Operations Hoʻokele at QRSE LLC – Honolulu, Hawaii
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About This Position
About QRSE:
Founded in 2013, QRSE delivers construction management, environmental advisory, and engineering services for public infrastructure clients including state DOTs, FHWA, county governments, and federal consultants. We have four business lines:
- Advisory & Environmental Services(national scope, led from the Midwest)
- Construction Services & Staffing(Hawaii and federal/military)
- E-Project Delivery & Technology Services(AI-assisted engineering tools that amplify the firm’s core expertise)
- Program management
Our Culture:
Our culture is grounded in five Hawaiian values: Pono (do right), ‘Ano Kūlana (quality), Ho‘omaopopo (understanding before action), Lōkahi (unity), and Le‘ale‘a (joy in serious work). We are small, distributed, and intentionally high-caliber. We operate with a scrappy, technology-forward mindset and value team players who are humble and willing to contribute wherever needed. We don’t manage people closely, we hire people who don’t need to be managed.
AI is a multiplier here, not a buzzword. We use Claude Code, ChatGPT, Power Automate, and other AI tools every day, for document creation, data analysis, process design, and operational automation. The Operations Hoʻokele will build the operational infrastructure that supports all four business lines, and AI is one of the primary tools you’ll use to do it. We expect you to be working proficiently in Claude Code within your first month. Not as a developer; as someone who uses it to do the work of this role faster and better than without it.
About the Role:
QRSE is a 52-person engineering consulting and construction management firm headquartered in Honolulu with staff across the mainland. Our technical delivery runs well. What we need now is a leader to build the operational backbone, establishing systems, workflows, and team management that enable the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) to stay focused on clients and growth. Currently, leadership is highly involved in day-to-day operations; the right person in this role will gradually shift that involvement toward a more strategic oversight function over time.
You’ll lead our Operations Hui, the team that handles finance, HR operations, payroll, marketing, training, and technology systems. You’ll manage the people who keep the company running and the people who build better ways to run it. You’ll use AI tools daily to make a small team punch above its weight.
This is a hands-on, working leadership role. You will personally produce work, solve problems, and build systems, not just assign tasks and review what comes back. If your instinct is to delegate first and check in later, this isn’t the right fit. If your instinct is to dig in, figure out why something is broken, fix it, and then build a system so it doesn’t break again; keep reading.
About the Role:
This is not a job description full of corporate filler. You’ll lead the Operations division.
You’ll also coordinate part-time on-island staff on Oahu, and eventually Kauai, who handles physical tasks (mail, check deposits, document handling, supply orders). Your job is to build checklists and systems so these tasks run on autopilot without requiring you or the ELT to think about them.
Here’s what your weeks will look like:
Run and Develop the Team
- Set priorities, run regular check-ins, hold people accountable to deadlines, and step in to do the work alongside them when things get busy.
- Develop employees at different levels: coordinators who need structure and mentorship, specialists who need strategic direction and autonomy, and a comptroller who needs a thought partner, not a micromanager.
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- Handles HR and performance issues directly. This team has operated without consistent leadership. You’ll need to set expectations, address performance where needed, and build a culture of accountability that didn’t exist before.
Own Finance & Payroll Operations
- Chase down timesheets, mileage logs, and receipts across all staff; on time, every time.
- Work with the Comptroller on invoicing, AP/AR follow-up, and cash flow reporting.
- Support budget preparation and cost monitoring for firm operations.
- Coordinate with external finance consultants and manage the relationship with auditors.
- Own certified payroll compliance and reporting.
Handle HR & Compliance
- Run the new-hire onboarding process end-to-end: offer letters, benefits enrollment, equipment, system access, first-week orientation.
- Coordinate with our PEO partner (ADP) and manage 401(k) administration.
- Maintain DBE/WBE/MBE certification paperwork and stay ahead of renewal deadlines.
- Keep employee policies current and make sure the team is trained through the firm’s LMS (Litmos).
- Work with the fractional HR consultant on compliance, employee relations, policies, and over time, build enough internal capability to reduce that dependency.
Support Marketing & Business Development
- Oversee the Marketing Coordinator on website updates, proposal production, internal resumes, and conference logistics.
- Track proposal deadlines and assemble submission packages with technical leads.
- Enforce brand consistency across QRSE’s three business lines in all external materials.
Build Systems and Fix What’s Broken
- Find operational bottlenecks, propose solutions, and implement them. You are expected to bring ideas, not wait for assignments.
- Collaborate with the Innovation team’s work on AI-assisted tools for document generation, data analysis, reporting, scheduling, and internal communications.
- Manage vendor relationships, software subscriptions, insurance renewals, and contract administration.
- Standardize processes across the company, the stuff that’s been done differently by everyone because nobody owned it.
Keep the ELT Focused
- Take functions fully off the ELT’s plate. Right now, ELT members are filling gaps in finance oversight, HR decisions, and technology direction. Your job is to own these so they can stop.
- Prepare meeting agendas, track action items, produce status reports.
- Translate leadership decisions into operational follow-through with clear owners and deadlines.
Who Thrives in This Role
We’re looking for someone early-to-mid career (5–10 years) in operations, office management, or business administration who still has the energy to build, the curiosity to learn new tools every month, and the resilience to manage competing priorities without someone telling them what to do next.
