'll figure out why together — not point fingers. One last thing This isn't a role for someone who wants to hide behind emails and dashboards, or who needs a fully\-mapped org chart before they feel comfortable. You'll be in the field, on the phone, in the room when things get tense. You'll make calls that don't please everyone. You'll occasionally be the person who has to say "no" — and you'll have to say it in a way that people respect. You'll also be building something. Not maintaining it. Not inheriting it. **Building it.** If that's the kind of work that gets you out of bed in the morning, this is a good place to do it. But if you're looking for a stable, predictable role at an established company with a proven playbook — that's a completely reasonable thing to want, and we're just not that yet. No hard feelings. **If you're still reading and still interested, we'd love to hear from you.** Pay: $35\.00 \- $60\.00 per hour Expected hours: 40\.0 per week Benefits: * 401(k) * Dental insurance * Life insurance * Parental leave * Vision insurance Work Location: Hybrid remote in Philadelphia, PA 19102