Civil construction project manager job description
A civil construction project manager is the company's contract lead on road, bridge, storm drain and utility jobs for cities, counties, state DOTs and developers. They plan the schedule, buy out subs and materials, track quantities against the bid, and send the written notices that protect the company's time and money when a job changes.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, heavy and civil construction · BLS, May 2025
Lead and manage major road and bridge projects from inception to completion ensuring that timelines, budgets, and compliance standards are consistently met.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Oversee the planning, execution, and completion of infrastructure projects ensuring adherence to safety, quality, and regulatory standards.
Manage project timelines, budgets, and resources effectively to deliver projects on schedule and within financial constraints.
Ensure strict compliance with local, state, and federal regulations throughout project lifecycles.
Coordinate cross-functional teams including engineers, contractors, and stakeholders to drive project success.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Monitor daily project progress, conducting site visits to ensure work is performed according to plans and specifications.
Communicate with stakeholders, team members, and regulatory bodies to provide updates and resolve issues promptly.
Prepare and review project reports, schedules, and budgets on a regular basis.
Facilitate regular project meetings with subcontractors and internal teams to review progress and address challenges.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Project Completion Rate: 95% of projects completed on schedule.
Budget Adherence: Project expenditures kept within 3% of the approved budget.
Compliance Rate: 100% compliance with relevant safety and regulatory standards.
Stakeholder Satisfaction: Achieve a stakeholder satisfaction rating of >4.8 stars.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, Construction Management, or a related field.
Minimum of 5 years of project management experience in the civil or infrastructure industry.
Proficient in project management software and Microsoft Office suite.
Excellent communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience working with civil and infrastructure contractors on road and bridge projects.
Familiarity with regulatory requirements and industry best practices in infrastructure projects.
Proven track record of managing large-scale construction projects from planning through completion.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to perform frequent site visits and work in varying weather conditions.
Occasional lifting of project-related materials up to 50 pounds.
Capability to stand and walk for extended periods during site inspections.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM with occasional extended workdays during peak project phases.
Expected travel to project sites on a regular basis.
On-call duties may apply in emergency or critical project situations as required.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary Range: $80,000 - $110,000 USD per year depending on experience and qualifications.
Performance-based bonus structure available.
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
401(k) plan with employer matching.
Additional fringe benefits including paid time off, professional development opportunities, and life insurance.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are a growth-oriented company that values innovation, collaboration, and excellence.
Our team is committed to professional development and continuous improvement, ensuring every employee has the opportunity to thrive.
We pride ourselves on an inclusive culture that encourages creative problem-solving and supports work-life balance.
Join a company where your expertise will contribute to building sustainable and impactful infrastructure projects.
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
On road and bridge jobs paid with federal-aid highway money, FHWA's rules shape the contract. They pay the contractor for some changes and delays, but only when the PM gives notice in time and saves the backup.
Notice comes before the digging
FHWA requires a differing site conditions clause in federal-aid highway contracts, its own or the state DOT's version, unless state law bars it. Design-build and on-call contracts get more leeway. Say the crew finds rock the borings missed or soil much softer than the report said. The PM must tell the engineer in writing before the area is disturbed and before that work goes on. Skip the notice and you lose any change in your favor. So the crew moves to other work, and the letter goes out that day. Source: eCFR: 23 CFR 635.109, standardized changed condition clauses.
Quantity swings and suspensions have their own clocks
Two more clauses set their own deadlines. If a major bid item ends up more than a quarter over or under its original quantity, the price can be adjusted, and for an overrun only on the part past that line. Agree on the basis before doing the work. If the engineer suspends work in writing for an unreasonable time, a written request for money or time is due within 7 calendar days of the notice to resume. Late requests get nothing, and neither do suspensions caused by weather. Source: eCFR: 23 CFR 635.109, standardized changed condition clauses.
The prime has to do much of the work itself
Except on design-build, a federal-aid highway contract makes the prime do at least three-tenths of the original contract price with its own forces. Specialty items the contract names don't count in that math. No sub may start until the state DOT says yes in writing. Each subcontract goes on paper and carries the prime contract's terms that apply. The PM picks which items to sub out with that floor in mind. One of the company's own superintendents stays in charge of all the work, subs included. Source: eCFR: 23 CFR 635.116, subcontracting and contractor responsibilities.
Late finishes cost a set amount per day
Each state DOT sets liquidated damages rates for federal-aid jobs. At a minimum they cover the state's average daily cost of construction engineering, such as inspection, for that type of work. Some add costs such as road user delay. The amount comes out of your pay for each calendar day or workday past contract time. Time extensions the state grants go to FHWA too, fully justified and documented. So the PM checks the owner's count of days charged weekly and asks for time in writing when a delay starts. Source: eCFR: 23 CFR 635.127, liquidated damages for overruns in contract time.
Utility moves often run alongside the work
Poles, gas mains and water lines in the way don't always move before the job starts. On federal-aid highway work, if that work can't be done first, the bid proposal must say which utility, railroad and right-of-way work will go on during the build. The state must plan it so it causes no needless delay or cost. The PM puts those moves in the schedule and calls each utility every week. They log each crew hour lost waiting, since that log backs a request for more time. Source: eCFR: 23 CFR 635.309, authorization, including utility work named in bid proposals.
