A civil construction office manager handles the paper a public bid needs: plans and addenda from the plan room, the bid bond and each form the owner asks for. They keep insurance papers, bonds and prequalification files current, and run the office team that bills and files for every road and pipe job.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, heavy and civil construction · BLS, May 2025
Serves as the administrative backbone of our civil and infrastructure contracting operations by managing office tasks, billing, and record keeping to ensure efficient day-to-day functioning. Supports senior leadership by providing timely and accurate administrative support that drives operational success.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Oversee and manage all administrative tasks including scheduling, billing, and documentation.
Maintain accurate records of project expenses, client billing, and vendor transactions.
Implement and monitor administrative procedures to enhance operational efficiency.
Coordinate communication and follow-up with contractors, clients, and vendors.
Support senior management with reporting and analysis of office performance metrics.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Process invoices, payments, and client billing on a daily basis.
Maintain organized and updated electronic and physical records.
Schedule and coordinate meetings, appointments, and travel arrangements for staff.
Respond to inquiries from clients, contractors, and vendors ensuring professional communication.
Ensure office supplies and equipment are maintained and ordered as needed.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Billing Accuracy Rate: >98%.
Record Keeping Compliance: 100% adherence to industry standards.
Invoice Processing Time: Average processing time <24 hours.
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Office Management, or a related field.
A minimum of 3 years’ experience in administrative work, preferably in a home services or contracting environment.
Proficiency in billing software, Microsoft Office Suite, and record management systems.
Strong organizational, communication, and time management skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience working within the civil and infrastructure contracting industry.
Prior exposure to project-based work environments with multiple stakeholders.
Previous responsibility for office operations in a highly regulated industry.
Familiarity with industry-specific software and billing systems.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to lift office supplies or light equipment up to 20 lbs.
Extensive use of office equipment such as computers, telephones, and photocopiers.
Regular mobility around a standard office environment.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours: Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Minimal travel required, primarily local visits to vendor locations or project meetings.
Occasional on-call duties during peak project periods.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary Range: $45,000 - $55,000 USD annually.
Eligibility for performance bonuses based on departmental goals.
Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance.
401(k) plan with company matching.
Additional benefits such as paid time off and professional development opportunities.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are a forward-thinking civil and infrastructure contracting company that values professionalism, innovation, and continuous growth.
Our culture emphasizes teamwork, transparency, and a commitment to exceptional customer service.
We empower our employees with opportunities to learn, innovate, and advance throughout their careers.
Join us to be part of a dynamic team that is building the future of infrastructure with integrity and excellence.
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
An office that runs on bid dates and paper deadlines
Public owners can reject a bid over a missing page and hold a payment over a lapsed certificate. The office manager owns the files and calendars that keep both from happening.
Every addendum gets acknowledged
Owners change plans and quantities by addendum, sometimes days before bids open. On federal sealed bids, a bidder acknowledges each one by signing it, listing its number and date on the bid form, or by letter, and the agency must receive that by bid time. A missed one can be waived only if it was minor or the bid shows you clearly had it. So the office manager checks the plan room for new addenda the morning of every bid. Source: FAR 52.214-3: Amendments to invitations for bids (Acquisition.gov).
No bid bond, no bid
On a federal sealed bid, a missing bid bond, when the solicitation calls for one, generally means the bid is thrown out. The FAR forgives only a few slips, such as a bond with a wrong date or no date, or one the bidder forgot to sign on a signed bid. So the office manager orders the bond from the surety agent days ahead. They check the project name and solicitation number, and get it into the bid package. Source: FAR 28.101-4: Noncompliance with bid guarantee requirements (Acquisition.gov).
Railroad right-of-way brings its own policy
Some highway jobs paid at least partly with federal money run partly or wholly inside a railroad's right-of-way. On those, the contractor buys a separate policy, railroad protective liability insurance, for the railroad. Proof of the company's own liability policy goes to the state highway department, with a copy to the railroad. That coverage stays in force until the owner accepts the work. The office manager flags any rail crossing in the plans and calls the agent right away. Source: 23 CFR 646.107: Railroad protective insurance (eCFR).
One file per job for bonds and certificates
Each public contract lists the insurance it wants. The office manager keeps one file per job: the signed contract, the performance and payment bonds, each insurance certificate with its add-ons, and the notice to proceed. They also track when each policy renews. A new certificate should reach every open job's owner before the old one ends, so no pay estimate gets held over it.
A calendar for prequalification
Some state DOTs, Florida's among them, qualify contractors before they bid larger jobs. The office manager tracks each agency's renewal date on one calendar, with the equipment lists, job histories and signatures each filing needs. Next to every date, list the bids the company would miss if that rating lapsed.
