A design-build project manager runs each addition, remodel or custom home from the signed build contract to handover. They hold the budget and schedule the firm promised, settle field problems with the firm's own designers, and keep the family and every subcontractor on site in step.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Annual pay: 10th percentile $66,560, middle half $84,680 to $150,960, 90th percentile $182,540. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Reports to
Operations Manager
Department
Operations
Schedule
8 to 5, often on site, some on-call · 8 AM to 5 PM with regular site visits, longer days in peak project phases, and some on-call duty for job emergencies
The Project Manager plays a pivotal role in bridging the gap between design innovation and construction excellence. This role is responsible for managing the entire project lifecycle—from initial scope definition and budgeting to execution and timely delivery—while ensuring that both client expectations and company standards are met.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Oversee project scope and ensure all deliverables align with client requirements and company objectives.
Manage project timelines and budgets to facilitate on-time, on-budget project completions.
Coordinate between design and construction teams to maintain seamless communication and efficient workflow.
Monitor project risks and implement mitigation strategies to uphold quality and safety standards.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Conduct daily team briefings and progress reviews to adjust plans and address issues promptly.
Review and update project schedules while monitoring budget expenditures.
Liaise with design professionals, construction teams, and vendors to ensure project consistency.
Prepare and present regular status reports to stakeholders and executive leadership.
Budget Adherence: Maintain project expenditures within 3% of allocated budgets.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: Sustain a rating greater than 4.8 stars per project review.
Safety Compliance: Reach and maintain 100% adherence to safety protocols.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Engineering, or a related field.
Minimum of 5 years’ project management experience in design-build or home services industries.
Strong leadership, communication, and organizational skills to effectively guide multidisciplinary teams.
Proficiency in project management software and financial budgeting tools.
6. Preferred Experience
Prior experience managing design-build projects in residential or commercial settings.
A demonstrable record of delivering projects within established timelines and budgets.
Familiarity with local construction regulations, building codes, and sustainable design best practices.
Experience in client relationship management and vendor coordination.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to occasionally lift up to 20-30 pounds and work on-site in various weather conditions.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard work hours from 8 AM to 5 PM with occasional extended hours during peak project phases.
Regular on-site visits to project locations as required.
Minimal travel for client meetings and vendor consultations.
Occasional on-call duties during project emergencies.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Competitive salary range of $80,000 - $100,000 per year.
Performance-based bonus and commission structure.
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance plans.
401(k) plan with company match, along with generous paid time off.
10. Company Culture and Overview
A dynamic and inclusive workplace that promotes innovation, teamwork, and professional growth.
A commitment to integrity, sustainability, and exceptional customer service.
A culture that values continuous learning, collaboration, and creativity.
An environment that celebrates individual achievements while nurturing collective success.
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
The PM inherits a house the firm drew, priced and sold itself, and a family who has already spent months with the designers. Keeping that trust through the build, and the margin with it, is the job.
Drawing mistakes aren't change orders
When the plans miss a beam or a dimension, the cost is the firm's, because it sold the design along with the build. The PM keeps those costs off the family's change orders, logs each one with its price, and goes over the list with the design manager after closeout. Billing a family for the firm's own drawing error is a quick way to lose the referral the job was supposed to bring.
The firm answers for its subs' safety too
A design-build firm signs the one contract with the family, so no general contractor sits above it on site. Under OSHA's multi-employer policy, the company that can make others fix hazards is the controlling employer, and it can be cited if it doesn't use reasonable care. OSHA's own example faults a contractor that pointed out a painter's missing fall protection at each visit and did nothing more. So the PM and field supervisor agree how often each sub's work gets walked, and what happens the second time. Source: OSHA: Multi-employer citation policy (CPL 02-00-124).
A change may need the city's approval first
Moving a wall, adding a window or enlarging a shower can change the permit drawings, not just the price. In Billings, Montana, for example, every change to approved plans goes to the building division for review before it's built or inspected. A change made in the field must be filed by the next business day, or the city issues a stop work order. The PM gets revised sheets from the designers and files them before the crew builds the change. Source: City of Billings, Montana (example): plan revision application.
The family's own vendors need a slot
Families often hire their own people during a build: an audio and security installer, a closet company, a landscaper, an appliance delivery. The PM decides when each one comes, who lets them in, and what they may touch, such as finished floors or open walls. Get proof of insurance before they start, and write down who answers for damage they cause. A wall scratched by someone else's crew still ends up on the PM's punch list.
