Area General Manager

First Student is a leader in transportation of children K-12.  As the largest provider of student transportation in North America, First Student is more than twice the size of the next largest competitor.  Industry-leading safety programs, strong customer relationships and service record are the key differentiators.

At First Student, our Area General Managers are a constant reflection of our company’s commitment to safety and customer service. The Area General Manager is responsible for overall leadership and performance across an area of locations to include:  revenue growth, expense management, EBIT, employee culture, customer partnerships, labor/contract negotiations and fleet management.  They will manage a team of over 500 people, a fleet of 400-500 vehicles, and run a $30-$40 million P&L through multiple locations & multiple customer contracts within the Westchester County, NY region.

Area General Manager Responsibilities:

• Provides leadership to the Location Managers and other employees in order to achieve goals for safety, revenue, cost optimized operations, maintenance and service.
• Represents First Student with school administrators for contract negotiations and represents First Student for all labor negotiations.
• P&L responsibility for the entire region.
• Tracks and addresses trends in KPIs.  Leads and develops action plans with Location Manager addressing location performance gaps.
• Tracks and addresses local competitive threats to route share.
• Defines business terms in union and non-union wage negotiations.  Negotiates customer contract terms.
• Drive Location Manager ownership of employee recruiting and retention.
• Maintains school decision maker relationships by establishing and growing trusted partnerships with school districts and the community.
• Ensures locations apply safety practices.  Model and promote First Student’s commitment to Safety.
• Negotiates school contracts with sustainable value and competitive revenue per route.
• Maximizes contract revenue pricing and volumes.
• Provides accurate forecasts of performance to First Student management.

Area General Manager Experience and Skills Required:

•  Bachelor’s degree in Business, Logistics, Supply Chain, or related discipline; will consider commensurate work experience.
•  5+ years’ experience with proven leadership abilities and transportation or logistic systems knowledge.
• 5+ years’ experience managing a P&L, ideally with customer service and safety elements.
• Bi-lingual strongly preferred.
• New York City area student transportation experience desired.
• In depth understanding of the KPI’s (safety, financial, customers).
• Experience working with unionized employees and negotiating labor contracts.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel is desired.
•  Excellent communications skills, both oral and written.
• Demonstrated ability to build and continuously motivate highly effective teams. 
• Strong presentation skills with interpersonal savvy in dealing with customers.
• Strong analytical and reasoning skills.
• Strong business background in financial, strategic, and organizational analysis.

Compensation

·         Competitive base salary and attractive annual bonus incentive

First Student’s commitment to putting our customers first, dedication to safety, and an ambition to deliver dependable transportation makes for a working environment you’ll love. As a huge company with 120,000 staff and over 2.5 billion customers worldwide, you’ll also enjoy security, a brilliant future, and excellent training.

Apply today to join our team!

First Student is an Equal Opportunity Employer.