Operations Director in Southport, Connecticut at Essential Veterinary Partners

About Essential Veterinary Partners
Most veterinary consolidators absorb the practices they buy and quietly erase what made them special. EVP was built to do the opposite. Founded by industry veterans who scaled some of the largest veterinary groups in the country, we grow by keeping practices intact: owners keep their voice, their identity, their clinical control, and a real share of the upside. We're scaling fast, and proving consolidation doesn't have to mean losing what matters.

About the role

Operations Director, remote with reasonable proximity to our Southport, CT headquarters preferred, reporting to the VP of Operations on the Operations team. This is a field role with 33% to 50% travel across our hospitals. For a candidate earlier in their career, we will consider the title Senior Manager, Operations, with a clear path to Director.

EVP is growing through acquisition, and every hospital we add needs someone on the ground who can fix what's broken, fast, without the client experience paying for it. This role extends our VP of Operations' reach across every hospital, owns the operating numbers that drive each hospital's budget, and runs the local marketing program that brings in new clients. As we add hospitals, this seat gets bigger.

What you'll do

• Solve operational problems on the ground: staffing gaps, scheduling, front-desk workflow, facilities, vendors, and client escalations. You show up, size it up, and get it resolved quickly

• Own each hospital's key operating metrics alongside its hospital manager: hourly payroll through scheduling to appointment demand, visits and new clients, fill rate and no-shows, average transaction, and recall compliance

• Review results against budget every month with each hospital manager and the VP of Operations, and turn every variance into a specific action with an owner and a date

• Run EVP's local marketing and promotion program at each hospital: roll out the plans, manage the promotions calendar, coach managers on execution, and measure the impact on visits, new clients, and revenue

• Set the standard for client service at the front desk and on the phone, and communicate clearly up to leadership and across hospital teams

• Lead through influence. Hospital managers report to their medical directors, so results come from being credible, useful, and consistent

• Take on a growing share of operations as EVP adds hospitals

What success looks like in the first year:

Every hospital manager knows their numbers and runs to them, and monthly budget reviews end in actions, not explanations. Hourly payroll is tracking to target through better scheduling, the local marketing program is driving measurable visits and new clients, and hospital teams call you first when something breaks. Our VP of Operations spends less time in the weeds because you have it covered.

Qualifications

Must-haves:

• A track record of fixing operational problems on the ground, quickly, in a customer-facing business, with the customer experience protected along the way

• Accountability for at least one operating metric (sales, labor hours, or traffic), and the ability to talk specifically about what you moved and how

• Clear, warm, concise communication in person, on the phone, and in writing

• Experience getting results through people who didn't report to you: store teams under another manager, peers, franchisees, or vendors

• A record of learning and growing: promotions, expanded scope, or skills you taught yourself. The marketing and metrics side of this role will be learned here

• Willingness to travel 33% to 50% of the time, typically one to two weeks a month on site

Bonus points:

• Multi-unit retail or consumer-services operations experience (district, area, or regional roles)

• Hands-on experience managing hourly payroll to a labor target, or running promotions and local marketing that drove traffic

• P&L ownership for a location or district

• Experience at a fast-growing or acquisitive company, or in multi-site healthcare such as dental, optical, urgent care, or veterinary

What we offer & how to apply

Compensation range: $130,000 – $160,000 base, plus a 15% – 20% target bonus and an equity grant

Benefits: medical/dental/vision, 401(k) match, PTO

How we work: Fast-moving, PE-backed environment, growing through acquisition. Remote, with one to two weeks a month on site at our hospitals.

Our hiring process: TA Screen → VP Operations Interview → Leadership Interviews