Chief Operating Officer Transportation Company Jobs

Company: Reede Construction, Inc.

Location: Aberdeen, SD — Home base/relocation required

Compensation: $175,000–$200,000+ per year, depending on experience, base salary + performance-based bonus incentive

Employment Type: Full-Time, Executive Leadership

Project Scope: Highway, DOT, FAA, municipal, federal, concrete paving, and heavy civil infrastructure projects

The Opportunity

Reede Construction, Inc. is seeking an accomplished Chief Operating Officer (COO) to lead the daily operations of a growing 75M–100M construction company with more than 85 employees.

Reporting directly to the President & CEO, the COO will serve as the senior operational leader responsible for transforming Reede Construction's strategic vision into disciplined, measurable execution.

This executive will align construction operations, field leadership, equipment, estimating, scheduling, workforce development, safety, quality, and business development around a unified operating strategy.

The ideal candidate is a proven construction executive who combines strong operational leadership with financial discipline, organizational development, systems thinking, and the ability to build high-performing teams.

This is an in-office executive position based in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Relocation to the Aberdeen area is required.

Executive Leadership Scope

The COO will provide executive leadership across:

• Construction operations
• Construction management
• Field operations
• Equipment operations
• Estimating
• Scheduling
• Workforce development
• Safety
• Quality
• Business development

How You Will Make an Impact

• Operational Leadership
• Lead the day-to-day operations of Reede Construction and ensure execution aligns with the company's mission, vision, core values, and strategic objectives.
• Translate company strategy into clear operating priorities, accountability systems, and measurable results.
• Establish consistent operating rhythms across departments and construction projects.
• Strengthen communication and coordination between executive leadership, project management, field operations, estimating, equipment, safety, and support teams.
• Create scalable systems and processes that support continued organizational growth.
• Construction Performance & Profitability
• Improve construction site profitability across the organization.
• Increase operational efficiency and strengthen project execution.
• Improve labor productivity and workforce utilization.
• Improve schedule performance and project predictability.
• Optimize equipment utilization across projects and operating regions.
• Identify and eliminate operational waste.
• Standardize proven construction practices across projects and teams.
• Strengthen accountability for cost, schedule, production, safety, quality, and financial performance.
• Develop operating strategies that improve margins while maintaining strong customer outcomes.
• Leadership & Organizational Development
• Build, coach, and develop exceptional leaders throughout the organization.
• Strengthen management depth and develop future executives, project leaders, and field leaders.
• Establish clear expectations, performance standards, and accountability across departments.
• Create leadership development and succession-planning systems that support long-term growth.
• Foster a culture of ownership, discipline, collaboration, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.
• Systems, Technology & Data
• Lead the continued development of scalable operating systems and management processes.
• Leverage data analytics to improve decision-making, forecasting, productivity, and operational visibility.
• Identify opportunities to responsibly implement artificial intelligence and automation across business operations.
• Improve the quality and availability of operational data used by executive and project leadership.
• Establish meaningful KPIs and reporting systems that allow leadership to quickly identify performance trends, risks, and opportunities.
• Strategic Execution
• Serve as a trusted operational partner to the President & CEO.
• Turn strategic initiatives into clear execution plans with defined owners, timelines, and performance expectations.
• Provide executive-level visibility into company operations, project performance, financial trends, organizational capacity, and emerging risks.
• Help prepare the company for sustainable long-term growth by strengthening leadership, systems, processes, and organizational structure.
• Support business development and growth initiatives while ensuring operational capacity remains aligned with commitments.

Key Performance Areas

Success in this role will be measured by the COO's ability to improve:

• Construction site profitability
• Company-wide operating margins
• Labor productivity
• Equipment utilization
• Schedule performance
• Project execution consistency
• Operational efficiency
• Safety performance
• Quality performance
• Leadership development
• Organizational accountability
• Customer satisfaction
• Cross-functional alignment
• Data visibility and decision-making
• Scalability of company systems and processes

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Significant senior leadership experience within construction, heavy civil, infrastructure, highway, transportation, or a comparable project-driven environment.
• Proven responsibility for leading complex multi-department operations.
• Demonstrated success improving construction operations, profitability, productivity, or project execution.
• Strong understanding of construction management, field operations, scheduling, estimating, cost control, equipment utilization, safety, and quality.
• Experience managing and developing senior leaders, managers, project teams, and field leadership.
• Strong financial and operational business acumen.
• Demonstrated ability to implement systems, processes, KPIs, and accountability structures.
• Proven ability to translate strategic objectives into operational execution.
• Strong leadership, communication, decision-making, and problem-solving capabilities.
• Comfortable making difficult operational decisions and holding leaders accountable for results.
• Ability to work closely with an owner-led or family-owned executive leadership team.
• Willingness to relocate to and work from the Aberdeen, South Dakota area.

Preferred Qualifications

• Executive leadership experience with a sizable construction contractor or infrastructure organization.
• Experience operating within a company of comparable scale or complexity.
• Heavy civil, highway, concrete paving, DOT, FAA, municipal, federal, or transportation infrastructure experience.
• Experience leading organizational growth or operational transformation.
• Experience improving project profitability and operating margins.
• Experience developing executive dashboards, KPIs, and data-driven management systems.
• Experience implementing construction technology, automation, artificial intelligence, or analytics tools.
• Experience building leadership development and succession-planning programs.
• Experience supporting business development and strategic growth initiatives.
• Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Civil Engineering, Business, Operations, or a related discipline; advanced degree is a plus.

Leadership Profile

The strongest candidate will be:

• A disciplined operator who turns strategy into execution.
• A builder of people, leaders, and high-performing teams.
• Financially minded and focused on profitable growth.
• Comfortable balancing field realities with executive-level decision-making.
• Highly accountable and willing to establish clear performance standards.
• Systems-oriented and capable of building repeatable processes.
• Data-driven without losing sight of practical construction operations.
• Curious about emerging technology, artificial intelligence, and new ways to improve performance.
• Able to work effectively within a family-owned organization and build trust across all levels of the company.
• Motivated by the opportunity to help shape the next stage of an established construction company's growth.

Why Reede Construction

Reede Construction, Inc. is an established family-owned heavy civil contractor with more than 30 years of experience delivering transportation and infrastructure projects.

The company is entering an important stage of growth and is investing in stronger leadership, improved operating systems, modern construction technology, management development, and increased organizational depth.

For the right COO, this is an opportunity to have a meaningful impact on the entire organization—not simply oversee individual projects.

You will work directly with the President & CEO to strengthen how Reede Construction operates, develop the next generation of company leadership, improve profitability and execution, and build the systems required for sustainable long-term growth.

Reede Construction, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are based on job-related qualifications and business needs without regard to any status protected by applicable law.