Strategic Operations Lead (Central / West)

About Vend

Vend Park is building the AI-powered digital infrastructure of the built world. Our team is rewriting how commercial real estate owners manage and monetize parking, using automation, data, and agentic AI to simplify operations and unlock new revenue. This transforms a historically analog system into a modern, software-driven platform.

In under two years, we’ve scaled to 23 cities and partnered with leading owners like Nuveen, Jamestown, and Federal Realty. We operate as a small, high-ownership engineering team where decisions move fast and code ships to production quickly and reliably.

The Role

We're looking for a Strategic Operations Lead to own the operational and financial performance of a portfolio of parking facilities across the U.S.

Your primary responsibility is to own and improve the P&L of the properties you manage, starting with ensuring each garage operates smoothly, efficiently, and delivers a consistently high-quality experience for our property partners and customers. From that foundation, you'll identify opportunities to grow revenue, optimize expenses, and improve overall property performance.

This role requires someone who can think both strategically and tactically. You'll need to become an expert on your properties and markets, understand the nuances of how each garage operates, and know which levers to pull to improve performance. You'll spend time analyzing financial results and identifying growth opportunities, but much of your work will involve digging into operational challenges, solving problems, and making sure the right people are working on the right things.

You'll serve as the primary point of contact and accountability for your portfolio, working across Operations, Onboarding, Implementations, Support, Engineering, Sales, and Marketing to make sure priorities are aligned and issues get resolved. You'll be responsible for building the trust, delivering the results, and maintaining the relationships that make those partnerships successful over the long term.

Ultimately, you're accountable for how your properties perform, both operationally and financially. You'll have the autonomy to identify opportunities, bring the right people together, and drive results.

What You'll Own

Portfolio P&L

• Own financial performance across your portfolio, with a focus on operational excellence, revenue growth, and strong property-level NOI.

• Analyze property P&Ls, budgets, forecasts, and performance trends to understand what's driving results, identify risks, and prioritize opportunities for improvement.

• Identify and lead revenue opportunities through pricing, local partnerships, and other channels, collaborating with Sales, Marketing, and other teams to bring initiatives to life.

• Work across operations and finance to manage staffing costs, vendor spend, and other operating expenses, identifying efficiencies without compromising service quality.

• Develop data-driven strategies and apply successful initiatives across properties to continuously improve portfolio performance.

Garage Operations

• Oversee day-to-day operations across your portfolio, developing a deep understanding of each property's access systems, staffing, equipment, customer needs, and unique operational challenges. This includes grassroot level execution of visiting and surveying locations, gathering feedback from on-site teams, and building relationships.

• Coordinate with internal operations teams, on-site partners, Support, Engineering, and third-party vendors to ensure facilities operate reliably and operational needs are addressed.

• Proactively monitor performance, identify recurring issues and risks, and drive root-cause solutions before problems become larger escalations.

• Partner with Onboarding and Implementations to ensure smooth transitions into ongoing operations and address issues that impact long-term property success.

• Develop repeatable solutions, playbooks, and operational improvements that can scale beyond individual garages, leveraging technology and automation to improve efficiency and reliability across Vend.

Property & Stakeholder Relationships

• Serve as the primary point of contact for property management teams and key stakeholders, building trusted relationships through responsiveness, sound judgment, and consistent follow-through.

• Lead monthly virtual business reviews with property management teams, providing financial results, operational updates, and recommendations for improvement.

• Own property-level escalations and proactively communicate performance, challenges, and progress, ensuring stakeholders feel informed and supported.

• Act as the operational quarterback for your portfolio, aligning internal teams and external partners to solve complex problems, execute initiatives, and ensure commitments are delivered.

Who You Are

• An experienced operator. You have 5+ years of experience in operations, general management, commercial real estate, multi-site business management, or a similarly hands-on, cross-functional role.

• Operationally rigorous. You're detail-oriented, organized, and proactive about identifying problems before they escalate.

• Financially and analytically strong. You're comfortable analyzing P&Ls, financial statements, budgets, and forecasts, and turning data into practical business decisions.

• Commercially minded. You naturally look for opportunities to improve property performance, grow revenue, and operate more efficiently, while understanding that strong operations come first.

• A strong relationship builder. You communicate clearly, build credibility with senior stakeholders, and can navigate difficult conversations with empathy, confidence, and sound judgment.

• Proactive and resourceful. You identify what needs attention, develop a plan, and follow through.

• A systems thinker. You don't just solve the problem in front of you. You look for patterns, understand root causes, and find ways to prevent the same issues from happening elsewhere.

• Tech-forward and adaptable. You're excited by software, automation, AI, and using technology to make traditionally manual operations smarter and more efficient.

• Comfortable with ambiguity. You thrive in a fast-moving environment where priorities evolve, processes aren't always defined, and the best solutions often require creativity and initiative.

Experience in parking, mobility, hospitality, property operations, or other multi-location businesses is a plus, but direct parking industry experience is not required.

You must be willing and able to travel up to 50% of the time to visit properties, meet with key stakeholders, and support operational initiatives as needed.

What Success Looks Like

• Your garages run well. Properties operate reliably and efficiently, with strong operational performance, consistent service quality, and fewer recurring issues.

• Your stakeholders trust you. Property managers and other partners see you as a responsive, knowledgeable, dependable point person who understands their needs and follows through on commitments.

• Your impact extends beyond your portfolio. The improvements you develop help other properties, teams, and departments operate more effectively, contributing to the broader success of Vend.

• You understand your numbers. You have a clear grasp of how each property is performing financially, what's driving the results, and where opportunities exist to improve performance.

• Your portfolio gets stronger over time. Through reliable operations, thoughtful expense management, and targeted revenue initiatives, your properties become more efficient, sustainable, and financially successful.

Why You'll Love Working at Vend

• A Culture Built on Growth and Ownership

  • We hire self-starters who care deeply about their work and give them the trust, tools, and autonomy to do their best work. Your ideas matter here, and they can shape the future of a company that's scaling fast.

• Comprehensive Health Plans

  • We offer competitive medical, dental, and vision coverage to keep you and your family healthy.

• Unlimited PTO

  • We trust you to manage your time and take the breaks you need to recharge.

• Learning & Development

  • Your growth is part of our mission. Vend supports continued learning through conferences, certifications, and professional development resources.

• Team Building & Connection

  • From quarterly retreats to team outings and virtual hangouts, we make time to connect and celebrate our wins together.

• Parental Leave

  • We offer paid parental leave to support new parents.

• 401(k) with Company Match

  • Plan for your future with our 401(k) program and matching contributions.

Our Values

Bold • Empathetic • Accountable • Self-Starters • Team First