Paratransit General Manager

Paratransit General Manager

First Student is the largest school transportation provider in North America, with more than a century of experience providing safe and reliable transportation. We work with 1,250 school districts in 39 states and 8 Canadian provinces, carrying approximately five million students in 21,000 schools daily.

Location:

Brooklyn Pay: $195,000 - $200,000

Employment Type:

Full-Time

The Paratransit General Manager leads all aspects of daily paratransit operations, including safety, service performance, contract compliance, employee leadership, customer partnership, and financial results.

This role oversees a fast-paced transportation operation supporting passengers who rely on safe, dependable, and accessible service. The General Manager partners with drivers, dispatch, maintenance, safety, training, customer stakeholders, and regional leadership to ensure service is delivered safely, on time, and in compliance with company and contract expectations.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on transportation leader who can balance people leadership, customer service, operational discipline, and performance accountability in a high-volume environment.

• Lead daily paratransit operations to ensure safe, reliable, compliant, and customer-focused service
• Oversee dispatch, routing, scheduling, driver performance, service delivery, and operational support functions
• Ensure compliance with contract requirements, company policies, safety standards, and applicable regulations
• Monitor key performance indicators, including on-time performance, missed trips, service delays, customer concerns, safety, staffing, and operational efficiency
• Partner with customer stakeholders, agencies, and internal leadership to resolve service issues and maintain strong working relationships
• Provide leadership, coaching, and direction to drivers, dispatchers, supervisors, trainers, and other location team members
• Support recruiting, onboarding, training, retention, attendance, performance management, and labor planning
• Promote a safety-first culture through communication, coaching, incident review, documentation, and accountability
• Partner with maintenance to support fleet readiness, vehicle availability, preventive maintenance, and timely issue resolution
• Support financial performance through effective management of labor, overtime, fleet utilization, productivity, and controllable expenses
• Maintain accurate records, reporting, audits, and compliance documentation
• Identify operational gaps and implement process improvements to improve service quality, safety, communication, and efficiency
• Communicate regularly with regional leadership regarding performance, risks, staffing, customer concerns, and operational needs
• Complete special projects and additional duties as assigned

• Service is delivered safely, reliably, and in compliance with contract expectations
• Drivers and frontline teams receive clear leadership, communication, coaching, and support
• On-time performance, service quality, safety, staffing, and customer responsiveness are consistently managed
• Customer concerns, service issues, incidents, and operational risks are addressed quickly and professionally
• Fleet readiness and maintenance coordination support uninterrupted service
• Employee performance, attendance, conduct, and daily coverage are managed consistently
• Location leadership and regional partners have clear visibility into operational performance
• Financial and productivity goals are supported through disciplined operational management

• High school diploma or equivalent required
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Transportation, Logistics, Operations Management, or related field preferred
• 5+ years of transportation, paratransit, transit, logistics, school bus, or passenger transportation leadership experience preferred
• Previous general management, operations management, location management, or terminal leadership experience preferred
• Experience managing contract-based transportation operations strongly preferred
• Experience leading frontline teams, including drivers, dispatchers, supervisors, and operational support staff
• Knowledge of paratransit, ADA transportation, accessible transportation, or demand-response operations preferred
• Experience with collective bargaining, union environments, or union labor relations a plus
• Strong understanding of transportation safety, compliance, service performance, customer expectations, labor planning, staffing, scheduling, and performance accountability
• Ability to analyze operational data and use performance metrics to drive improvement
• Strong customer service, communication, conflict resolution, relationship management, problem-solving, decision-making, and follow-up skills
• Ability to lead in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities and time-sensitive service needs
• Financial acumen with the ability to manage labor, productivity, expenses, and operational efficiency
• Computer literacy required,…