A demolition chief operating officer sets up the system that moves crews, machines, haul trucks and debris boxes from one job to the next without a missed step. They decide what must be in a job file before anyone mobilizes, who is trained for asbestos and lead work, and how drivers' hours are logged.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, other specialty trade contractors · BLS, May 2025
Provides strategic leadership and oversight of daily demolition operations to maximize efficiency, enhance safety, and ensure full compliance with industry regulations. Plays a pivotal role in driving operational excellence, optimizing resource allocation, and supporting company growth initiatives.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Oversee and manage daily demolition operations ensuring adherence to schedule and safety protocols.
Implement process improvements to drive operational efficiency and reduce project turnaround times.
Ensure compliance with all applicable regulatory and environmental standards.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align operational strategies with overall business objectives.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Monitor crew performance and workflow on demolition sites to ensure operational standards are met.
Review and optimize project plans, schedules, and resource allocations daily.
Conduct safety briefings and site inspections to enforce adherence to safety protocols and regulatory guidelines.
Liaise with clients and stakeholders to ensure timely project updates and address any emerging concerns.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Project completion rate: ≥95%.
Safety incident frequency: <3 incidents per quarter.
Client satisfaction rating: >4.8 stars on post-project surveys.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Engineering, or a related field.
10+ years of progressive leadership experience in operations, preferably within the demolition or home services industry.
Proven track record in process optimization, project management, and team leadership.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience with large-scale demolition projects and multi-site operations management.
Prior exposure to regulatory compliance and safety management in high-risk environments.
Background in implementing technology-driven operational improvements.
Past experience in a senior operations role within the home services or construction industries.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to conduct on-site inspections in diverse environments including outdoor demolition sites.
Capable of lifting up to 25 lbs when performing routine tasks.
Comfortable working in variable weather conditions and in potentially hazardous settings.
Requires regular observation of ergonomic practices to prevent workplace injuries.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
May require extended hours or weekend oversight during critical project phases.
Occasional travel to project sites across multiple locations.
On-call responsibilities during major project deployments or emergencies.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Annual salary range: $140,000 - $180,000 USD.
Performance bonus eligibility based on achieving operational and safety milestones.
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
401(k) plan with company match and other related fringe benefits.
Opportunities for continuous professional development and training.
10. Company Culture and Overview
Our company embodies a culture of innovation, safety, and operational excellence, empowering employees to take initiative and grow professionally.
We foster an environment of collaboration and inclusivity, where every team member’s contribution drives our success.
Our commitment to sustainability and ethical practices underscores all of our operations, and we ardently support community engagement and responsible business methods.
Join us to be part of a forward-thinking company that values transparency, continuous improvement, and excellence in service.
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 demolition company runs three operations at once: crews taking buildings apart, a fleet of machines and attachments, and trucks hauling debris to several kinds of sites. The COO makes them run on one plan.
No job starts with an empty file
Before a crew mobilizes, the job file should hold the engineering survey, the asbestos inspection and any notice it calls for, confirmation that utilities are off, the permit and the waste plan. Leads and project managers own pieces of that work. The COO owns the gate: a checklist the scheduler can't skip, and one named person who can release the job.
A trained asbestos representative on site
EPA's asbestos rule bars stripping, removing or disturbing regulated asbestos on a covered job unless at least one trained on-site representative, such as a foreman or manager, is present. That person takes refresher training every two years, and proof of the training is posted at the site. The COO keeps the roster of trained people, tracks refresher dates, and won't book a removal day without one of them free. Source: eCFR: Asbestos NESHAP standard for demolition and renovation (40 CFR 61.145).
A written lead plan comes before the job
When workers' lead exposure on a job will be above OSHA's limit, the employer writes a compliance program before work starts. It describes each task that releases lead, the controls, the crew size, and on shared sites how contractors warn each other's workers. A competent person inspects often, and the program is updated at least once a year. The COO keeps one company template that each such job fills in. Source: eCFR: Lead in construction (29 CFR 1926.62).
