Operations Manager – Nondestructive Testing (NDT)

Location: West Texas
Position Type: Full-Time
Department: Operations
Reports To: Regional General Manager

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Operations Manager to lead field operations for a growing nondestructive testing and industrial inspection services organization in West Texas.

This position is responsible for day-to-day field operations, technician performance, scheduling, safety, customer support, equipment readiness, service quality, and overall project execution. The Operations Manager will oversee multiple field crews supporting customers across oil and gas, midstream, pipeline, fabrication, construction, facilities, and other industrial markets.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on operations leader with strong technical knowledge of NDT methods, particularly radiography, and experience managing technicians in a fast-paced field services environment. This individual should be comfortable balancing customer demands, regulatory requirements, workforce utilization, operational efficiency, and job profitability.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead daily field operations including technician scheduling, job planning, dispatch coordination, field execution, and customer support.
• Supervise, coach, and develop NDT technicians, assistants, drivers, and support personnel.
• Coordinate manpower, equipment, vehicles, and other resources to meet customer and project requirements.
• Utilize company operational systems for job setup, scheduling, dispatching, field ticket review, timecard approval, job tracking, and reporting.
• Review field tickets, technician timecards, job notes, service details, and supporting documentation for accuracy and completeness.
• Coordinate with accounting, billing, sales, and administrative teams to resolve documentation issues and support timely invoicing.
• Ensure field activities comply with company procedures, customer requirements, radiation safety standards, and applicable industry codes and regulations.
• Provide technical leadership for radiography and other NDT inspection methods, including RT, MT, PT, UT, UTT, and related field services.
• Maintain oversight of radiation safety practices, including X-ray operations, source control, restricted areas, surveys, dosimetry, documentation, and technician compliance.
• Coordinate with customers, contractors, inspectors, project managers, and field supervisors regarding schedules, scope, site access, documentation, and service expectations.
• Monitor technician utilization, overtime, travel, equipment usage, rework, and other factors affecting operational efficiency and job profitability.
• Ensure inspection reports, field documentation, and customer deliverables are accurate and completed on time.
• Serve as an escalation point for customer issues, scheduling conflicts, equipment problems, safety concerns, and field performance matters.
• Support customer relationships and business development efforts by identifying additional service opportunities and providing technical input for estimates and proposals.
• Oversee equipment readiness, fleet coordination, calibration status, preventive maintenance, consumables, and field tooling.
• Participate in incident investigations, root-cause analyses, corrective actions, safety meetings, audits, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Assist with recruiting, onboarding, training, certification tracking, and performance management of field personnel.
• Promote a culture of safety, accountability, professionalism, responsiveness, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• 7–10 years of experience in nondestructive testing, inspection services, oil and gas services, industrial services, or a related field environment.
• 3+ years of supervisory, field leadership, or operations management experience preferred.
• Strong hands-on knowledge of radiography operations, radiation safety, X-ray operations, and applicable regulatory requirements.
• Current or previous ASNT Level II certification in RT required.
• Additional certifications in MT, PT, UT, UTT, PAUT, CWI, or related methods strongly preferred.
• Current or previous State Card and/or IRRSP certification strongly preferred.
• Strong working knowledge of NDT codes, procedures, customer specifications, field documentation, and inspection reporting requirements.
• Experience supporting oil and gas, midstream, pipeline, fabrication, construction, facilities, general contracting, or industrial maintenance customers.
• Demonstrated ability to schedule field crews, manage urgent customer needs, allocate resources, and maintain service quality under time-sensitive conditions.
• Experience with field service management, scheduling, dispatch, ERP, CRM, job tracking, or similar operational software.
• Strong understanding of how field execution and documentation affect billing accuracy, customer satisfaction, profitability, and cash flow.
• Experience managing technician utilization, job efficiency, overtime, equipment readiness, and overall field performance.
• Strong leadership, communication, customer service, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and the ability to quickly learn operational and reporting systems.
• Valid driver's license and ability to travel throughout the region as required.
• High school diploma or equivalent required; technical training, NDT coursework, or related certifications preferred.

Skills & Competencies

• Operational Leadership: Ability to manage field crews, schedules, equipment, customer needs, and changing priorities in a demanding industrial services environment.
• NDT Technical Knowledge: Strong practical understanding of radiography and other inspection methods, applicable codes, procedures, and field documentation.
• Radiation Safety: Strong understanding of radiography safety requirements, field controls, documentation, and technician compliance.
• Resource Planning: Ability to balance manpower, equipment, fleet availability, travel, and customer requirements while maintaining productivity and profitability.
• Team Leadership & Development: Experience coaching technicians, reinforcing accountability, supporting certifications, and developing field personnel.
• Customer Management: Ability to build strong customer relationships through responsiveness, schedule reliability, communication, and consistent service quality.
• Systems & Process Discipline: Comfortable utilizing field service, scheduling, dispatch, timekeeping, job tracking, and business management software.
• Commercial Awareness: Understands how labor utilization, overtime, travel, rework, equipment usage, documentation, and scheduling decisions affect job margins.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Works effectively with field personnel, sales, accounting, billing, safety, quality, and administrative teams.
• Problem Solving: Able to quickly address staffing challenges, equipment problems, customer concerns, schedule conflicts, and documentation discrepancies.

Preferred Experience

• Previous operations leadership experience supporting West Texas oil and gas operations or a similar high-volume industrial market.
• Experience managing radiography crews, X-ray operations, night work, outage or turnaround support, pipeline work, fabrication inspection, or facility-based inspection projects.
• Familiarity with customer permitting, site access, JSA/JHA requirements, stop-work authority, confined space, hot work, and industrial PPE requirements.
• Experience managing multi-customer, multi-crew operations involving short-notice scheduling and changing priorities.
• Experience using digital field service platforms for scheduling, dispatch, field tickets, timekeeping, job costing, and operational reporting.
• Demonstrated success improving technician utilization, documentation accuracy, operational efficiency, and job profitability.
• Experience working with operators, midstream organizations, EPC firms, fabrication companies, general contractors, and industrial customers.

Work Environment

• Combination of office and field-based responsibilities within the West Texas region.
• Regular interaction with technicians, customers, operations leadership, sales, safety, quality, accounting, billing, and administrative teams.
• Travel to customer sites, industrial facilities, fabrication shops, pipeline projects, and other field locations is required.
• Early mornings, evenings, weekends, night work, or extended hours may occasionally be necessary to support customer schedules, outages, emergency work, and critical projects.
• Work may involve active construction sites, oil and gas facilities, fabrication environments, outdoor weather conditions, elevated work areas, confined spaces, and other industrial environments.
• Appropriate PPE, safe driving practices, fitness for duty, and compliance with company and customer safety requirements are required.