Chief Executive Officer Commercial Laundry

Surfside Commercial Laundry
Panama City Beach Florida
Full-Time Executive Leadership Position

Surfside Commercial Laundry is seeking an experienced hands-on Chief Executive Officer to lead our growing multi-location commercial laundry operation across Northwest Florida and South Alabama.

Surfside currently operates five commercial laundry facilities including two locations in Panama City Beach Florida; one in Destin Florida; one in Foley Alabama; and one in Robertsdale Alabama. Our facilities serve hospitality and other commercial customers in high-volume time-sensitive environments where reliability quality equipment performance labor efficiency and customer service are critical.

This is not a traditional corporate CEO position removed from daily operations. We are looking for an experienced commercial laundry operator and executive leader who understands the business from the plant floor to the P&L.

The CEO will have overall responsibility for the performance of the company including operations plant leadership engineering and equipment reliability logistics labor management financial performance customer relationships safety quality capital planning and long-term operational strategy.

The successful candidate will be comfortable walking a plant floor identifying a production bottleneck discussing an equipment failure with maintenance personnel reviewing labor productivity with a plant manager analyzing a P&L meeting with a key customer and developing a long-term capital strategyall within the same role.

Significant commercial or industrial laundry leadership experience is required.

Provide executive oversight and operational leadership for all five Surfside Commercial Laundry facilities.

• Establish consistent operating standards expectations procedures and accountability across all locations.
• Ensure each facility achieves established goals for production quality labor efficiency service safety equipment reliability and profitability.
• Regularly visit and evaluate facilities throughout Florida and Alabama.
• Identify operational weaknesses and implement corrective action quickly.
• Standardize best practices across locations while recognizing the unique production and customer requirements of each market.
• Establish clear reporting structures and ensure plant leaders understand their responsibilities and performance expectations.
• Create a culture in which managers actively manage their operations rather than simply respond to daily problems.
• Ensure facilities are appropriately staffed and scheduled based on production volume and customer demand.

Use industry expertise to continuously improve productivity throughput quality and cost per pound.

The CEO will be expected to understand and actively manage key commercial laundry performance indicators including:

• Pounds processed per labor hour/operator hour
• Pounds processed per production hour
• Labor cost per pound
• Total processing cost per pound
• Plant capacity and equipment utilization
• Rewash and reject rates
• Linen damage and loss
• Chemical consumption and cost
• Utility consumption
• Equipment downtime
• On-time completion and delivery
• Overtime
• Customer claims and service failures
• Production bottlenecks and workflow efficiency

Evaluate workflows from soil sort through washing drying finishing folding packing staging and distribution to identify opportunities for improved efficiency.

Develop processes that allow management to understand production performance in real time and respond before operational issues become customer-service issues.

Equipment reliability is a major priority for this position.

The ideal candidate will have strong technical knowledge of commercial laundry equipment and/or significant experience managing engineering and maintenance functions within commercial or industrial laundry operations.

Responsibilities will include:

• Establish and enforce comprehensive preventive maintenance programs across all facilities.
• Improve equipment uptime and reduce emergency repairs and production interruptions.
• Develop maintenance schedules and accountability systems for critical equipment.
• Evaluate the condition performance remaining useful life and replacement needs of laundry equipment.
• Ensure maintenance records parts inventories service histories and equipment documentation are properly maintained.
• Establish priorities for repair versus replacement based on operational and financial impact.
• Manage relationships with equipment manufacturers service technicians chemical providers contractors and other technical vendors.
• Ensure critical spare parts and supplies are maintained where appropriate.
• Develop contingency plans for major equipment failures and production disruptions.
• Work closely with plant leadership to prevent deferred maintenance from becoming operational emergencies.
• Evaluate new equipment and technology based on productivity reliability labor savings utility consumption lifecycle cost and return on investment.

Hands-on engineering mechanical electrical controls boiler wastewater or commercial laundry equipment experience is a significant advantage.

Experience with equipment such as tunnel washers/CBWs washer-extractors dryers ironers feeders folders conveyors finishing equipment boilers air compressors water systems chemical dispensing systems and associated plant equipment is highly desirable.

