Commercial Service Manager

About the Opportunity

Lighting Maintenance Inc. (LMI) is seeking an experienced Electrical Service Manager to lead our Commercial Electrical Service Department in Harmans, Maryland.

This is a hands-on leadership role for an experienced electrical professional who can take full ownership of service work from the initial customer request through project completion and final invoicing.

The two primary areas of responsibility for this position are:

1. Estimating and Project Management
2. Customer Service and Communication

The Electrical Service Manager will remain actively involved in customer relationships, estimating, job planning, technician support, scheduling priorities, job costs, proposals, change orders, documentation, quality control, and billing.

This is not a role for someone who simply assigns work and waits for updates. We are looking for a leader who stays engaged, follows through, solves problems, and takes responsibility for the overall success of the department.

The department is supported by a dedicated Service Coordinator, who manages scheduling, dispatching, work-order administration, and day-to-day coordination. The Service Manager will provide technical leadership, establish priorities, manage customer relationships, and remain accountable for the department’s performance, profitability, and service standards.

Customer Service Comes First

Strong technical knowledge is essential, but exceptional customer service is equally important.

Our customers should receive prompt responses, clear communication, realistic expectations, and consistent follow-through. Customers should never have to repeatedly call or email simply to understand the status of their work.

The successful candidate will naturally take ownership of customer concerns and work toward solutions. This person must be comfortable having difficult conversations, explaining delays, addressing complaints, and keeping customers informed—even when all answers are not immediately available.

This position is not a good fit for someone who avoids customer communication, allows emails or calls to go unanswered, or assumes someone else will handle an issue.

Primary Responsibilities

• Manage commercial electrical service work from the initial customer request through project completion and final invoicing.
• Conduct customer site visits to evaluate electrical and lighting issues and determine appropriate solutions.
• Prepare accurate estimates, proposals, scopes of work, project budgets, and pricing.
• Manage commercial lighting, exterior lighting, parking-lot lighting, building electrical systems, troubleshooting, repairs, maintenance, and small electrical projects.
• Communicate directly with property managers, facility managers, commercial and industrial customers, municipalities, and other key decision-makers.
• Establish department priorities and provide direction to the Service Coordinator regarding scheduling and dispatch.
• Assign work based on technician qualifications, equipment requirements, customer commitments, project scope, and urgency.
• Provide technical guidance, troubleshooting support, and problem-solving assistance to field technicians.
• Ensure technicians are properly prepared with the necessary materials, equipment, job information, and instructions before dispatch.
• Review field reports, photographs, labor hours, material usage, work orders, and job documentation for completeness and accuracy.
• Ensure additional work outside the original scope is properly documented, priced, communicated, and approved before proceeding.
• Prepare and manage change orders when site conditions, project requirements, or customer requests change.
• Monitor estimated versus actual labor, materials, equipment, subcontractor expenses, and other project costs.
• Maintain accountability for job profitability, productivity, and gross margin.
• Review completed work orders promptly and ensure jobs move through the billing process without unnecessary delays.
• Address customer concerns, callbacks, warranty issues, quality concerns, and service-related problems.
• Maintain visibility into the department's active backlog and ensure projects and service requests do not become stalled or overlooked.
• Assist with recruiting, evaluating, training, coaching, and developing service technicians.
• Establish and maintain clear performance expectations and accountability within the service team.
• Enforce company safety requirements, workmanship standards, documentation procedures, and customer-service expectations.
• Build and maintain relationships with existing customers while identifying opportunities to grow LMI's commercial service business.
• Identify recurring customer needs and recommend preventive maintenance programs, upgrades, repairs, and additional services.
• Collaborate closely with Accounting, Fleet, Safety, Purchasing, Operations, and company leadership.

Type of Work

This position is primarily focused on commercial electrical service, including:

• Shopping centers and retail properties
• Office and commercial buildings
• Warehouses and industrial facilities
• Property-management portfolios
• Parking lots and exterior lighting systems
• Commercial electrical troubleshooting and repair
• Preventive and corrective maintenance
• Lighting controls and LED upgrades
• Small commercial electrical projects
• Municipal and institutional facilities

This position is not primarily focused on residential electrical work, new construction, traffic signals, roadway-lighting contracts, or sports-lighting projects.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of five years of commercial electrical service experience.
• Strong working knowledge of commercial electrical systems, lighting systems, troubleshooting, repairs, and maintenance.
• Experience preparing estimates, proposals, scopes of work, pricing, or project budgets.
• Experience managing multiple service calls, projects, or customer priorities simultaneously.
• Ability to read and interpret electrical drawings, specifications, one-line diagrams, and other project documentation.
• Strong customer-service, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to lead and manage technicians while establishing clear expectations and maintaining accountability.
• Strong organizational skills with excellent attention to detail.
• Ability to prioritize emergency and urgent service requests while maintaining control of previously scheduled work.
• Comfortable using computers, email, estimating software, field-service management systems, photographs, reports, and electronic documentation.
• Valid driver's license with an acceptable driving record.

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous experience as an Electrical Service Manager, Electrical Project Manager, Estimator, Service Supervisor, or Senior Commercial Service Electrician.
• Journeyman Electrician or Master Electrician license.
• Experience managing the financial performance of an electrical service department or portfolio of service projects.
• Experience developing technicians and building strong customer relationships.

What Success Looks Like

The successful Electrical Service Manager will be someone who takes ownership of the department, communicates proactively, understands the financial side of service work, supports technicians in the field, and ensures customers receive the level of service they expect from LMI.

You should be comfortable moving between the office, customer sites, and field operations while maintaining control of priorities, customer expectations, project costs, documentation, and team performance.

If you are an experienced commercial electrical professional who enjoys solving problems, leading people, managing projects, and building strong customer relationships, we would like to hear from you.