An excavation office manager keeps the money and paper moving behind the crews. They bill each builder lot as its stages finish, send developers their monthly pay requests, keep contractor registrations current, and pull the file together when a utility bills for a strike.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, other specialty trade contractors · BLS, May 2025
Serve as the central administrative hub for the excavation and site work division, ensuring all billing, project documentation, and administrative tasks are executed efficiently. Enhance operational efficiency by streamlining processes and facilitating effective communication between field teams and corporate office. Support both internal and external stakeholders with accuracy and professionalism to help drive overall company success. Act as a key contributor in maintaining high customer satisfaction and operational excellence.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Manage day-to-day office operations including scheduling, supply ordering, and internal communications.
Oversee billing processes ensuring timely invoicing and adherence to financial controls.
Maintain and organize comprehensive project documentation for current and completed projects.
Provide administrative support to project managers and field teams with data entry and report preparation.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Process incoming and outgoing correspondence and manage digital and physical filing systems.
Coordinate payroll, purchase orders, and vendor communications for site work projects.
Handle customer inquiries and follow-up calls to resolve issues and gather feedback.
Update project tracking systems and ensure all documentation aligns with company standards.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Invoice Accuracy Rate: >98%.
Billing Cycle Time: ≤5 business days per invoice.
Project Documentation Completeness: 100% compliance with audit standards.
Customer Inquiry Resolution Time: Average under 24 hours.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Management, or related field.
Minimum of 3 years in an administrative or office management role, preferably within home services.
Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and project management software.
Excellent organizational, communication, and time-management skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience working in the excavation, construction, or home services industry.
Familiarity with billing software and financial oversight in a field services context.
Proven ability to manage multiple priorities and tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
Demonstrated success in facilitating process improvements and office operations.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to occasionally lift files, office supplies, or light equipment up to 20 lbs.
Extended periods of sitting and computer work.
Occasional walking and maneuvering within an active work environment.
Capacity to navigate office environments that may occasionally have field-related equipment.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday to Friday.
Standard office setting with occasional visits to project sites if required.
Minimal travel expectations unless for company events or special project meetings.
Limited on-call duties with primary focus on regular business hours.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Competitive salary range: $45,000 - $55,000 USD per annum, based on experience.
Eligibility for annual performance bonuses.
Comprehensive Health, Dental, and Vision insurance packages available.
401k plan with company match and other employee fringe benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
At [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE], we pride ourselves on a culture of teamwork, continuous learning, and relentless pursuit of excellence.
We foster an environment where every team member is valued, and success is measured by our customer satisfaction and quality service delivery.
Our commitment to innovation and growth ensures that you will have ample opportunities to level up your career.
We encourage a collaborative workspace where ideas are celebrated and new initiatives are supported.
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 builder lot gets dug, backfilled and graded weeks apart. A developer phase bills by the month. A strike or a lapsed registration can stop the money. The office manager keeps all of it on a calendar.
Each lot bills in stages
A builder lot often gets its basement dig, then backfill a few weeks later, then final grade once the house is up. Each stage is its own bill. Final grade can come months after the dig. Keep a stage list for every open lot, and bill each stage within days of the foreman's report. Then hunt down lots where final grade was done but never billed.
Developer phases bill with backup
Grading, streets and pipe for a developer usually bill once a month. Each request lists the work done to date, line by line. The developer's engineer or the lender's inspector often checks those numbers before payment. So get the project manager's quantities early, and send the proof with the request: load counts, feet of pipe laid and test reports.
A state registration can lapse with the insurance
Nebraska, as one example, has contractors register with its Department of Labor before doing construction work there, and the law names sewers, water mains and streets. Registration renews each year and includes proof of workers' comp coverage. A change in that coverage must be reported at least 10 days ahead, and other changes within 15 days. If the policy is canceled and no new certificate arrives first, the state revokes the registration. Keep the registration and the policy on one calendar. Source: Nebraska Revised Statutes 48-2104: Contractor registration required (example state).
Strike bills need a packet
A utility can bill for a line a crew hit weeks after the strike. Before anyone pays, the office pulls the locate ticket and checks that it covered that address on that day. Then it adds the crew's photos of the marks, the foreman's notes and the utilities' answers on the ticket. The general manager decides whether to pay, dispute or call the insurer. Photos of the marks exist only if crews take them before digging, so make that a rule on every ticketed dig.
