Manager of Operation Risk & Performance

If you enjoy untangling complex problems, bringing people together, and seeing your ideas make a measurable difference, this is an opportunity to improve safety, training, compliance, and operational performance within a complex passenger transportation environment.

As the Manager of Operational Risk & Performance, you will help strengthen how local teams operate by identifying risks, improving processes, and creating practical solutions that support safer and more consistent service. This is a hands-on, on-site role for someone who is energized by being close to the work, listening to frontline employees, and helping teams turn expectations into sustainable daily practices.

This position leads through influence rather than direct authority. You will work closely with Operations, Safety, Human Resources, training personnel, and frontline teams to improve performance, strengthen accountability, and ensure applicable safety and regulatory requirements are consistently understood and followed.

Strong judgment, effective communication, and the ability to move work forward across multiple functions are central to success in this role.

• →Assess safety, training, compliance, and operational performance to identify recurring issues, underlying causes, and opportunities for improvement.
• →Develop practical action plans that clearly define expectations, ownership, timelines, and measures of success.
• →Build, test, implement, and improve safety and training processes that local teams can consistently follow and sustain.
• →Develop and maintain an effective safety and training program aligned with applicable regulatory requirements and operational needs.
• →Establish performance measures, use data to identify trends, and evaluate whether corrective actions are producing the intended results.
• →Partner with Operations, Safety, Human Resources, and other functional leaders to implement improvements and maintain follow-through.
• →Lead through influence by building trust, asking for input, listening to the people doing the work, and creating accountability across teams.
• →Support the proper and efficient training of employees, including training requirements, qualification records, and related documentation.
• →Evaluate training effectiveness and recommend retraining, coaching, or corrective action when performance or compliance gaps are identified.
• →Conduct or support facility and operational audits, document findings, communicate results, and track corrective actions through completion.
• →Participate in ride-along evaluations and other field-based observations of employee performance.
• →Support the review of vehicle collisions, safety events, and employee injuries by gathering facts, identifying root causes, and recommending appropriate corrective actions.
• →Participate in preventability reviews and help determine when coaching, retraining, process changes, or disciplinary action may be necessary.
• →Review available driver-performance information and identify patterns that may require additional training or intervention.
• →Facilitate safety meetings, regulatory training, and other employee education programs as needed.
• →Ensure assigned responsibilities are completed in accordance with applicable laws, regulatory requirements, organizational policies, and established procedures.
• →Spend meaningful time in the field to understand actual operating conditions and ensure that processes are practical for frontline teams.
• →Communicate changes clearly before implementation, confirm understanding, and monitor whether new practices are being followed.
• →Escalate significant safety, compliance, training, or operational risks promptly to Operations and Safety leadership.
• →Complete other related duties and improvement initiatives assigned by Operations or Safety leadership.

• At least five years of recent experience managing paratransit safety and training programs or serving in a similar safety and training management role within demand-response or fixed-route passenger transportation.
• Working knowledge of applicable Federal Transit Administration, Department of Transportation, Americans with Disabilities Act, Drug and Alcohol, Title VI, and other passenger transportation regulatory requirements.
• Strong knowledge of effective safety programs, policies, procedures, and practices.
• Demonstrated ability to develop, implement, evaluate, and improve safety and training programs.
• A valid Commercial Driver’s License with Passenger Endorsement.
• Experience addressing operational risks, investigating recurring problems, identifying root causes, and implementing measurable corrective actions.
• A record of building or improving processes and helping teams sustain new ways of working.
• The ability to earn trust, lead through influence, and move work forward across teams without relying on formal reporting authority.
• Strong analytical judgment and comfort using operating data, audit findings, performance measures, and technology to guide decisions.
• The ability to communicate expectations clearly, facilitate difficult conversations, and hold people accountable while treating them with respect.
• Initiative, sound judgment, and the willingness to step into challenging situations while considering the people and operational context involved.
• The ability to work on-site in Chicago and travel occasionally within the local area.

• Revenue-service driving experience is preferred but not required.
• Experience working in a large operation with a significant hourly or frontline workforce.
• Experience supporting a regulated passenger transportation operation with multiple internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience implementing corrective action plans and monitoring performance through measurable results.

Success in this role means that safety, training, and operational expectations are clear, measurable, and consistently followed. The Manager of Operational Risk & Performance will help the organization:

• Identify and address risks before they become recurring failures.

• Reduce repeated safety, training, and compliance issues.

• Improve the quality, consistency, and timeliness of employee training.

• Strengthen documentation, audit readiness, and corrective-action follow-through.

• Build practical processes that frontline teams can understand and sustain.

• Use data and field observations to drive measurable performance improvement.

• Create stronger alignment and accountability between Operations and Safety.

This is an opportunity for a practical, collaborative leader who wants to make a visible difference in a fast-moving passenger transportation environment.

Beacon Mobility is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.
This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship. Beacon Mobility makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.

SCR has been succeeding as an industry leader in the field of ADA Paratransit services since 1986, providing transportation to mobility-challenged individuals. It’s the goal of SCR to provide reliable, safe, clean and comfortable transportation to this group of individuals. This type of transportation is essential for connecting passengers to friends, family and medical based services. As a result, we select drivers and staff that wish to help people care for themselves. Our Paratransit Operator’s understand how to effectively and safely transport clients and we are looking for the right people to join our team.