A chief executive officer sets the direction of a home service business: which services and markets to grow, how to pay for that growth, and who sits on the leadership team. The CEO answers to the owners or a board, leads the COO and CFO, and answers for the results the company reports to its lenders.
Chief Executive Officer · Any home service business · Word (.docx) · No email needed.
Chief Executive Officer job description template
Free to copy. Replace the highlighted fields, delete anything you don’t offer, and set your pay range before you post.
[Company name] · [City, State]
Chief Executive Officer
[Full-time / part-time] · [Base pay range and pay period] · Reports to [owners or board of directors]
Position summary
As chief executive officer of [Company name], you'll decide where the company is going and line up the money, people and partners to get there. You choose which services and markets to grow, approve the budget and major spending, build and lead the leadership team, and report results to [the owners or board].
What you’ll do
Set the [three- to five-year] plan: which services to grow, add or drop, which markets to enter, and whether to grow by opening locations or buying other companies.
Approve the yearly budget and capital plan with the Chief Financial Officer, including trucks, equipment, buildings and software.
Raise and manage capital with the CFO, from bank lines and equipment loans to outside investors when the owners allow it.
Hire, coach and hold accountable the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and other senior leaders, and set clear yearly goals for each.
Report results, risks and key decisions to [the owners or board] on [your reporting schedule], and carry out the decisions they make.
Lead talks on major deals, such as buying a company, large commercial contracts, key supplier agreements and long-term leases.
Protect the company's name with customers, employees, lenders, suppliers and the community, including during a crisis.
A typical day
Go over weekly results with the COO and CFO: revenue, gross margin, cash and anything behind plan.
Meet one on one with each senior leader about goals, open problems and the people on their teams.
Talk with lenders, investors, owners of companies that may sell, and large customers about deals in progress.
Spend time at job sites, branches or on ride-alongs to see what customers and crews see.
Prepare for owner or board meetings and track each open decision until it's closed.
What you need
[10+] years of leadership experience, including [5+] years running a business or a large division with full profit and loss responsibility.
Has hired and led senior managers, not only front-line teams.
Reads a profit and loss statement, balance sheet and cash forecast without help.
Experience negotiating bank financing, major contracts or the purchase of a company.
Bachelor's degree in business or a related field, or equal experience.
Nice to have
Experience leading a home service, construction or other field service company.
Has reported to a board, private owners or outside investors.
Has bought a company and moved it onto shared systems, policies and payroll.
MBA or a similar graduate degree.
Physical requirements
Office and meeting work, with regular visits to job sites, branches and the shop.
Travel by car or plane to locations, lenders and industry events [how often].
With or without reasonable accommodation.
Schedule and work environment
Based at the main office in [city], with regular time at branches and in the field.
Weekday hours, plus evening owner or board meetings, lender dinners and industry events.
On call for serious events, such as a major injury, a large customer dispute or [a storm or emergency surge].
Pay and benefits
Base pay: [range and hourly or salary basis]. Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when eligibility starts].
How to apply
Apply at [application link]. Our process is [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
How the chief executive officer role changes by industry
Every CEO sets direction, raises money and builds the leadership team. What changes by industry is who the CEO answers to, which partners bring in the work, and which rules could shut the business down. A restoration CEO courts insurance partners, a restaurant CEO signs leases, and a hospital CEO answers to a board and to Medicare survey rules.
Chooses which concepts to grow, fix or close, negotiates leases and build-outs, and lines up the bank and equipment financing that pays for new locations.
Grows a group by opening or buying practices, raises capital, and follows state rules on who may own a practice, keeping treatment decisions with licensed dentists.
Pick the four or five the owners or board will review each quarter, and set each target from your own plan.
Revenue growth over the prior year: [your target].
Net profit or EBITDA margin: [your target].
Strategic plan milestones met on schedule: [your target].
Senior leadership team retention: [your target].
Customer review rating across the company: [your target].
New locations or acquisitions closed on plan: [your target].
Before you hire a chief executive officer
Decide what the owner keeps. If the founder stays on as owner or board chair, write down which decisions move to the new CEO, such as hiring leaders, pricing and spending limits. A CEO hired without clear authority gets second-guessed on every call.
Ask for the numbers behind the story. Have finalists walk you through a profit and loss they owned: what they changed, what moved and what didn't. Vague talk about growth with no figures attached is a warning sign.
Check how they built their last team. Ask who they hired into senior roles, who they replaced, and why. Then ask for references from people who reported to them, not only from former bosses.
Test a real decision. Give finalists a short case from your own company, such as opening a second location or buying a competitor. Listen to the questions they ask before they give an answer.
Put the reporting line in the ad. Say whether the CEO reports to you, a family board or outside investors, and how often you meet. Strong candidates ask about it on the first call.
When applications come in, Iris interviews applicants by phone using your requirements. Your team reviews the answers and decides who to meet.
Chief Executive Officer interview questions
Two of the 10 questions in our chief executive officer interview guide, and what a strong answer sounds like.
Situational · Capital and growth
You can fund one move next year: open a branch [an hour] away, buy a smaller competitor that's for sale, or add a service line for current customers. How do you decide?
A strong answer: Compares payback and risk for each, asks who would run it, checks the seller's real earnings and customer overlap, keeps a cash cushion and room under the loan covenants, and sets in advance the result that would make them stop.
Behavioral · Track record
Starting with your first management job and moving forward to today, walk me through each role. For each one, what were you hired to do?
A strong answer: Each job has a clear mandate and a result with before-and-after numbers. Names mistakes without being pushed. Reasons for leaving fit together and mostly point toward something new. Gives bosses' names readily and expects you to call them.
A CEO decides where the company is going and makes sure it has the money and leaders to get there. In a home service business, that means choosing which services and markets to grow, approving the budget and big purchases, hiring the COO and CFO, and reporting to the owners or board.
What is the difference between a CEO and a COO?
The CEO looks outward and ahead: strategy, capital, major deals and the leadership team. The COO runs the operation day to day, from scheduling and crews to service quality and safety. If you're the owner and you still set direction yourself, you may need a COO before you need a CEO.
How much does a chief executive officer make?
U.S. median pay for chief executives was $213,990 a year, or $102.88 an hour, in May 2025, according to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey. That figure covers chief executives in every industry, not only home service businesses, so look at what similar-sized companies in your region pay their top leader.
Does a CEO need a college degree?
Usually. BLS says top executives typically need at least a bachelor's degree and considerable work experience. For a home service business, a record of running a profitable operation and leading managers matters more than the field of study.
What should a chief executive officer job description include?
Who the CEO reports to, the size of the business, which leaders the CEO will manage, and the limits on spending and hiring authority. Add the goals for the first year, how much travel there is, and how pay works, including salary, bonus and any equity. Say plainly whether the founder is staying and in what role.
Is the HireBus Role Blueprint free?
Yes. The template on this page is free to copy, and the Word file downloads with no email. Every industry version is listed on this page too, so you can start from the one closest to your business.
HireBus Role Blueprints: 77 industry versions of the chief executive officer job description, reviewed for publication on October 20, 2026.
Pay and outlook figures cover the whole chief executives group in every industry, not only home service businesses. O*NET reports 291,600 people employed as chief executives in 2025, projects average growth (3% to 4%) from 2025 to 2035, with about 19,100 job openings a year, on average, over that decade.
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