A fence company general manager is the owner's stand-in at one location, answerable for what it sells, builds and earns. The GM keeps registration and insurance current, makes the price book charge for gates, corners and slopes, and settles complaints from customers and from the neighbors on the other side of the fence.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, other specialty trade contractors · BLS, May 2025
Accountable for directing multiple operational teams to drive efficiency and profitability in fence installation services. Oversees day-to-day business operations, ensuring adherence to quality standards and cost control. Acts as a strategic partner in achieving company objectives and enhancing customer satisfaction.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Lead and manage teams to ensure safe, efficient, and profitable fence installation projects.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Oversee daily operations, including scheduling, resource allocation, and project prioritization.
Conduct regular team meetings to communicate goals, review progress, and address challenges.
Interface with customers to manage expectations, address concerns, and ensure overall satisfaction.
Analyze operational reports and adjust strategies to maintain target performance levels.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Collaborate with cross-functional departments to streamline processes and enhance service delivery.
Ensure compliance with industry standards, local regulations, and company policies.
Revenue per Hour: Achieve a minimum of $150 revenue per hour.
Callback Percentage: Maintain a callback rate below 5%.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: Secure an average rating of greater than 4.8 stars on feedback surveys.
Gross Margin: Target a gross margin of over 35% on each project.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Construction Management, or a related field.
Minimum of 5 years of experience in management within the home services or construction industry.
Strong leadership skills with a proven ability to direct cross-functional teams.
Excellent analytical, communication, and decision-making skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience in fence installation or other exterior home improvement services.
Demonstrated success in managing large-scale operational projects in a competitive market.
Familiarity with construction project management software and performance tracking tools.
Proven track record of achieving financial and operational goals in a similar industry.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to lift up to 50 lbs when required for on-site inspections or operational duties.
Comfortable working in varying weather conditions, including outdoor environments.
Capable of navigating construction sites with uneven surfaces and confined spaces.
Willingness to participate in periodic field visits to monitor project progress.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard working hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with occasional extended hours.
Travel is expected between project sites and company offices as needed.
Occasional on-call duties may be required to address urgent operational issues.
Work is performed in both office settings and active construction sites.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $90,000 - $120,000 USD per annum, commensurate with experience and qualifications.
Eligibility for performance-based bonuses and profit-sharing opportunities.
Comprehensive benefits including Health, Dental, and Vision insurance.
401k retirement plan with company match and other fringe benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
Our company emphasizes a collaborative work environment that champions innovation and excellence.
We invest in our team’s career growth through continuous training and development opportunities.
We pride ourselves on maintaining a friendly, inclusive, and performance-driven culture.
We are committed to customer satisfaction and community involvement, making a positive impact both locally and within the industry.
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 fence location sells, builds and services in the same few towns for years. The GM keeps its paperwork clean, its prices honest about hard layouts, and its customers' neighbors on speaking terms.
Rhode Island counts fences as contractor work
Rhode Island's contractor law lists fencing among the improvements that need a registered contractor. Towns there may not issue a building permit to an unregistered one, and the registration number belongs on ads, proposals, contracts and invoices. A contractor that wasn't registered when it bid and while it worked usually loses the right to file a lien or go to court for payment. A lapse in the required insurance voids the registration. The GM keeps both current. Source: Rhode Island General Laws, Chapter 5-65: Contractors' Registration and Licensing Board.
Hard layouts have to earn their hours
Two fences of the same length can take very different crew time. A long straight run with one gate fills a crew's day with billable footage. A short run with three gates, two corners and a slope takes far longer per foot. The price book the GM keeps charges for gates, corners, end posts, slopes and tear-out, so a hard yard earns as much per crew hour as an easy one.
Some callbacks wait for spring
Some fence problems surface months after the install. Where the ground freezes, a post set too shallow can heave and knock a gate out of line, and new boards shrink as they dry. Those calls tend to arrive in spring, just as new installs peak. The GM decides whether repair trips jump the install line or wait their turn, and sends any repeat cause back to the post spec.
The neighbor didn't sign the contract
A backyard fence usually sits on a line shared with another household. That neighbor sees the back of the fence, the trucks on the street and any trampled plants along the line, and calls the office when something goes wrong. Set by the GM, the rules are simple: crews stay out of the neighbor's yard without permission, sales asks which way the finished side faces, and customers get the install date to pass along.
