The Field Operations & Dispatch Manager is responsible for coordinating MTLI Group's field workforce across Canada and the United States.
You will work closely with Project Managers, Site Supervisors, Operations Leadership, Project Coordinators, Safety, HR, Finance, and field personnel to ensure projects are properly staffed and prepared for execution.
This is not simply a scheduling position.
We are looking for someone who understands construction and industrial field operations, can solve problems quickly, communicate clearly, manage competing priorities, and maintain control over dozens of moving pieces at once.
The successful candidate must be comfortable operating in a fast-moving environment where project requirements, manpower needs, schedules, travel arrangements, and customer demands can change quickly.
Key ResponsibilitiesField Workforce Dispatch
Manage the daily and weekly deployment of field personnel across active projects.
Coordinate:
- Site Supervisors
- Foremen
- Installers
- Millwrights
- Racking installers
- Conveyor and automation technicians
- General labour
- Electricians and specialty trades
- Subcontractors
- Temporary labour when required
Ensure every project has the appropriate manpower based on:
- Project schedule
- Scope of work
- Required skill set
- Certifications
- Productivity requirements
- Customer requirements
- Geographic location
- Project complexity
Maintain a clear understanding of who is:
- Currently deployed
- Available
- Travelling
- Returning from projects
- Scheduled for upcoming projects
- On vacation or unavailable
- Qualified for specialized scopes
Manpower Planning
Work directly with Project Managers and Operations Leadership to develop manpower plans for upcoming projects.
Review project schedules and determine:
- Required crew size
- Required leadership structure
- Required trades
- Start dates
- Shift requirements
- Expected project duration
- Ramp-up and ramp-down requirements
Identify manpower shortages before they affect project schedules.
Maintain forward visibility of workforce requirements across at least the next 2 to 6 weeks.
Daily Dispatch Management
Run the daily dispatch process and confirm field staffing for all projects.
Ensure every employee knows:
- Where they are working
- Who they report to
- Their start time
- Site address
- Supervisor contact information
- Required PPE
- Required certifications
- Travel arrangements
- Project-specific instructions
Confirm staffing changes are communicated immediately to Project Managers and Site Supervisors.
Field Operations Support
Act as a central communication point between field teams and office operations.
Assist with issues including:
- Manpower shortages
- Call-outs
- Travel disruptions
- Equipment shortages
- Material delays
- Schedule changes
- Site access issues
- Employee performance concerns
- Customer requests
- Emergency replacements
Escalate major operational risks quickly.
Project Readiness
Before crews are dispatched, verify that projects are operationally ready.
Confirm:
- Scope is understood
- Drawings are available
- Site address and access instructions are confirmed
- Crew lists are complete
- Required certifications are valid
- Safety documentation is available
- Equipment requirements are identified
- Hotels and travel are arranged
- Project leadership is assigned
- Start times are confirmed
The expectation is that crews arrive prepared to work, not waiting for information.
Travel & Logistics Coordination
Coordinate field travel across Canada and the United States.
This may include:
- Flights
- Hotels
- Rental vehicles
- Company vehicles
- Transportation between job sites
- Crew rotations
- Cross-border travel requirements
Work to control travel costs while maintaining operational effectiveness.
Equipment Coordination
Track and coordinate equipment required by field crews including:
- Scissor lifts
- Boom lifts
- Forklifts
- Telehandlers
- Tools
- Installation equipment
- PPE
- Rental equipment
- Company vehicles
Ensure equipment arrives when required and is returned promptly when projects are completed.
Project Manager Coordination
Maintain continuous communication with Project Managers regarding:
- Manpower requirements
- Productivity
- Schedule changes
- Field performance
- Upcoming labour requirements
- Site leadership
- Equipment requirements
- Travel requirements
Project Managers should have clear visibility into their upcoming manpower without having to repeatedly chase dispatch.
Site Leadership Management
Assist in assigning and managing:
- Site Leads
- Foremen
- Supervisors
Ensure appropriate leadership is assigned based on project complexity and customer expectations.
Track performance of field leadership and provide feedback to Operations Management.
Daily Reporting Compliance
Ensure all active crews and supervisors complete required field documentation.
This may include:
- Daily work reports
- Crew lists
- Hours worked
- Production quantities
- Equipment usage
- Safety documentation
- Site photos
- Change-order notifications
- Incident reports
Follow up immediately when reports are missing.
Field Employee Performance
Maintain awareness of field employee performance.
Track issues involving:
- Attendance
- Reliability
- Productivity
- Quality
- Safety
- Leadership
- Customer feedback
- Teamwork
- Travel reliability
Work with Operations and HR to identify:
- High-performing employees
- Future supervisors
- Employees requiring additional training
- Performance concerns
- Employees who should not be redeployed
Recruitment & Workforce Capacity
Work closely with HR and Recruiting to maintain adequate field staffing.