Assume full accountability for the financial performance of Surfside Commercial Laundry.

• Develop and manage annual operating and capital budgets.
• Review financial results by facility and for the organization as a whole.
• Establish operating KPIs and scorecards that connect plant performance to financial results.
• Analyze labor utilities chemicals linen repairs transportation insurance and other major operating expenses.
• Identify opportunities to improve EBITDA and operating margins without sacrificing quality or customer service.
• Establish appropriate purchasing controls and approval processes.
• Evaluate vendor contracts and negotiate pricing and service agreements.
• Develop business cases and ROI analyses for equipment and capital investments.
• Provide ownership with clear concise reporting regarding operational performance financial results risks capital needs and strategic opportunities.
• Develop forecasts and operational plans based on volume customer demand seasonality and business growth.

Develop a forward-looking operational strategy that allows Surfside to grow efficiently and sustainably.

• Assess current and future production capacity.
• Develop long-term capital expenditure priorities.
• Evaluate equipment technology automation workflow design plant layout material handling systems and opportunities to consolidate or improve processes.
• Participate in facility planning equipment selection workflow design capacity modeling and major capital projects.
• Work with engineers architects equipment manufacturers contractors vendors and ownership on significant operational projects.
• Evaluate automation opportunities that can improve production capacity labor efficiency consistency safety and reliability.
• Ensure capital decisions consider both immediate operational needs and the companys long-term growth strategy.

Experience participating in the design expansion relocation modernization or commissioning of a commercial laundry facility is highly desirable.

Ensure finished product moves efficiently and reliably between facilities and customers.

• Oversee transportation and delivery operations.
• Evaluate route efficiency vehicle utilization staffing fuel usage and delivery performance.
• Ensure appropriate scheduling and coordination between production and transportation teams.
• Develop contingency plans for production or transportation interruptions.
• Maintain appropriate fleet maintenance and replacement strategies.
• Ensure applicable DOT and safety requirements are followed.
• Improve communication between drivers plant operations customer service and customers.

Create a culture in which quality and reliability are viewed as operational responsibilitiesnot simply customer-service issues.

• Establish companywide standards for finished linen quality.
• Track rejects rewashes stains shortages damages misdeliveries and customer complaints.
• Develop root-cause processes for recurring quality and service issues.
• Ensure corrective actions are implemented and measured.
• Maintain strong relationships with major customers.
• Participate directly in resolving significant customer concerns.
• Understand customer linen requirements volumes pars seasonal patterns delivery expectations and service needs.
• Work with customers and internal teams to anticipate changing volume requirements.
• Protect and strengthen Surfsides reputation for dependable service.

Build a strong management structure capable of supporting a growing multi-location organization.

• Lead coach develop and hold accountable plant managers and department leaders.
• Establish clear expectations and measurable goals for every operational leader.
• Recruit strong leaders when organizational needs require it.
• Develop succession plans and internal leadership talent.
• Establish effective management meeting and reporting processes.
• Ensure managers understand both operational performance and financial performance.
• Develop a culture of urgency accountability continuous improvement teamwork and ownership.
• Build systems and processes that reduce dependency on individual employees and improve organizational consistency.
• Partner with Human Resources on recruiting retention training performance management and employee relations.
• Ensure labor is scheduled and deployed efficiently based on production requirements.

The successful candidate must be equally comfortable developing people and holding people accountable.

Establish safety as a fundamental operating expectation throughout the organization.

• Ensure compliance with OSHA and applicable federal Florida Alabama and local regulations.
• Maintain strong lockout/tagout practices and equipment safety procedures.
• Establish training and documentation requirements for equipment operation.
• Monitor workplace injuries and identify opportunities to reduce risk.
• Ensure facilities maintain appropriate standards for housekeeping chemical handling PPE ergonomics machine guarding and emergency procedures.
• Partner with HR and management to build a proactive safety culture.
• Ensure appropriate regulatory compliance involving wastewater boilers chemicals environmental requirements transportation and other applicable areas.