Haul trucks run on time records
Debris trucks that return to the yard each day may use the federal short-haul exception from driver logs. Each driver works within 150 air miles of the yard, finishes inside a 14-hour window, and has at least 10 hours off before the next shift. The company keeps six months of records showing when each driver started and finished. The COO sets one start and stop log for every truck, so the exception holds up in an audit. Source: eCFR: Hours of service, short-haul operations (49 CFR 395.1).
How much demolition chief operating officers make
The closest BLS group for demolition chief operating officers is chief executives. Chief executives who work for other specialty trade contractors earned a median of $151,900 a year ($73.03 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $213,990 median for chief executives in all industries. About 490 of the 204,350 chief executives in that survey work for other specialty trade contractors.
Salary and a bonus for operating and safety milestones, as the template says. The best milestones for this job are ones the COO builds: training kept current, job files complete before mobilizing, and machine downtime falling.
Other specialty trade contractors
$151,900$151,900 median Middle half $113,900–$319,020 10th–90th $83,500–$392,040
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
Other specialty trade contractors
$83,500
$113,900
$151,900
$319,020
$392,040
All industries
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
BLS doesn’t publish pay for demolition contractors on their own. These figures cover other specialty trade contractors, 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 led field operations across several demolition, abatement or heavy construction crews
Has built a job start checklist that schedulers and crews actually follow
Knows OSHA's demolition, lead and silica rules well enough to audit a site
Sets service and replacement plans for machines, attachments and trucks
Turns near misses into written changes in how jobs run
Teach these on the job
Your job file checklist and release steps
Your asbestos and lead training roster
Your telematics and fleet maintenance software
Driver time records and truck inspection forms
Your client, permit office and disposal site contacts
Expect a job scheduling board, telematics on the machines and trucks, a fleet maintenance system, and a tracker for asbestos, lead, silica and equipment sign-offs. Ask finalists how they kept the schedule and the training records in step at their last company.
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 · Fixing a broken checklist
You learn a crew started a kitchen tear-out before anyone confirmed the gas line was shut off and capped. No one was hurt. What do you do?
A strong answer: Stops similar work until confirmed, finds out how the start got approved without it, adds a sign-off before any start, retrains supervisors, and shares the lesson company-wide.
Behavioral · Speeding up projects
Tell me about a process change you made that shortened project time.
A strong answer: Names the bottleneck, such as debris haul-off or permit timing, the change, and the measured result.
Report these to the CEO monthly by type of job, and pull out jobs that stopped for hidden asbestos or a neighbor's complaint, since those point to the system rather than the crew.
Project completion rate
Jobs closed by the contract date, with each late one tagged by cause: a missing permit or notice, equipment, hauling, crew or the client.
Safety incident frequency
OSHA-recordable cases per hours worked, with the serious near misses crews reported logged beside them. Thank people for reporting, so the count shows what happened rather than what people chose to tell.
Operational efficiency percentage
Crew days and machine hours booked to paying jobs, divided by what was available. Count idle trucks and roll-off boxes the same way.
Client satisfaction rating
Scores from contractors and owners at closeout, plus whether each one asks the company to bid again within a year.
Should a demolition COO own safety, or a safety director?
At a company this size, have the COO own the safety program and a safety manager run it day to day. Make sure the safety manager can reach the COO directly when a lead and the schedule disagree, and give asbestos and lead work their own sign-off before a crew starts.
How much does a demolition chief operating officer make?
Chief executives who work for other specialty trade contractors earned a median of $151,900 a year ($73.03 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $113,900 and $319,020 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Should hauling be its own department?
Once trucks run every day for several crews, it helps. Give one person the truck schedule, driver records and choice of dump sites, reporting to operations. Crews then ask for a box or a truck the same way they ask for a machine, and the COO can see what hauling costs on each job.
Which records should a new demolition COO pull first?
The files and tickets from last year's jobs that lost money or got stopped: crews that mobilized before the file was complete, repair logs showing machines waiting on parts, and dump tickets showing trucks stuck in line. Then ride along on a strip-out and a teardown in the first month, since the patterns show up faster in the field than in reports.
Does a demolition COO need asbestos training?
Only if they will stand in as the trained person on site. The COO needs to know which training each role calls for and keep it current. A COO who covers removal days as the on-site representative needs the same course and refreshers as any foreman in that role.