How much excavation office managers make
The closest BLS group for excavation office managers is First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers. First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers who work for other specialty trade contractors earned a median of $32.55 an hour ($67,710 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about the same as the $69,500 median for First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers in all industries. About 5,630 of the 1,436,680 First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers in that survey work for other specialty trade contractors.
Salary and an annual bonus come from the template. The salary range sits low on the BLS chart here, from about the bottom tenth to just past the bottom quarter. Someone who already bills builders and developers will expect its top or more. Link the bonus to how fast bills go out once work is done.
Other specialty trade contractors
$67,710$67,710 median Middle half $53,920–$85,990 10th–90th $45,470–$105,800
All industries
$69,500$69,500 median Middle half $55,950–$85,090 10th–90th $45,610–$104,710
$25k$50k$75k$100k$125k
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
$45,470
$53,920
$67,710
$85,990
$105,800
All industries
$45,610
$55,950
$69,500
$85,090
$104,710
BLS doesn’t publish pay for excavation 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 sent lot bills to builders and monthly pay requests to developers
Keeps a stage list so no backfill or final grade goes unbilled
Never lets a state registration or insurance certificate lapse mid-season
Builds a clean packet of tickets and photos for a disputed bill
Has supervised office staff and set their daily routines
Teach these on the job
Each builder's lot numbers and how they want stages billed
Your developers' pay request forms and backup rules
Contractor registration rules in the states you work in
How foremen send daily reports and photos
Your accounting and billing software
Billing runs through construction accounting software that can bill by lot and by pay request, fed by foremen's daily reports and photos from a field app. Add a renewal calendar for registrations and insurance, and ask finalists how they found work that was done but never billed.
Excavation 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 · Pay application requirements
A general contractor rejects your pay application because lien waivers are missing. What do you do?
A strong answer: Gets the right waivers out the same day, resubmits, and builds a checklist of each contractor's pay application requirements.
Behavioral · Process improvement
Tell me about a time you fixed an office process that kept causing billing mistakes, such as unbilled truck hours.
A strong answer: Names the mistake, like unbilled truck hours or missing change orders, traces it to a step such as unsigned field tickets, changes that step, and shows fewer credits or rebills.
Some bills wait on the field, not the office, such as a final grade report that never came in. Log the cause of each delay, so the office manager is judged on the part they control.
Invoice Accuracy Rate
Lot bills and pay requests paid as sent, without a credit, a rebill or a builder short-pay. Note the cause of each miss: wrong stage, wrong lot, wrong rate or missing backup.
Billing Cycle Time
Business days from the foreman's report that a stage is done, or the developer's cutoff, to the bill going out. Keep final grade bills on their own line, since they're the ones most often late.
Project Documentation Completeness
Pick five closed lots and one closed phase each month. Check each file for the signed order, locate ticket number, photos and test reports, and score the files with nothing missing.
Customer Inquiry Resolution Time
Hours from a builder's or developer's billing or paperwork question to an answer that closes it, from the email and phone logs. Questions waiting on a project manager get their own count.
What paperwork should we collect from hired haulers?
Collect these before a hauler's first trip: a W-9, current insurance certificates for the hauler's trucks and workers, a signed hauling agreement with rates and ticket rules, and the hauler's USDOT number if it has one. Put each certificate's end date on the calendar. A hauler whose coverage lapses mid-season gets no more loads until a new certificate is in the file.
How much does an excavation office manager make?
First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers who work for other specialty trade contractors earned a median of $32.55 an hour ($67,710 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $53,920 and $85,990 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Who keeps truck registrations current?
Usually the office, while the bookkeeper files the federal heavy vehicle use tax. The office tracks each truck's plates, insurance card and permits, puts every renewal on the calendar, and checks that drivers have the papers they need in the cab. When a truck is sold, its plates come off and its coverage ends that same week.
Which audits does the template's documentation target mean?
Most often three: the insurance company's yearly premium audit, the CPA's year-end work, and a developer or lender checking pay requests. Each wants different proof. The insurer wants payroll by type of work and certificates from subs. The CPA wants signed contracts and change orders. The developer wants quantity backup. Ask each what it pulled last time, and build the files to match.
Should the office manager supervise the CSR and the dispatcher?
Usually the CSR, and sometimes the dispatcher. The dispatcher's day runs on the field's schedule, so that job often answers to the operations manager. The CSR's calls feed billing and job files, which fits the office. If the office manager leads both, write down who sets the dispatcher's priorities, so a builder never gets two answers.
