Paratransit General Manager

First Student is the largest school transportation provider in North America, with more than a century of experience providing safe and reliable transportation. We work with 1,250 school districts in 39 states and 8 Canadian provinces, carrying approximately five million students in 21,000 schools daily.

Location: Brooklyn
Pay: $195,000 - $200,000
Employment Type: Full-Time

About the Role

The Paratransit General Manager leads all aspects of daily paratransit operations, including safety, service performance, contract compliance, employee leadership, customer partnership, and financial results.

This role oversees a fast-paced transportation operation supporting passengers who rely on safe, dependable, and accessible service. The General Manager partners with drivers, dispatch, maintenance, safety, training, customer stakeholders, and regional leadership to ensure service is delivered safely, on time, and in compliance with company and contract expectations.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on transportation leader who can balance people leadership, customer service, operational discipline, and performance accountability in a high-volume environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead daily paratransit operations to ensure safe, reliable, compliant, and customer-focused service
• Oversee dispatch, routing, scheduling, driver performance, service delivery, and operational support functions
• Ensure compliance with contract requirements, company policies, safety standards, and applicable regulations
• Monitor key performance indicators, including on-time performance, missed trips, service delays, customer concerns, safety, staffing, and operational efficiency
• Partner with customer stakeholders, agencies, and internal leadership to resolve service issues and maintain strong working relationships
• Provide leadership, coaching, and direction to drivers, dispatchers, supervisors, trainers, and other location team members
• Support recruiting, onboarding, training, retention, attendance, performance management, and labor planning
• Promote a safety-first culture through communication, coaching, incident review, documentation, and accountability
• Partner with maintenance to support fleet readiness, vehicle availability, preventive maintenance, and timely issue resolution
• Support financial performance through effective management of labor, overtime, fleet utilization, productivity, and controllable expenses
• Maintain accurate records, reporting, audits, and compliance documentation
• Identify operational gaps and implement process improvements to improve service quality, safety, communication, and efficiency
• Communicate regularly with regional leadership regarding performance, risks, staffing, customer concerns, and operational needs
• Complete special projects and additional duties as assigned

What Success Looks Like

• Service is delivered safely, reliably, and in compliance with contract expectations
• Drivers and frontline teams receive clear leadership, communication, coaching, and support
• On-time performance, service quality, safety, staffing, and customer responsiveness are consistently managed
• Customer concerns, service issues, incidents, and operational risks are addressed quickly and professionally
• Fleet readiness and maintenance coordination support uninterrupted service
• Employee performance, attendance, conduct, and daily coverage are managed consistently
• Location leadership and regional partners have clear visibility into operational performance
• Financial and productivity goals are supported through disciplined operational management

Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent required
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Transportation, Logistics, Operations Management, or related field preferred
• 5+ years of transportation, paratransit, transit, logistics, school bus, or passenger transportation leadership experience preferred
• Previous general management, operations management, location management, or terminal leadership experience preferred
• Experience managing contract-based transportation operations strongly preferred
• Experience leading frontline teams, including drivers, dispatchers, supervisors, and operational support staff
• Knowledge of paratransit, ADA transportation, accessible transportation, or demand-response operations preferred
• Experience with collective bargaining, union environments, or union labor relations a plus
• Strong understanding of transportation safety, compliance, service performance, customer expectations, labor planning, staffing, scheduling, and performance accountability
• Ability to analyze operational data and use performance metrics to drive improvement
• Strong customer service, communication, conflict resolution, relationship management, problem-solving, decision-making, and follow-up skills
• Ability to lead in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities and time-sensitive service needs
• Financial acumen with the ability to manage labor, productivity, expenses, and operational efficiency
• Computer literacy required, including ability to use Microsoft Office and transportation-related systems
• Valid driver's license required
• CDL or appropriate passenger transportation license preferred or required based on location needs

Physical Requirements and Working Conditions

• Must be able to move about an office, transportation facility, vehicle yard, and field environment as needed
• Ability to use standard office equipment, computers, phones, radios, filing systems, vehicles, and transportation systems
• Ability to communicate effectively in person, by phone, by radio, and through electronic communication
• Work may be performed in an office, dispatch area, transportation facility, vehicle yard, or field environment
• May require occasional travel within the assigned service area
• May require availability outside standard business hours to support service needs, emergencies, incidents, or operational issues
• Possible on-the-road responsibilities may be required

Why Join First Student

• Lead a mission-driven transportation operation supporting safe, reliable, and accessible service
• Play a key leadership role in supporting passengers, employees, customers, and the community
• Work closely with drivers, dispatch, maintenance, safety, training, customer stakeholders, and regional leadership
• Help shape daily operations through leadership, process improvement, service accountability, and operational excellence
• Be part of a company with more than a century of transportation experience and a strong commitment to the communities we serve

Disclaimer

Nothing in this job description restricts management's right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this role at any time. This job description reflects management's assignment of essential functions and does not prescribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned.

First for a reason:

At First Student, we are a family of 60,000+ employees who take pride in safely transporting more than 5 million students and passengers to and from their destinations each day! Our family of brands include Transco, Total Transportation, Maggies Paratransit, and GVC II. Our employees are at the forefront of safety and innovation; they create and implement the most advanced training and technology the transportation industry has to offer.

In the state of Washington, all technician and driving positions, including but not limited to van drivers and any other position requiring employees to drive a company-owned vehicle, are considered safety-sensitive and are therefore subject to drug and alcohol testing, including cannabis.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status. First is also committed to providing a drug-free workplace. First will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Los Angeles Fair Chance Ordinance, and any other fair chance law. Philadelphia's Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Ordinance Poster is at this link or upon request https://www.phila.gov/media/20210423160847/Fair-Chance-Hiring-law-poster.pdf.