A commercial developer chief financial officer pays for each building with the right mix of investor equity and construction debt, then keeps that money moving. They run the monthly loan draws, track interest and costs against each project's budget, report to investors and lenders, and line up the sale or refinance that retires the loan.
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
Chief Executive Officer
Department
Finance
Schedule
Weekdays, longer at draw and close · Monthly draw packages, quarterly investor reports and loan closings set the calendar, with extra hours in audit season
Also called
VP of finance · Director of development finance · Head of capital markets · Finance director
Lead and direct the financial strategy and planning for commercial building and development projects while ensuring robust budgeting, cost analysis, and financing strategies to support the company's growth and profitability.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Develop and execute comprehensive financial strategies and plans for development projects.
Oversee budgeting processes and conduct in-depth cost analysis to ensure project profitability and sustainability.
Manage financing activities and establish relationships with investors, lenders, and financial institutions.
Prepare detailed financial reports and forecasts to support executive decision-making.
Ensure compliance with all financial regulations, accounting standards, and internal policies.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review and analyze daily financial performance data and cost reports.
Collaborate with development teams to ensure alignment of financial strategies with project goals.
Monitor cash flow and manage investment portfolios for ongoing projects.
Liaise with external auditors and regulatory bodies to ensure financial integrity and transparency.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Budget Adherence: Achieve at least 95% compliance with project budgets.
Cost Reduction: Realize a minimum of 10% reduction in operational costs annually.
Financing Success Rate: Secure financing approvals for 90% of proposed projects.
Return on Investment (ROI): Attain a target ROI of over 15% on development projects.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or a related field; advanced degree (MBA or Finance-related) preferred.
A minimum of 10 years of progressive financial management experience.
Proven expertise in budgeting, cost analysis, and financial forecasting.
Excellent communication, leadership, and analytical skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Prior experience in the commercial construction, building, or development industry.
Demonstrated history of successful project financing and investor relations.
Familiarity with industry-specific software and financial modeling tools.
Experience managing multi-million dollar budgets in complex, large-scale projects.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to perform office-based tasks including extended computer usage.
Minimal physical demands in a standard office environment.
Occasional attendance at project sites where a business casual dress code is applicable.
Comfortable with long periods of seated work during meetings and analysis sessions.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard office hours with occasional extended hours during project deadlines.
Limited travel required for meetings with investors, lenders, or project site visits.
Flexible remote work options may be available.
On-call responsibilities during critical financial reporting periods or project audits.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary Range: $200,000 - $300,000 per year, commensurate with experience.
Performance-based bonus structure.
Comprehensive Health, Dental, and Vision insurance packages.
401(k) plan with company match and additional fringe benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
A collaborative and growth-focused environment that encourages innovation, professional development, and a commitment to excellence.
An inclusive culture that values integrity, transparency, and teamwork across all levels of the organization.
Opportunities to contribute to transformative projects in the commercial building and development industry.
A passion for customer satisfaction and delivering exceptional results.
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 developer's money comes in three waves: equity before anything is built, loan draws while it goes up, and a sale or refinance at the end. The CFO runs all three and answers to investors and lenders at each step.
The draw is a monthly loan request
A construction loan pays out in draws against a budget the lender approved. Each month the CFO's team gathers pay requests from the trades, invoices, lien releases and a cost report by budget line, then sends the package to the lender, and to the title company if it handles funding. If a line runs over, expect the lender to want the gap covered from contingency or new equity before it advances more.
In Florida, notices decide who must be paid
Lien laws differ by state; Florida's shows what a CFO tracks. There, subs and suppliers with no contract with the owner, other than laborers, must serve a notice to owner, generally within 45 days of first furnishing labor or materials, to keep their lien rights. From each later progress payment, the owner must see that each lienor who gave notice is paid what is due. Lien rights can't be waived in advance, and no one may require a waiver that differs from the statute's forms. Source: Florida Statutes 713.06 (2026): Liens of persons not in privity; proper payments.
Floating rates move the budget
A floating construction loan is priced as a spread over a benchmark such as SOFR, which the New York Fed publishes each business day as a measure of overnight borrowing backed by Treasury securities. When rates rise, interest drains the loan's interest reserve faster. The CFO models rate moves, buys a rate cap when the lender asks for one, and warns the CEO before the reserve runs short. Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York: Secured Overnight Financing Rate data.