You’ll succeed here if you:
- Build systems, not just run them. You see how pieces connect, where processes break down, and you fix the root cause, not just the symptom.
- Communication. You communicate proactively sharing what you know, what you don't, and what you need before someone has to ask. You raise issues early. You stay calm and structured when things get messy. And you understand that your core job is to make sure the ELT is never the default answer to a question that should have an owner.
- You don't sit on bad news. If payroll is going to be late, a vendor relationship is deteriorating, or a team member isn't performing; you say so early, with context and a proposed path forward. We'd rather hear an uncomfortable truth on Monday than a crisis on Friday.
- Prioritize and Ownership. This role will rarely look the same week to week. A compliance deadline, a staffing gap, a system that breaks at the worst time, the work will interrupt itself constantly. What we need is someone who can hold a clear picture of what matters most, make confident calls about what moves and what doesn't, and keep the team oriented when the plan changes. If you need a stable to-do list to do your best work, this isn't the right environment
- Do the work yourself. When something needs to get done, your first move is to doit; not assign it. You lead by producing, not by overseeing.
- Use AI tools to get real work done. You’ve used ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, or automation platforms to solve actual problems; not just experiment. We use Claude Code daily for document creation, data analysis, HR processes, and operational automation. You’ll be expected to be proficient within your first month. If that sounds exciting rather than intimidating, you’re our person.
- Move fast and adjust. You get up to speed quickly, say when you’re uncertain, treat mistakes as data, and try again. Ambiguity doesn’t slow you down.
- Write clearly. This is a hybrid role with remote employees. Clear emails, concise summaries, and coherent proposals are non-negotiable.
- Take feedback without taking it personally. You have low ego and strong judgment. You speak up when you see something differently and have the reasoning to back it up and you adjust course quickly when the evidence points another way.
This role probably isn’t for you if:
- Your management style is primarily delegation and oversight. We need someone who personally produces work every day, not someone who assigns it and reviews it.
- You prefer established processes to building new ones. Much of what you’ll manage here doesn’t exist yet. That’s the point.
- You’re skeptical of AI or prefer to work without it. AI is a daily tool here, not an optional add-on. If picking up a tool like Claude Code in your first month sounds unreasonable, this isn’t the right fit.
- You need a lot of structure and clear direction to do your best work. We’ll give you goals and context, but you’ll need to figure out the “how” yourself.
We care far more about how you think than where you’ve worked.
What you bring
Required Qualifications:
- 5–10 years in operations, office management, or business administration.
- Experience managing a small team (3–10 direct reports) where you also did the work, not just managed it.
- Experience with financial oversight, you don’t need to be the accountant, but you should be able to read a P&L, manage a budget, and work credibly with a comptroller and auditors.
- Proficiency with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and project management tools. Comfort learning new technology platforms quickly, you’ll be working in Claude Code, Power Automate, and other AI tools within your first month.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- The ability to remains calm, structured, and emotionally steady under pressure.
- Ability to work remotely during Hawaii business hours (HST, Mon–Fri).
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience in A/E/C (architecture, engineering, construction) or professional services firms.
- Familiarity with government contract administration, DBE/WBE/MBE compliance, certified payroll, or federal procurement.
- Experience with Ajera/Deltekor similar project accounting software.
- Demonstrated use of AI productivity tools in a work setting-Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, Power Automate, or similar. Show us in your application.
- HR generalist knowledge-employment law basics, benefits administration, employee relations.
- Experience inheriting or building a team that didn’t have consistent leadership before you arrived.
What You'll get:
- $60to $85/hour with room to grow as the firm scales and your impact compounds.
- A seat at the leadership table. The Hoʻokele is a division leadership role at QRSE. You’ll participate in strategic planning, leadership meetings, and governance alongside the heads of Construction Management, Field Engineering, Inspection, Environmental, and Program divisions.
- Direct mentorship from firm leadership who will invest in developing you into the next generation of operational leaders.
- Exposure to four business lines: construction management, environmental advisory, AI-enabled engineering tools, and Program Management; not a single vertical.
- The chance to build from scratch. QRSE knows it needs operational infrastructure. You’re not inheriting someone else’s system, you’re building yours.
- AI as a real tool, not a talking point. This team uses Claude, GPT, and automation tools every day to move faster. You’ll have the budget and support to do the same.
- A distributed team across Hawaii, California, Illinois, Virginia, Colorado, Missouri, Florida, and Pennsylvania.
Why QRSE?
We Invest in Our People
At QRSE, personal and professional growth isn’t an afterthought; it’s a priority. We believe that when we invest in our people, we empower them to do their best work and deliver exceptional results for our clients.
Our comprehensive benefits package includes:
- Competitive compensation
- 13 paid holidays
- 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision (including dependents)
- 401(k) with company match (100% of first 3%, 50% of next 2%)
- Professional development, education, and certification reimbursement
- Wellness reimbursement
- Discounted perks(pet insurance, travel, entertainment, disability coverage)
Hourly Wage: $60 to $85 per hour
The hourly rate range listed reflects the expected pay for this position based on skills, experience, and internal equity.
QRSE, LLC is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or disability.
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Job Location
Job Location
This job is located in the Honolulu, Hawaii, 96816, United States region.