How much civil construction office managers make
The closest BLS group for civil construction office managers is First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers. First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers who work for heavy and civil engineering contractors earned a median of $37.24 an hour ($77,460 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s above the $69,500 median for First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers in all industries. About 6,030 of the 1,436,680 First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers in that survey work for heavy and civil construction.
The template's salary range tops out below what three in four office supervisors at heavy and civil contractors make on this chart. Someone who has run public bid days will expect more, before the department bonus the template adds.
Heavy and civil construction
$77,460$77,460 median Middle half $60,330–$96,260 10th–90th $49,660–$115,280
All industries
$69,500$69,500 median Middle half $55,950–$85,090 10th–90th $45,610–$104,710
$25k$50k$75k$100k$125k$150k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Heavy and civil construction
$49,660
$60,330
$77,460
$96,260
$115,280
All industries
$45,610
$55,950
$69,500
$85,090
$104,710
BLS doesn’t publish pay for civil contractors on their own. These figures cover heavy and civil engineering 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 bid-day paperwork for public construction bids
Tracks addenda, bonds and certificates on one deadline calendar
Leads an office team of billing, payroll and admin staff
Keeps job files an owner's auditor can follow without help
Writes clear emails to agencies, sureties and insurance agents
Teach these on the job
Each owner's plan room and bid portal
Your surety agent's bid bond steps
The insurance limits and endorsements in your public contracts
Your prequalification filings and due dates
Your billing and document software
The office works across agency bid portals and plan rooms, such as a state DOT's letting site or services like QuestCDN and BidNet Direct, plus your accounting system and a shared drive for job files. A certificate tracker, even a spreadsheet, belongs in the ad's list.
Civil construction office manager interview questions
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 · Chasing subcontractor payrolls
The owner won't process our pay request until two weeks of a subcontractor's certified payrolls arrive. What do you do?
A strong answer: Contacts the subcontractor with a deadline, escalates through the project manager, tracks it daily and checks the contract for remedies.
Behavioral · Organizing records
Tell me about a filing system you set up for job records, such as daily reports, certified payrolls and inspector quantity sheets, that others could use without asking you.
A strong answer: Clear folders by job and date, naming rules, a checklist of what's missing, and proof that project managers or auditors used it.
Start with the template's numbers. After two bid seasons, set your own targets from the misses in your logs.
Billing Accuracy Rate
Owner pay estimate packages, developer invoices and extra work bills accepted the first time they're sent. Note why each one bounced: a wrong rate, missing backup or a wrong contract number.
Record Keeping Compliance
A monthly audit of a few open job files: signed contract, bonds, current certificates and endorsements, addenda log and notice to proceed. Log every gap by job and fix it before the next pay estimate goes in.
Invoice Processing Time
Hours between a supplier bill or sub pay request landing in the office and its being entered and sent to the project manager for approval, as logged by your accounting system.
Customer/Contractor Satisfaction Rating
A short survey at closeout of the owner's project staff, developer clients and your subs on how fast the office answered requests and sent paperwork.
Career path
Receptionist or bid assistantDownloads plans and addenda and learns the bid calendar.
Civil construction office managerRuns bid paperwork, job files and the office staff.
Contracts or bid managerOwns bid packages, owner contracts and prequalification for the company.
Project managerA move to the job side: one contract's schedule, changes and billing.
Other roles in a civil & infrastructure contractors business
Who should run bid day, the office manager or the estimator?
Both, with a clear split. The estimator owns the numbers. The office manager owns everything else that goes in the envelope or the portal: the bid form, addenda acknowledgments, the bid bond and each certification the owner asks for. Write a checklist for each owner, and have a second person check it before the bid goes out. A low price on a rejected bid earns nothing.
How much does a civil construction office manager make?
First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers who work for heavy and civil engineering contractors earned a median of $37.24 an hour ($77,460 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $60,330 and $96,260 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
How long must certified payrolls and job files be kept?
Longer than most offices plan for. On Davis-Bacon jobs, payrolls and basic records have to be kept a minimum of three years after all the work on the prime contract is done. Contracts, state law and your lawyer may set longer periods for other files. Keep each job's file whole until the longest of them runs out, then destroy it on a set schedule.
What is a plan room, and who should register?
A plan room is the website or service where an owner posts plans, specs and addenda for a bid. If the owner keeps a planholders list, register under a company account the office watches, not one estimator's email. Then addenda still reach you when that estimator is out sick or leaves. Download each addendum into the bid folder the day it posts.
Who files prequalification papers, the office manager or the CFO?
Split it. The CFO and outside CPA produce the financial statements, and the general manager decides which kinds of work to apply for. The office manager gathers the rest, such as equipment lists, job histories, references and signatures, and tracks every due date. When the rating comes back, they send the new limits to the estimators.