Each building has its own investors and tax return
If you hold each building in its own LLC with its own investors, and that LLC is taxed as a partnership, it files Form 1065 by March 15 when its tax year is the calendar year, or later if it files for an extension, and gives each partner a Schedule K-1. The IRS can charge a penalty for each K-1 that is late or wrong, so plan the year-end close around those dates. Source: IRS: Instructions for Form 1065 (2025).
The exit pays off the loan
Plan the payoff well before the building is done: a permanent loan, a sale, or a bridge loan while leases fill in. Expect a permanent lender to size its loan to the rent the building earns, so empty space means a smaller loan and more equity to close the gap.
How much commercial developer chief financial officers make
The closest BLS group for commercial developer chief financial 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.
The template pairs a salary range with a performance bonus. You can also offer a small share of project profits, paid only after investors have their money back.
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 run construction loan draws for an owner or developer
Builds project models that show equity, debt, interest and the exit in one place
Has closed construction and permanent loans and negotiated their terms
Reports to outside investors and keeps capital accounts by project
Closes the books for many project LLCs each month without falling behind
Teach these on the job
Each lender's draw forms and funding dates
The distribution terms in each operating agreement
Your cost codes and budget format
The lien rules in each state you build in
Your lease billing and property accounting setup
Expect accounting software built for many entities, such as Yardi, MRI or Sage Intacct, plus Excel for development models and a portal for investor reports and K-1s. Ask finalists which ones they've used, since closing dozens of project LLCs each month is a skill of its own.
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 · Refinancing under pressure
The building is finished and leased, but rates are higher than planned and the construction loan matures soon. What do you do?
A strong answer: Starts lender talks early, models options (extension, bridge loan, smaller permanent loan plus equity, sale), and presents tradeoffs to partners.
Behavioral · Raising capital
Tell me about a time you raised equity or debt for a project. What did investors or lenders care about most?
A strong answer: Names their concerns (sponsor track record, pre-leasing, cost certainty, exit) and how they addressed each.
Agree on each target with the CEO, using your loan terms and the results of finished projects.
Budget Adherence
Each project's cost to date and forecast at completion against its approved budget, line by line, with interest, loan fees and leasing costs in. Contingency used up early is a warning, even when the totals still look fine.
Cost Reduction
For a developer, look at company overhead and the soft costs you control: legal, loan fees, insurance and consultants. Don't count savings that only push a cost onto the next project.
Financing Success Rate
Loans and equity raises approved on the terms in the project plan, out of all you applied for. For any that closed on worse terms, note what changed: rate, size, guaranty or timing.
Return on Investment (ROI)
Compare each finished project with its original pro forma: profit on total cost, the return investors got after fees and the developer's share, and how long the money was tied up. Count realized results, not forecasts.
Career path
Real estate lender or analystUnderwrites loans or deals and learns how projects get financed.
Development controllerRuns draws, project accounting and investor reports.
Chief financial officerOwns capital, cash and reporting for every project.
What does Florida's notice of commencement mean for the CFO?
The owner records it in the clerk's office and posts it on site before work starts; the statute's form says before the first inspection. It names the lender and any payment bond, and on a financed job the lender must record it before paying loan money to the contractor. It is void if work doesn't start within 90 days of recording, and unless it states another date it expires a year after recording. Payments after it expires are improper and can mean paying twice, so a job longer than a year needs a notice that says so.
How much does a commercial developer chief financial 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.
What is a distribution waterfall?
It is the order in which a project's cash goes out, set in the operating agreement. Each agreement sets its own order, but most use the same parts: investors' capital back, a preferred return, then a split of the rest, with the developer's share growing once investors pass set return levels. The CFO runs the math each time cash comes in and must be able to show any investor how their number was reached.
Does a developer CFO need real estate experience?
For this seat, yes. A CFO from a contracting firm knows job costing but may never have closed a construction loan, run a draw or written an investor report. A CFO from a fund may know deals but not cost overruns. The best hire has done both; otherwise pair a finance lead with a strong development controller.
Who collects lien releases, the CFO or the project manager?
Split it. The project manager gets releases from the trades with each pay request, because they know who worked that month. The CFO's team checks them against the notices the owner received and the payments made, and holds the draw until the gaps are closed. Splitting the jobs this way also guards against paying someone who isn't owed.
