Portfolio CEO: High End Painting and Restoration Business

American Operator • Los Angeles, CA

2d • $175,000

About The Position

Have you spent your career in the painting, restoration, or specialty construction trades and grown into the business leadership seat? Do you hold a California C-33 license, or have the journeyman background to earn one? Have you managed a P&L, and delivered the kind of craft that high-end private clients tell their neighbors about? Are you ready to step into the CEO role of a company with a decades-long reputation and a clear runway for growth?
ABOUT AMERICAN OPERATOR
American Operator exists to keep the American Dream alive through small business leadership and ownership. We place experienced operators into businesses of retiring owners who want their life's work placed in capable, values driven hands. Our mission is to ensure great businesses stay local, stay strong, and stay in the hands of leaders who care.
Operators who partner with us step into the CEO role of an established Main Street business, backed by hands on support, strategic guidance, and a community of peers. This is not a solo endeavor. American Operator is your partner from day one, investing in your success as you invest in the business. Over time, operators follow a clear pathway to earn significant equity in the business they lead.
THE ROLE
American Operator is hiring a CEO to lead an established specialty painting and restoration construction business in the Los Angeles area. The company performs fire and water damage reconstruction for insurance claims alongside high end residential painting and ongoing maintenance work for long tenured private clients. The business has operated in the LA market for roughly two decades, carries a strong reputation with insurance adjusters and high net worth homeowners, and runs with a tenured, loyal field team and a long serving field operations supervisor who will remain with the business through the transition and beyond.
As CEO, you will have full P&L responsibility and lead the business through a leadership transition from the retiring founder. This is a business leadership role, not a project management role. You will be leading the people who run the jobs, preserving the quality and reputation that define the business, and building the systems, relationships, and growth channels that will carry the company into its next chapter.

Requirements

• You came up through the painting, restoration, drywall, or closely related trades early in your career and spent meaningful time as a journeyman before moving into business leadership.
• You currently hold a California C-33 license, or you meet the 4 year journeyman experience requirement and are prepared to earn one within your first year.
• You have run a P&L as a general manager, vice president, division leader, or owner operator of a project based construction or specialty trades business.
• You understand margin mechanics in a project driven business, and know how to partner with a controller or bookkeeper to run a tight financial operation.
• You have managed teams of tenured tradespeople and have earned their respect through your own credibility in the work, not by title alone.
• You are known for quality standards that do not bend under schedule pressure, and you believe that reputation is the single most valuable asset a specialty contractor can hold.
• You are ready to relocate to the Los Angeles metro area if you are not already here.
• You have held a P&L owning leadership role at a painting, restoration, specialty construction, or closely related business with revenue in the low to mid eight figures and a field workforce of roughly twenty to one hundred people.
• You have built and maintained relationships with insurance carriers, public adjusters, or TPAs, and you understand how Xactimate estimating works and where the real margin sits.
• You have delivered work for discerning private clients where quality, discretion, and personal relationships matter more than lowest bid.
• You have hired, coached, retained, and when necessary released tradespeople.
• You have navigated California contracting, labor, and environmental compliance requirements, or you have operated in a similarly regulated state environment and are prepared to learn California quickly.

Responsibilities

• Earn the trust and partnership of the long tenured field operations supervisor and the broader crew during your first 90 days on the ground.
• Preserve the craft quality and customer reputation that the business has built over decades.
• Own the P&L.
• Build working relationships with the insurance adjusters, public adjusters, and high net worth private clients who drive the business today.
• Put in place the revenue cycle, job pipeline, and financial reporting systems that move the business beyond its current owner dependent state.
• Grow the business through expanded insurance adjuster relationships, targeted business development into the luxury residential market, and increased utilization of the company's existing specialty finishing capabilities.
• Hold or earn the California C-33 Painting and Decorating Contractor License within the first twelve months of stepping into the role.

Benefits

• The compensation package also includes distributions, performance bonuses, and equity that grows based on your ability to drive results, with the potential to become a significant owner of the business you lead over time.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: No Education Listed