Provide ongoing visibility regarding:
- Hiring requirements
- Skill shortages
- Regional staffing needs
- Upcoming project demand
- Trade requirements
Help maintain a strong bench of qualified employees and subcontractors.
Safety & Compliance
Ensure workers assigned to projects have the certifications required for the work.
Depending on the project, certifications may include:
- Working at Heights
- WHMIS
- Fall Protection
- Aerial Lift
- Forklift
- Lockout/Tagout
- OSHA 10
- OSHA 30
- Site-specific orientations
Employees should not be dispatched to a project without the appropriate documentation.
Weekly Expectations
The Field Operations & Dispatch Manager will be expected to maintain a structured weekly operating rhythm.
This includes:
- Weekly manpower planning meeting
- Review of every active project
- Review of projects starting within the next several weeks
- Confirmation of manpower needs with Project Managers
- Identification of labour shortages
- Supervisor and Site Lead assignments
- Travel planning
- Equipment planning
- Employee availability review
- Certification review
- Field performance review
A complete forward-looking dispatch schedule should always be maintained.
Key Performance Indicators
Performance will be measured using objective operational KPIs including:
Staffing Accuracy
Target: 98%+ of project manpower requirements filled as scheduled
Attendance / No-Show Rate
Maintain extremely low rates of missed shifts, unplanned absences, and dispatch errors.
Project Readiness
Target: 100% of crews receive complete project information before deployment
Dispatch Accuracy
Minimize:
- Incorrect assignments
- Scheduling conflicts
- Double bookings
- Missing supervisors
- Missing certifications
Field Reporting Compliance
Target: 95%–100% daily reporting compliance
Labour Utilization
Maximize productive utilization of available field employees while minimizing unnecessary downtime.
Travel & Logistics Control
Ensure travel arrangements are accurate, timely, and financially responsible.
Staffing Forecasting
Maintain accurate manpower visibility for upcoming projects with a minimum 2–6 week forward outlook.
Emergency Coverage
Maintain the ability to rapidly replace workers or increase manpower when projects require additional support.
Field Retention
Help build a reliable field workforce by identifying strong performers and maintaining good communication with crews.
Required Experience
Preferred candidates will have experience in one or more of the following environments:
- Industrial construction
- Warehouse construction
- Material handling
- Racking installation
- Conveyor installation
- Automation installation
- Millwright operations
- Electrical contracting
- General contracting
- Field service management
- Construction dispatch
- Labour coordination
Previous experience dispatching large field crews across multiple simultaneous projects is strongly preferred.
Required Skills
The ideal candidate must be exceptionally strong in:
- Organization
- Scheduling
- Communication
- Problem solving
- Prioritization
- Workforce planning
- Conflict resolution
- Construction operations
- Logistics
- Leadership
You must be comfortable managing a high volume of calls, messages, schedule changes, and operational decisions every day.
Technology Expectations
Candidates should be comfortable using:
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft Teams
- Scheduling platforms
- Project management software
- CRM / ERP systems
- Digital dispatch boards
- Construction reporting systems
Experience working with workforce management or dispatch software is considered an asset.
What Success Looks Like
You will be successful in this role when:
- Project Managers know their crews are handled
- Supervisors know exactly where they are going
- Employees receive clear instructions
- Projects are properly staffed before they begin
- Certifications are tracked
- Travel is organized
- Equipment is available
- Field reports are completed
- Staffing shortages are identified early
- Operations Leadership has clear workforce visibility
- Emergency staffing problems are resolved quickly
Most importantly, our customers should never experience operational disruption because MTLI failed to properly plan or dispatch its workforce.
Ideal Candidate
The ideal person for this role is someone who enjoys being at the centre of operations.
You are highly organized, responsive, confident under pressure, and capable of making decisions quickly.
You understand that field operations do not always run from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Projects may start early, operate overnight, run weekends, or require urgent staffing changes.
You take ownership and do not wait for someone else to solve an operational problem.
You understand that your job is not simply to schedule people.
Your job is to help ensure MTLI's projects execute successfully.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $80,000.00-$110,009.76 per year
Benefits:
- Extended health care
- Paid time off
Application question(s):
- How do you keep PMs, supervisors, and crews all on the same page day-to-day?
- What’s the largest number of crews you’ve scheduled at one time? How many jobs were running simultaneously?
- How do you handle being in a role where you’re in the middle of everyone—PMs, field supervisors, crews, vendors, and leadership
- A project is slipping behind schedule. How do you get it back on track from a scheduling/operations standpoint? What levers do you pull?
Education:
- Bachelor's Degree (preferred)
Experience:
- Field Installation: 10 years (preferred)
- Industrial construction: 10 years (preferred)
- Operations management: 10 years (preferred)
- Millwright: 5 years (preferred)
Licence/Certification:
Willingness to travel:
Work Location: In person