How much fence company general managers make
The closest BLS group for fence company general managers is general and operations managers. General and operations managers who work for other specialty trade contractors earned a median of $102,680 a year ($49.36 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about the same as the $105,770 median for general and operations managers in all industries. About 26,090 of the 3,503,020 general and operations managers in that survey work for other specialty trade contractors.
Pay under the template is salary, performance bonuses and a profit share. The BLS median shown, for general and operations managers at specialty trade contractors, sits inside the template's range, a little below its middle. Base the profit share on this location's own results rather than the whole company's.
Other specialty trade contractors
$102,680$102,680 median Middle half $75,710–$147,200 10th–90th $51,310–$203,280
All industries
$105,770$105,770 median Middle half $72,320–$167,280 10th–90th $50,090–$253,390
$0k$50k$100k$150k$200k$250k$300k
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
$51,310
$75,710
$102,680
$147,200
$203,280
All industries
$50,090
$72,320
$105,770
$167,280
$253,390
BLS doesn’t publish pay for fence 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 been the person a contractor's owner held to one location's results
Prices fence work from crew hours, not footage alone
Keeps registration, insurance and permit paperwork current without reminders
Can calm a neighbor who never hired you and still finish the job
Gets estimators and crew leaders to fix a bad handoff together
Teach these on the job
The add-on lines in your price book: gates, corners, slopes and tear-out
Maker and workmanship warranties for each fence line
Your state's contractor registration rules
Your CRM and crew schedule reports
Builder account terms and contacts
The GM's weekly reading is signed sales and open quotes, the crew schedule, the callback log and the location's P&L. Give the crew and estimator count in the posting, and whether builders are part of the location's work.
Fence company general 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 · Hourly revenue
Revenue per crew hour is falling. Where do you look?
A strong answer: Drive time and routing, crew size, material readiness, rock or removal surprises not priced, and estimate accuracy.
Behavioral · Customer issues
Tell me about a customer complaint you resolved that changed how the team worked, such as a gate that kept sagging.
A strong answer: Made it right with the customer, found the root cause and changed a standard or check across crews.
Two of the template's KPI lines are duties, not numbers, so score those with a monthly audit. Base the other targets on a full year at this location, winter included.
Collaborate with cross-functional departments to streamline processes and enhance service delivery
Count handoff misses each month: jobs sold with the wrong footage, a missing HOA approval, the wrong color ordered, or a gate left off the work order. Note which handoff failed and fix that step.
Ensure compliance with industry standards, local regulations, and company policies
Every month, spot-check a few finished jobs. Confirm registration and insurance were current, the permit or HOA approval was on file where needed, the locate ticket cleared before digging, and the signed contract carried every required notice.
Revenue per Hour
Installed revenue over all paid crew hours, yard and drive time included, each week. Compare jobs priced with every add-on line against jobs discounted to win, to see which pricing habits pull it down.
Callback Percentage
Warranty trips this quarter against jobs finished, with heaved posts, sagging gates and loose pickets counted apart, so each cause goes back to the step that made it.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
This location's ratings, read monthly. File each comment under the sale, such as the quote or the wait, or under the install, such as the crew, the gate or the yard, so the right manager owns it.
Gross Margin
Job by job, gross margin read with the estimator who sold the work. Any job sold below the price book needs a reason on file, and a run of them is a coaching issue.
Among other things, Rhode Island says every written contract with a property owner must state that the contractor, its subs or its suppliers may file a lien under the state's mechanics' lien law. Other state and federal rules can apply to the same contract, so ask a lawyer to approve the full form before estimators use it.
How much does a fence company general manager make?
General and operations managers who work for other specialty trade contractors earned a median of $102,680 a year ($49.36 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $75,710 and $147,200 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Why does a fence GM posting mention lifting 50 pounds?
The template expects the GM to help on site at times: carrying a gate or a bundle of pickets to check a fit, lifting a post-hole digger off a truck, or walking a sloped yard of wet clay or a narrow side yard to settle a dispute. Keep the template's lines, add these tasks beside them, and tell candidates that requests for accommodation will be considered.
Should a fence GM sell jobs?
Sometimes, on large builder or commercial accounts where the relationship sits with the GM. But a GM who runs every estimate stops managing the location. Keep the GM on the biggest accounts and on coaching estimators, and track the GM's own close rate apart from the sales team's.
How does a fence GM keep builder and homeowner work from colliding?
Builders call when houses near closing and want the fence that week, while homeowners hold dates promised weeks ago. Set aside crew days each week for builder lots, agree with each builder on how much notice they give, and never move a homeowner's date for a builder without calling first. Watch the margin on each side as well.