Candidates must have:

• Significant leadership experience within the commercial industrial hospitality healthcare linen supply or textile rental laundry industry.
• Direct experience overseeing commercial laundry production operations.
• Strong understanding of commercial laundry workflows equipment production standards and performance metrics.
• Demonstrated experience leading managers and hourly workforces in high-volume production environments.
• Multi-site leadership experience or experience managing a large complex laundry operation with multiple departments.
• Strong P&L budgeting forecasting and financial management experience.
• Demonstrated success improving productivity labor efficiency quality equipment reliability and/or operating margins.
• Experience establishing and managing operational KPIs.
• Strong knowledge of preventive maintenance and equipment reliability practices.
• Experience managing customer relationships in a service-oriented commercial environment.
• Ability to analyze problems quickly identify root causes and implement sustainable solutions.
• Strong organizational communication negotiation and leadership skills.
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly between Surfside facilities in Northwest Florida and South Alabama.
• Ability to work on-site in Panama City Beach Florida.

This position cannot be effectively performed remotely.

Exceptional candidates may also possess:

• Direct engineering or maintenance leadership experience in a commercial or industrial laundry.
• Strong working knowledge of commercial laundry equipment and production systems.
• Experience with major laundry equipment installation replacement commissioning or plant upgrades.
• Experience designing or improving commercial laundry plant layouts and workflows.
• Experience with laundry automation and labor-reduction technology.
• Experience with tunnel washer/CBW systems and automated finishing systems.
• Experience evaluating equipment based on lifecycle cost and ROI.
• Experience with utility management including water natural gas electricity steam compressed air and wastewater.
• Experience managing large capital expenditure projects.
• Experience opening expanding consolidating relocating or modernizing commercial laundry operations.
• Experience in hospitality linen processing.
• Experience operating in a highly seasonal market.
• Bachelors degree in business operations engineering industrial management or a related discipline.

Relevant industry experience and demonstrated results will be given significant consideration in place of formal education.

The right CEO for Surfside will be a builder and operator not simply an administrator.

We are looking for someone who:

• Goes to the plant floor to understand a problem rather than managing exclusively from reports.
• Understands that production engineering transportation customer service and financial performance are interconnected.
• Uses data to make decisions but also understands what the numbers should look like because of prior commercial laundry experience.
• Creates systems that prevent problems rather than repeatedly solving the same emergencies.
• Understands the importance of preventive maintenance and does not accept chronic equipment failure as normal.
• Sets high expectations while giving managers the training resources and accountability necessary to achieve them.
• Can distinguish between a people problem a process problem an equipment problem and a capacity problem.
• Understands both todays operation and what the company will require several years from now.
• Communicates directly professionally and transparently with ownership.
• Takes ownership of results.
• Is comfortable entering an operation identifying opportunities for improvement prioritizing them and driving execution.

Within the first year the successful CEO should be able to demonstrate measurable progress in areas such as:

• Improved equipment uptime and preventive maintenance compliance
• Increased pounds processed per labor hour
• Reduced overtime and unnecessary labor expense
• Reduced rewash and linen-quality issues
• Improved production consistency between facilities
• Improved on-time delivery and customer satisfaction
• Stronger plant-level leadership and accountability
• Better visibility into operational and financial KPIs
• Reduced emergency repairs and unplanned production disruptions
• Stronger vendor management and purchasing controls
• Clearly prioritized capital requirements
• Improved operating margins
• Scalable operating processes capable of supporting future growth

This is an opportunity for an experienced laundry executive to make a significant impact on a growing regional operation.

The CEO will have the authority and responsibility to evaluate the operation strengthen the leadership team improve systems address equipment and infrastructure needs increase efficiency and help shape the organizations long-term direction.

For a leader who enjoys building strong operationsnot simply maintaining themthis is an opportunity to have a visible and lasting impact.

Competitive executive compensation will be based on experience.

Benefits include:

• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Executive leadership opportunity
• Significant influence over operational and capital strategy
• Opportunity to lead a growing regional commercial laundry organization