A commercial developer chief executive officer picks which sites, building types and money partners the company backs. They tie up land, raise equity and construction loans for every new building, sign off on the guaranties lenders want, and decide when to sell, refinance or hold.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, commercial building contractors · BLS, May 2025
Annual pay: 10th percentile $124,070, middle half $168,640 to $347,300, 90th percentile $499,640. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Reports to
Owners, board or investment partners
Department
Executive Leadership
Schedule
Weekdays, plus deal and lender meetings · Site tours, city hearings and investor calls fill some evenings, and the weeks before a loan or land closing run long
Also called
President · Founder and CEO · Managing principal · Managing partner
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will shape the company’s vision, secure financing, and provide strategic guidance for large-scale commercial projects, ensuring sustainable growth and operational excellence.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Shape the overall vision and strategic roadmap for commercial projects.
Secure financing and strategic partnerships to support and expand project portfolios.
Guide and oversee large-scale commercial projects from conception through completion.
Foster strong relationships with commercial builders, developers, and investors.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Lead high-level strategy meetings with executive teams and key stakeholders.
Conduct negotiations with financial institutions and investors to secure project funding.
Monitor project progress and ensure alignment with company goals and timelines.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams including construction, design, and operations.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Revenue Growth: Achieve a minimum compound annual growth rate of 10%.
Financing Secured: Secure funding for at least 90% of targeted projects.
Project Completion: Ensure a successful, on-budget completion rate of 95% of projects.
Stakeholder Satisfaction: Maintain an investor and partner satisfaction rating of >4.8 stars.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, or a related field.
Minimum 10 years in executive leadership within the commercial development sector.
Strong strategic planning and financial acumen.
Excellent communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
Proven track record in securing project financing and managing large-scale projects.
Exceptional leadership and team-building abilities.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience in the home services and commercial construction industries.
Demonstrated expertise working with commercial builders, developers, and investors.
Prior experience as a CEO, COO, or equivalent executive leadership role in large-scale projects.
Experience managing cross-functional teams in dynamic, growth-oriented environments.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to travel frequently for on-site project assessments.
Capability to attend meetings and site visits for extended durations.
Occasional requirement to lift materials up to 20 lbs during on-site inspections.
Required to stand, sit, and walk for prolonged periods during site assessments.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours are 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
Expectation of travel to multiple site locations per month.
Occasional extended hours during high project phases.
On-call duties during critical project milestones or emergencies.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $150,000 to $250,000 per year.
Performance-based bonus potential tied to project success.
Health, Dental, and Vision insurance.
401(k) with company match.
Generous paid time off and remote work flexibility.
Comprehensive executive benefits package including life and disability insurance.
Annual executive development and leadership training opportunities.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and high performance where every team member’s contribution is valued and growth is celebrated.
Our company is dedicated to supporting and developing leaders who drive transformational change.
We thrive on excellence, diversity, and a passion for redefining the commercial development landscape.
Find an empowering work environment that inspires growth, encourages creative problem-solving, and promotes professional development.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
A contractor's CEO wins work from owners. A builder-developer's CEO is the owner, so every building starts with land, money and a plan to lease or sell it, and the risk stays on the company's books for years.
Land is tied up before it is bought
Try not to pay for a site on day one. Tie it up with an option or a purchase contract that gives time for due diligence, and make the closing wait on zoning, site plan approval and permits. Then, if the city says no, the deposit is the only loss. How much deposit and time to risk on each site, and when to walk away, is the CEO's call.
Raising equity from investors is a securities sale
Selling stakes in a project to outside investors is usually a securities offering, and SEC Rule 506 exempts it from registration in two ways. Under 506(b), there's no general advertising, and in any 90 days no more than 35 buyers may be non-accredited; each must be able, alone or with an adviser, to judge the deal, and must get detailed disclosure first. Under 506(c), ads are allowed, but every buyer must be accredited and the company must take reasonable steps to check. Source: 17 CFR 230.506: SEC Regulation D, Rule 506 (Cornell LII).
Pre-leasing sets the start date
Expect a lender to lend less on an empty building, or to wait for signed leases before it funds. So the CEO chooses for each project: build on spec, wait for an anchor tenant, or build to suit for one user. Each path changes the loan size, the equity needed and how long finished space may sit empty.
The exit plan decides if a 1031 exchange fits
Under section 1031, a like-kind exchange can defer gain only on real property held for business use or investment, not property held mainly for sale, so a building put up to sell may not qualify. The replacement property must be named within 45 days and received within 180 days, or by the tax return's due date, with extensions, if that comes first. Settle each building's hold-or-sell plan with the owners' tax advisers before the land closes. Source: IRS: Instructions for Form 8824, like-kind exchanges (2025).
One building can reach the whole company
Expect a construction lender to ask the company or its owners to guarantee that the building gets finished, and sometimes that the loan gets repaid. A single troubled project can then pull cash from every other one. Limit how many guaranties are open at once, and space out starts so the balance sheet can carry them.
