Job Placement · Skilled Trades & Mfg · VP of Operations
General and operations managers reach a $253,390 90th percentile, and chief executives a $213,990 median, the realistic pay band for a VP of operations, a seat BLS says typically carries stock and bonus on top of salary. BEG sources this seat on Tier V milestone billing at $22,640 to $27,168, 45 to 54 percent of a 20 percent contingency fee at realistic pay.
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TL;DR
A VP of operations sits on the executive team, owns the operating plan, capital budget and leadership bench across the whole business, and answers to the CEO or board. The all-manager median of $105,770 attached to SOC 11-1021 is too low a benchmark for this seat; the realistic band runs from the $213,990 chief executive median to the $253,390 general and operations manager 90th percentile, and BLS confirms stock options and performance bonuses are typically part of the package beyond salary. Searches stall when HR is handed a base-salary-only number and the process restarts once a finalist's real counteroffer appears. BEG runs this as a Tier V milestone search at $22,640 to $27,168, 45 to 54 percent of a 20 percent contingency fee at the realistic $253,390 pay point.
Executive-Level Pay, Not The All-Manager Median
Because HR is frequently handed the $105,770 all-manager median attached to the occupation code, a number well below what this seat actually commands once bonus and equity, which BLS confirms are standard here, enter the conversation.
What The Search Establishes
Four conditions, and the compensation-benchmark question decides whether the search reaches finalists who will actually accept.
| Condition | What it requires | Where it stalls |
|---|---|---|
| The budget reflects realistic VP pay, not the all-manager median | The $213,990 chief executive median to $253,390 general and operations manager 90th percentile is the realistic band for this seat. | HR benchmarks off the $105,770 all-industry median because that is the figure attached to the occupation code, not because it reflects the seat. |
| The package includes bonus and equity, not base salary alone | BLS confirms stock options and performance bonuses are typically part of corporate executive compensation beyond salary. | The process restarts once a finalist’s real counteroffer includes equity nobody budgeted for at the outset. |
| The candidate pool includes rising plant leaders, not only sitting VPs | The industrial production manager 90th percentile of $205,520 is the ceiling for a single-plant leader, the pool a multi-plant VP is promoted from. | A search that only looks at people who already hold a VP title misses the strongest plant-level candidates about to outgrow their seat. |
| The labor cost structure the VP will inherit is priced into the search | Union construction workers earned $1,561 a week against $1,004 for nonunion workers in 2025, at a 10.0 percent overall union rate. | A leadership hire with no track record in a mixed union and nonunion cost structure can misprice their own turnaround plan on day one. |
The single-plant reading of operations leadership is covered on the plant operations manager page, and the multi-site, median-pay reading of this same broad occupation code is covered on director of operations, so neither is repeated here.
Why The All-Manager Median Undersells This Seat
A firm that benchmarks a VP of operations opening off the $105,770 all-manager median is $108,220 behind the $213,990 chief executive median, and $147,620 behind the $253,390 general and operations manager 90th percentile, before stock options or performance bonuses, which BLS confirms are typically part of the package, are even discussed. That gap, not candidate quality, is why so many VP searches restart mid-process.
Milestone Billing Against Contingency, At Realistic VP Pay
At the $253,390 general and operations manager 90th percentile, a 20 percent contingency fee runs $50,678 and a 25 percent fee runs $63,348. BEG's Tier V range of $22,640 to $27,168 is 45 to 54 percent of that 20 percent figure, genuinely close to half. At the $213,990 chief executive median, that same 20 percent contingency fee is $42,798, and BEG runs 53 to 64 percent of it, still cheaper. Only against the $105,770 all-manager median, a benchmark too low for this seat, does BEG's range land higher, at 107 to 128 percent of a 20 percent fee, and that is the honest exception rather than the rule.
Filling The Top Operating Seat
Three ways this seat gets filled, and they answer different questions about who runs the business while a permanent search is underway.
| Model | Who employs the VP | How you pay | Right when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interim or fractional executive leadership firm | The interim firm or an independent contractor | Weekly or monthly rate for the length of the engagement | The business needs operating leadership now while a permanent search runs in parallel. |
| Contingency search firm | You, but sourced on a percentage-of-compensation fee | A fee, commonly 20 to 25 percent of first-year salary, due only on a hire | A single urgent fill where speed matters more than fee predictability. |
| BEG permanent placement | You | Tier V milestone fee, $22,640 to $27,168, fixed before sourcing | You are filling the top operating seat permanently and want the fee fixed before bonus and equity negotiations begin. |
An interim or fractional executive can run the business while a permanent search proceeds, and BEG will point you there rather than compete for that short-term work. What we place is a permanent hire your company employs, priced once realistic executive pay is confirmed, with a 45 day replacement guarantee. For the multi-site seat this VP typically has reporting to them, see director of operations.
FAQ
On BEG’s active searches, 23 to 35 days on average from discovery call to placed hire, with an 86 percent fill rate. Getting the compensation package right, not just the base salary, is what most often decides that timeline.
The operating plan, capital budget and leadership bench across the whole business, with a seat on the executive team and a reporting line to the CEO or board, a mandate wider than any single director of operations holds.
General and operations managers reached a 90th percentile of $253,390 in May 2025, against a median of $105,770 and a mean of $134,940, the closest published band to VP-level scope in this occupation code.
Chief executives earned a May 2025 median of $213,990, ranging from $75,700 at the 10th percentile to $507,730 at the 90th, across 204,350 people employed nationally, a useful second reference point for a seat this senior.
No. BLS notes total compensation for corporate executives often includes stock options and performance bonuses beyond salary, so no single wage figure captures what a VP of operations actually negotiates.
The CEO typically delegates the search to HR with a base-salary-only budget, then candidates at this level negotiate bonus and equity as BLS confirms is standard, and the process restarts once the real package is finally written down.
The industrial production manager 90th percentile of $205,520 is the highest published wage point for a single-plant leader, which makes it the ceiling of the pool a multi-plant VP is usually promoted from.
BLS projects chief executives to grow 3 percent, from 291,600 jobs in 2025 to 300,900 by 2035, and general and operations managers 5 percent over the same period, with top executives as a group producing about 304,100 openings a year.
Top executives typically need at least a bachelor’s degree and considerable work experience, often an MBA at large corporations, and chief executives specifically need extensive managerial experience in the organization’s specialty.
Yes. The 2025 union membership rate was 10.0 percent overall and 5.9 percent in the private sector, and union construction workers out-earned nonunion workers 1,561 dollars to 1,004 a week, a labor cost gap that shapes an operations VP’s strategy directly.
At the $253,390 general and operations manager 90th percentile, a 20 percent contingency fee is $50,678. BEG's Tier V milestone fee of $22,640 to $27,168 is 45 to 54 percent of that figure, genuinely close to half. At the $213,990 chief executive median, BEG runs 53 to 64 percent of a 20 percent fee. Only against the $105,770 all-manager median, too low a benchmark for this seat, would BEG's range come in higher than a 20 percent contingency fee, and that is stated here plainly rather than glossed over.
No. An interim or fractional executive firm bills your company by the week or month for the length of an engagement. BEG places a permanent VP of operations your company employs directly, for a fixed milestone fee agreed before sourcing starts.
Building the executive and operating leadership bench? See director of operations, plant operations manager and plant supervisor, or all skilled trades placement.
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