How much design-build project managers make
The closest BLS group for design-build project managers is construction managers. Construction managers who work for building contractors earned a median of $110,710 a year ($53.23 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $114,990 median for construction managers in all industries. About 149,040 of the 380,360 construction managers in that survey work for building contractors.
Base salary, then a bonus and commission on top, is the template's plan. Its top figure sits under the BLS median for construction managers at building contractors, a group that also covers commercial builders. Base the bonus on each closed job's margin against the build contract estimate. If you pay commission on change orders, pay it on their margin, not their price.
Building contractors
$110,710$110,710 median Middle half $84,680–$150,960 10th–90th $66,560–$182,540
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
Building contractors
$66,560
$84,680
$110,710
$150,960
$182,540
All industries
$69,690
$88,550
$114,990
$151,640
$189,440
BLS doesn’t publish pay for design-build firms on their own. These figures cover construction of buildings, 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 additions, whole-home remodels or custom homes from contract to final
Reads a drawing set and finds what's missing before the crew does
Tracks job cost against the estimate every week, not at closeout
Walks a family through a cost overrun with the job cost report in hand
Holds subs to the firm's site and safety rules
Teach these on the job
Your build contract, change order form and payment stages
How your designers want field questions sent
How your estimates are coded and how job costs are reported
Each town's plan revision and inspection steps
Your client portal and what families see in it
Schedules, change orders, daily logs and the client portal live in one job app, often Buildertrend or JobTread, and the PM reads job cost reports from accounting there or beside it. A PDF markup tool makes it quick to circle a problem on the drawings and send it back to the designers.
Design-build 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 · Mid-construction design changes
During construction, the client wants a design change that the designer says will take two weeks to redraw. How do you handle it?
A strong answer: Assesses cost and schedule impact, explains it, gets a decision, writes the change order, and coordinates the designer and field.
Behavioral · Long design phases
Tell me about a time you kept a client happy through a long design phase.
A strong answer: Set expectations at the start, gave regular updates, set decision deadlines, and kept the client moving without pressure.
A custom home and a bath remodel shouldn't share a target, so split each measure by job type and read it across a full year of closeouts.
Project Completion Rate
Jobs handed over by the build contract's date, moved only by days that signed change orders added. Tag a late job by where the days went: waiting on a plan revision, a selection made after its deadline, or the build itself.
Budget Adherence
Final job cost against the estimate at the build contract, with the firm's own drawing errors on a separate line so they don't hide inside the variance.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Ask at two points: the final walk-through, and again once the family has lived in the new rooms through a full change of seasons. Read the second score beside that job's warranty calls.
Safety Compliance
Findings from the field supervisor's walks of the PM's houses, counted by sub and for the firm's own crew, and how long each stayed open. A sub written up twice for the same hazard gets the next agreed step.
Should the project manager sign off on the estimate before the family signs?
Yes. The PM will be judged on that budget, so they should read it before it's sold: the quantities, the days set for each phase, which trades have real sub bids behind them and what the estimate leaves out. Give them a few days and a short list of questions to answer. A PM who finds a missing line after the contract is signed can only explain it, not fix it.
How much does a design-build project manager make?
Construction managers who work for building contractors earned a median of $110,710 a year ($53.23 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $84,680 and $150,960 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Can a design-build PM ask families for reviews?
Yes. Ask every family the same way at the same point, such as a week after the final walk-through. Don't offer a gift, a discount or a warranty favor in return. Under the FTC's rule, a perk offered only for praise, or only for criticism, is unlawful. So are groundless legal threats used to keep a review from being posted or to have it removed.
How often should the PM meet with the family?
Set a fixed weekly time for the whole build, in person or by video. Cover what got done, what's next, decisions the family owes and by what date, and any change orders waiting for a signature. Send a short written summary after each meeting. When families know when they'll hear from the PM, fewer worried calls reach the office.
How can you test a design-build PM before hiring?
Give finalists the schedule and job cost report from the middle of a past addition, where framing ran long and the cabinet order slipped two weeks. Ask them to write that week's update to the family and to show what they'd change in the schedule. Strong answers say plainly which costs the firm will carry and which choices the family now has to make.