How much commercial developer chief executive officers make
The closest BLS group for commercial developer chief executive officers is chief executives. Chief executives who work for commercial and industrial builders earned a median of $225,550 a year ($108.44 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s above the $213,990 median for chief executives in all industries. About 840 of the 204,350 chief executives in that survey work for commercial building contractors.
Pay follows the template: a salary range plus a bonus tied to how projects turn out. You may also offer a share of the developer's profit on each project, often called a promote or carried interest, so the CEO gains when the investors do. Have your tax adviser set it up.
Commercial building contractors
$225,550$225,550 median Middle half $168,640–$347,300 10th–90th $124,070–$499,640
All industries
$213,990$213,990 median Middle half $129,540–$356,200 10th–90th $75,700–$507,730
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Commercial building contractors
$124,070
$168,640
$225,550
$347,300
$499,640
All industries
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
BLS doesn’t publish pay for commercial developers on their own. These figures cover nonresidential building construction, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has taken commercial projects from land contract through lease-up or sale
Raises equity and debt, and keeps investors' trust when a project goes badly
Reads a development pro forma and finds the assumption most likely to break
Walks away from a site when approvals, costs or rents stop working
Leads a COO, CFO and market GMs, and lets each run their part
Teach these on the job
Your investor list and the terms in past operating agreements
Each market's planning staff, councils and approval calendars
The brokers and tenants you have built for before
Each lender's draw and reporting rules
Your building types and their cost history
The CEO works from each project's development pro forma, the company's cash and debt schedule, and the investor reporting portal. Most deal models live in Excel, with Argus or a similar tool for lease cash flows, so name what your CFO already runs.
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Pre-leasing and financing
Your lender requires a signed anchor lease before funding, and the anchor tenant keeps delaying. Walk me through your options.
A strong answer: Works the tenant's decision process and terms, asks the lender about partial funding or changed conditions, pursues other tenants or phasing, sets a decision date, and limits spending until then.
Behavioral · Restructuring deals
Tell me about a time you restructured a development deal or partnership after costs, rates or a tenant changed.
A strong answer: Names what changed, the options weighed (more equity, a new partner, a loan modification, phasing), how they kept partners and lenders informed and negotiated fairly, and the result.
Ask the owners or board to reset each template target from your own pipeline and past buildings.
Revenue Growth
A developer's revenue jumps in the years it sells a building. Track sales, rent from buildings you hold and fees from partner deals on separate lines, so one big sale doesn't hide a thin pipeline.
Financing Secured
Approved projects that closed their full equity and construction loan by the date in the plan. Note the ones that needed worse terms or a bigger guaranty to close.
Project Completion
Buildings finished within the approved total budget, counting interest, fees and leasing costs, not only construction. A late finish adds interest even when every trade stays on budget.
Stakeholder Satisfaction
Survey investors, lenders, tenants and joint venture partners once a year and after each closing or sale. The truest score is whether they bring money or a lease to your next project.
Career path
Project managerRuns one building's budget, schedule and subcontracts.
General managerAnswers for a region's land deals, buildings and profit.
Should a developer CEO come from construction or from finance?
Either can work if someone covers the other side. A builder knows costs and schedules but may underrate what money costs and how long investors wait. A finance hire knows capital stacks but may trust a contractor's number too far. Pair the CEO with a COO or CFO who fills the gap, and ask each finalist to walk through a project that lost money.
How much does a commercial developer chief executive officer make?
Chief executives who work for commercial and industrial builders earned a median of $225,550 a year ($108.44 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $168,640 and $347,300 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Do we file anything when we raise money from investors?
Yes, at the federal level. A company relying on Rule 504 or 506 must file a Form D notice with the SEC no later than 15 calendar days after the first sale in each new offering. It must amend the notice when key facts change, and each year while the offering is still open. Securities counsel usually handles the filings; the CEO's job is to know each raise has them.
Can a CEO's past block an equity raise?
Yes. Rule 506 can't be used if the company raising money, or people tied to it such as its directors, executive officers, officers taking part in the offering and promoters, have certain past events, like some securities-related convictions or court or regulator orders. The rule expects a factual inquiry. Make the offer to a CEO who will raise money depend on securities counsel's bad actor check. If a screening firm runs a background report, get written permission first, and check state and local rules on when you may ask about convictions.
How many projects can a developer CEO run at once?
Fewer than most founders expect. Each project needs the CEO at the land deal, the equity raise, the loan closing and the exit. Count your projects by stage, such as approvals, construction and lease-up, and check which closings fall in the same months. When they stack up, add a general manager per market or a development lead who can close deals alone.
What should a developer CEO show in an interview?
A deal history, not a vision. Ask for each project's land price, total cost, loan, exit and what investors got back, plus one site they walked away from and why. Call an investor and a lender from a project that went wrong. How the CEO handled bad news is the best sign of how they'll handle yours.
Why does the CEO template mention lifting and standing?
Those lines ship as written. For a developer CEO they come down to site tours: walking a graded pad or an open floor with a lender, a tenant or an investor, and standing through a long city hearing. List those tasks in the posting instead of body requirements, and tell candidates you will consider reasonable accommodation.