How much civil construction project managers make
The closest BLS group for civil construction project managers is construction managers. Construction managers who work for heavy and civil engineering contractors earned a median of $124,430 a year ($59.82 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s above the $114,990 median for construction managers in all industries. About 49,180 of the 380,360 construction managers in that survey work for heavy and civil construction.
Salaried, plus a bonus paid on margin kept at closeout and on jobs that finish without liquidated damages. The template's range starts just above the chart's low end for heavy and civil firms and tops out below their median.
Heavy and civil construction
$124,430$124,430 median Middle half $97,980–$156,200 10th–90th $76,030–$189,980
All industries
$114,990$114,990 median Middle half $88,550–$151,640 10th–90th $69,690–$189,440
$50k$75k$100k$125k$150k$175k$200k$225k
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
$76,030
$97,980
$124,430
$156,200
$189,980
All industries
$69,690
$88,550
$114,990
$151,640
$189,440
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 settled final quantities with a resident engineer on a unit-price road or utility contract
Reads standard specs and special provisions and finds the clause that applies
Puts every changed condition and delay in a dated letter that cites the clause
Builds and updates a critical path schedule an owner will accept
Tracks quantities in place against bid quantities and sees an overrun coming
Keeps engineers, utilities, subs and the superintendent working to the same dates
Teach these on the job
How your bid items roll up into job cost
Each owner's change order, time extension and pay forms
Your subcontract form and the clauses each owner wants passed down
How your foremen log quantities in the field app each day
Which utility contacts move poles and mains, and the lead time each needs
The PM works from the bid in your heavy civil estimating system, a critical path schedule (P6 or similar), a quantity log by bid item, and each owner's portal for submittals and pay estimates. A PM who already knows your state DOT's standard specifications can write a sound notice in week one.
Civil construction project 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 · Utility conflicts
A gas main isn't where the plans show it, and your storm sewer can't be built as designed. What do you do?
A strong answer: Stops work there, notifies the owner and utility in writing, documents it, asks for a redesign through an RFI, resequences the crews, and tracks delay and cost for a change order.
Behavioral · Public communication
Tell me about a tough conversation with residents, business owners or officials about your project's impact.
A strong answer: Prepared with the schedule and traffic plan, listened, explained impacts such as access and noise plainly, made only commitments the job could keep, and followed through.
A state DOT bridge and a city storm drain job shouldn't share a target. Split your closed jobs by owner type, see what your best PM hit on each, and set targets from that.
Project Completion Rate
Per PM, jobs finished inside contract time plus approved extensions. While a job runs, compare the owner's count of days charged with your own every week, and dispute a wrong day that same week.
Budget Adherence
Each month, the forecast cost to complete by bid item against the bid, with quantity overruns shown apart from cost overruns. At closeout, compare the final margin with the bid margin.
Compliance Rate
Owner letters citing a missed requirement on the PM's jobs, such as a sub on site before approval, a late notice or a rejected submittal, counted per job and tracked until each is fixed.
Stakeholder Satisfaction
Swap stars for what owners write: the agency's contractor evaluation where it issues one, plus a short closeout call with the resident engineer, the city's project manager and each utility's contact.
Career path
Project engineer or field engineerMeasures quantities in place and logs them for the monthly pay estimate.
Civil construction project managerOwns each contract's schedule, notices, subs and pay estimates.
Operations managerBalances crews, fleet and dates across all the company's contracts.
General managerLeads a division's estimators, PMs and crews, and its yearly profit.
Other roles in a civil & infrastructure contractors business
Do federal-aid contract rules apply to a city's road job?
Yes, when the job is paid with federal-aid highway money. Under FHWA's rule, the state DOT still answers for the project, and a contract a city or county awards must meet all federal requirements, including FHWA's contract rules. On a job paid only with local money, the city's own general conditions apply, and their notice rules may differ. Read those before the preconstruction meeting.
How much does a civil construction project manager make?
Construction managers who work for heavy and civil engineering contractors earned a median of $124,430 a year ($59.82 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $97,980 and $156,200 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Can we bill for precast or bridge beams before they're set?
Often, if the contract allows it. On federal-aid jobs, FHWA shares in what the state pays for stockpiled material when the contract provides for it, the material meets the specs, and a paid invoice or delivery receipt backs it up. If you bill on a receipt, send the paid invoice soon after the state pays you. Beams or box culverts made at a plant may stay there when the state agrees they can't practically be stored near the job.
Should civil project managers estimate their own jobs?
It can work well. A PM who helped price a job knows its assumptions, such as the crew size, the haul distance and the production rate, and spots a bad one early. The risk is a PM who defends their own number instead of reporting a loss. If one person bids and builds, have the chief estimator or general manager review the cost to complete each month.
What hiring test works for a civil project manager?
Build it from the three clauses on this page. On a unit-price storm drain job, the crew hits rock the borings missed, the engineer then suspends work for a gas main move, and the pipe quantity runs well past the bid. Ask for the three letters they'd send this week, with dates. Listen for notice before the rock is dug out, a written request within seven days of the notice to restart, and a talk about the overrun's price before that pipe goes in.
What do the template's site visit and lifting lines mean for a civil PM?
The wording stays as is. On a civil job it covers tasks like a final walk with the resident engineer to measure curb, pipe and paving, standing on a bridge deck through a long pour, and carrying a measuring wheel or a box of test reports from the truck. Name each one in the job post, note the usual number of site days each week, and say who handles accommodation requests.
