Vice President of Regional Operations - Central

Company Description

Zayo provides mission-critical bandwidth to the world’s most impactful companies, fueling the innovations that are transforming our society. Zayo’s 141,000-mile network in North America and Europe includes extensive metro connectivity to thousands of buildings and data centers. Zayo’s communications infrastructure solutions include dark fiber, private data networks, wavelengths, Ethernet, and dedicated Internet access. Zayo serves wireless and wireline carriers, media, tech, content, finance, healthcare and other large enterprises.

Zayo is seeking a Vice President of Regional Operations - Central who will be responsible for end‑to‑end regional operational performance across fiber delivery operations, outside plant (OSP) construction and repair, fiber engineering, network maintenance, splicing, and all associated implementation activities within assigned regional markets. This role carries full accountability for everything that happens or fails to happen within the region’s fiber infrastructure and delivery operations.

This leader ensures that projects and operational activities are delivered on time, on interval, within budget, and in full adherence to quality, safety, regulatory, and customer standards. Our Vice President of Regional Operations - Central leads in‑market OSP Directors, the Regional Head of Operations, Project Managers, Construction Managers, and engineering/implementation teams, while also integrating and coordinating matrixed leadership from centralized functions—including Long Haul/Core, Field Operations, NOC, Damage Prevention, and centralized Engineering—to deliver consistent, fast, and customer‑focused results.

This role reports to the SVP, Regional Operations and is a key driver of Zayo’s regional execution strategy, ensuring a consistent customer experience across all regions while meeting or exceeding financial, operational, and service performance targets.

Location: Preference for Chicago, Denver or Toronto; flexible across the Central U.S. for candidates able to travel to support regional operations.

Responsibilities:

• Own all regional operational outcomes across delivery operations, OSP construction, OSP maintenance/repair, fiber engineering, splicing, and network restoration.

• Provide direct leadership to regional OSP, operations, implementation, and engineering teams; lead the current Head of Regional OSP, who reports into this role.

• Ensure all projects and operational activities are delivered on time, on interval, within quality and safety standards.

• Act as final escalation point for fiber outages, service-impacting events, and delivery blockers within the region.

Cross‑Functional & Matrix Leadership

• Integrate leadership from centralized teams—including LH/Core, Field Operations, NOC, engineering, damage prevention, finance, and people & culture—into a cohesive matrixed regional leadership structure.

• Ensure cross-functional coordination for all operational aspects to deliver a consistent, fast, and customer-centric experience.

• Partner with centralized engineering and program leaders to ensure alignment on design, standards, and delivery priorities.

Project & Delivery Oversight

• Oversee all OSP and delivery projects in the region, including network builds, maintenance identification/repair, relocations, and splicing.

• Develop and maintain high-level and detailed project schedules; ensure trackers are updated and maintained with accurate information.

• Remove roadblocks that impede project progress or service restoration; communicate early warnings on potential due date, interval, or budget risks.

Performance, Customer Experience & Continuous Improvement

• Deliver against annual node, delivery, and revenue targets for the region.

• Achieve or improve MTTR performance, NPS, build interval, and other KPIs.

• Identify bottlenecks quickly and implement durable solutions.

• Drive operational excellence and quality across build, repair, and engineering activities.

Financial Leadership & Budget Ownership

• Own regional expense and capital budgets, including project capital and ongoing operating expense.

• Minimize variance between budgeted and actual spend; provide accurate forecasting and ensure stated forecasts are met.

• Track, report, and communicate OSP and delivery financial performance; oversee billing and cost recovery for network damages.

• Review and approve contractor invoices and engineering/OSP spend.