Operations Director

Operations Director

Location:
Wilmington, NC

Tribute is a vertically integrated development, construction, and property management company that builds roughly $100 million annually, typically across three active multifamily projects each ranging from $20 million to $60 million and approximately 150 to 450 units. As we continue to grow, we are looking for a seasoned construction operator who can help teams execute more quickly and cost-effectively while maintaining strong standards for quality and safety.

We are seeking an Operations Director to strengthen operating consistency, project visibility, process discipline, and cross‑functional coordination across Tribute Construction. This is a senior construction operations role for someone who understands how projects actually get built and can turn good practices into clear, repeatable standards. This hands‑on leadership role supports project managers, superintendents, purchasing, estimating, accounting, development, property management, design partners, and senior leadership by improving how information is organized, communicated, and acted on across the company.

• Improve the quality, consistency, and usefulness of construction operations reporting.
• Lead the organization, documentation, communication, and maintenance of Tribute's standard operating procedures.
• Turn existing best practices into practical standards that reflect both office and field realities.
• Help define, track, and communicate operational KPIs across purchasing, accounts payable, field management, buyout, design coordination, permitting, and project execution.
• Maintain lessons learned and help convert them into improved procedures where appropriate.
• Improve coordination among project managers, superintendents, purchasing, estimating, accounting, development, property management, consultants, and senior leadership.
• Strengthen visibility into RFP‑to‑commitment status, buyout progress, purchasing strategy, trade strategy, and scope alignment.
• Support design, permitting, consultant coordination, construction document tracking, and project‑readiness workflows.
• Document and communicate design decisions, open permitting items, consultant deliverables, and construction document status.
• Identify opportunities for cost efficiency, schedule improvement, better coordination, and stronger operational follow‑through.
• Reinforce agreed‑upon standards across field and office teams in a way that strengthens accountability without creating unnecessary friction.

This role sits at the intersection of field execution, project management, project controls, buyout management, preconstruction, reporting, SOPs, design coordination, permitting, systems, and team accountability. It is a leadership role for a construction professional who can bring order, clarity, and consistency to a growing construction organization without disrupting the strong culture already in place. The right person will listen carefully, learn how Tribute currently operates, identify information or process gaps, and help departments work better together by making expectations clearer, information easier to find, and best practices easier to follow.

The strongest candidates will likely come from backgrounds such as Director of Construction Operations, Operations Manager, Project Executive, Senior Project Manager, Director of Project Controls, Preconstruction/Operations Leader, or another senior construction leadership role with experience in project execution, buyout, reporting, process improvement, and cross‑functional coordination.

• A strong construction operations background, ideally with meaningful multifamily experience.
• Solid understanding of project management, field execution, buyout, purchasing, commitments, schedules, reporting, and project controls.
• Enough financial and job‑cost fluency to understand how operational decisions affect budgets, forecasts, commitments, and cost outcomes.
• Experience improving process, documentation, visibility, and accountability across project teams.
• The ability to document SOPs in a clear, practical, usable format.
• Strong communication…