Vice President of Collections Operations

Casella Waste Systems•Rutland, VT

21d•Onsite

About The Position

The Vice President, Collection Operations is the senior operating executive responsible for driving safe, disciplined, and profitable collection operations across a multi-state environmental services business. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, this leader oversees the operational and financial performance of the decentralized collection operations, ensuring the organization consistently delivers industry-leading safety, customer service, productivity, and margin improvement. This role carries broad oversight for regional and local P&L stewardship, operational excellence, labor effectiveness, fleet utilization, route optimization, capital deployment, and acquisition integration. The Vice President, Collections Operations sets the operating cadence for the business by establishing rigorous performance management disciplines, holding leaders accountable to measurable outcomes, and leveraging data and technology to continuously improve margins and drive customer value.

Requirements

More than 15 years of progressive operations leadership experience, including significant profit and loss accountability within complex, asset-intensive organizations.
A demonstrated track record of leading large, geographically dispersed field operations—either through direct leadership or matrixed organizational structures—within environmental services, waste management, transportation, logistics, or similar industries.
Deep expertise in operational excellence, route optimization, fleet management, labor productivity, and the use of data-driven performance management to drive continuous improvement.
Proven ability to translate operational discipline and execution into sustainable financial performance, profitable growth, and enhanced customer service outcomes.
A bachelor’s degree in business administration, finance, or a related field is required.

Nice To Haves

An advanced degree is preferred.

Responsibilities

Provide strategic and operational leadership for all residential, commercial, industrial, and roll-off collection operations across the company’s decentralized operations.
Work closely to build alignment with regional leaders to elevate collection P&L performance, including revenue growth, operating expense management, margin expansion, capital efficiency, and return on invested capital.
Drive a culture of operational discipline by establishing standardized management routines, KPI reviews, and accountability mechanisms at every level of the organization.
Lead the centralized routing and optimization team, focused on the deployment of on-board technology, fleet productivity, labor planning, and asset utilization initiatives that improve efficiency while maintaining exceptional service quality.
Partner with Regional and Local operating teams, Safety, Sales, Disposal, Maintenance, Recycling, HR, and Customer Experience teams to align operational execution with enterprise growth objectives.
Assist the business development team with acquisition due diligence and integration efforts to accelerate value capture and ensure consistent operating standards across the enterprise.
Serve as the visible champion driving a 'Safe and Supported Workforce’ culture with accountability for leading and lagging safety indicators such as CFR, TRIR, HARR, Driver Risk Score, etc.
Ensure compliance with DOT, OSHA, FMCSA, environmental regulations, and all applicable federal, state, and local requirements.
Help to build and develop a high-performing bench of Area Vice Presidents, General Managers, and frontline operational leaders.
Partner with Legal and Human Resources to cultivate productive employee relations and effective labor strategies in union and non-union environments.
Develop and execute annual operating plans and long-range strategic initiatives that support sustainable profitable growth.
Drive continuous improvement in labor effectiveness, overtime control, route density, fuel efficiency, and fleet availability.
Use operational analytics, telematics, routing platforms, and performance dashboards to identify opportunities and improve execution.
Ensure disciplined pricing execution and alignment between commercial growth and operational capacity.
Evaluate major capital investments and operational initiatives through rigorous financial and ROI analysis.