Framing and carpentry general manager job description
A framing and carpentry general manager oversees the framing and trim crews day to day and walks job sites with leads and builders' superintendents. The COO holds them to on-time frames, few callbacks and strong revenue for each crew hour, and they keep the company certified for lead-safe work on older homes.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, structure and exterior contractors · BLS, May 2025
Annual pay: 10th percentile $51,090, middle half $74,190 to $154,760, 90th percentile $210,280. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Reports to
Chief Operating Officer
Department
Operations
Schedule
Office hours, early or late site visits · Regular office hours, early-morning or evening site visits as needed, regional travel, and on call in peak periods
Lead and oversee the Framing & Carpentry departments by directing operations, tracking performance, and ensuring stellar customer satisfaction. Develop strategies to optimize productivity, maintain quality standards, and drive continuous improvement in all departmental functions.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Direct multiple departments with a focus on framing and carpentry projects to ensure timely, high-quality completion.
Track departmental performance metrics, implementing process improvements to exceed productivity benchmarks.
Manage day-to-day operations, leading team meetings and assigning tasks to support operational excellence.
Ensure exceptional customer satisfaction by addressing concerns promptly and maintaining communication throughout project lifecycles.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Oversee job site operations with regular inspections and safety reviews.
Conduct daily briefings with team leads and coordinate schedules for framing and carpentry projects.
Interact with clients to provide updates and gather feedback on project progress.
Monitor work quality and resolve any operational issues or delays in real time.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Revenue per project: Achieve a minimum of $150 per hour in revenue.
Callback Percentage: Maintain a callback rate of less than 5%.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: Exceed a rating of 4.8 stars consistently.
On-time Project Completion: Secure a 95% on-time finish rate for all projects.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
Minimum of 5 years’ leadership experience in home services, with emphasis on framing and carpentry.
Strong analytical and performance tracking skills, with proficiency in budgeting and scheduling software.
Excellent communication, interpersonal, and customer service skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Prior experience in a general management role within the home services or construction industry.
Familiarity with industry standards and best practices in framing and carpentry.
Experience in leading cross-functional teams in a fast-paced, project-driven environment.
Background in implementing lean management principles to enhance operational efficiency.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to review and assess work in active construction environments.
Capability to perform light physical tasks such as reviewing samples and models on-site.
Occasional lifting of materials up to 25 lbs. as needed.
Work in varied environmental conditions, including outdoor exposure to weather.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Regular office hours with additional on-site visits during early mornings or evenings as needed.
Some travel required to job sites and client meetings within regional boundaries.
On-call duties during peak project periods or emergency situations.
Collaborative team environment with frequent cross-departmental interactions.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Annual salary range: $100,000 - $130,000 USD, based on experience.
Performance-based bonuses and commission structure available.
Health, Dental, and Vision insurance provided.
401(k) with company match and additional fringe benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
Our company fosters a growth-oriented culture that values innovation, teamwork, and excellence in service.
We are committed to supporting our employees’ professional development and providing a positive work environment.
Our focus on continuous improvement and customer satisfaction drives our success and sets us apart in the industry.
Join us to be part of a forward-thinking team that is passionate about quality and dedicated to making a tangible impact.
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 GM sits between the builders and the crews, and most problems reach the GM from a superintendent or another trade before a homeowner ever sees them. For licensing, Arkansas serves as the example below; rules differ by state.
Older houses bring EPA's lead rule
Framing an addition usually means opening an existing wall. For a house built before 1978, EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule covers that work. Any firm paid to disturb paint there, carpenters included, needs firm certification, and the small-job exemption never covers tearing out painted surfaces. Testing isn't required, but unless records show the paint has no lead, the rule applies. The firm has to name a certified renovator for each job, so the GM keeps one on staff and the certification current. Source: EPA: Renovation, Repair and Painting Program for contractors.
Superintendents are the daily customer
A builder's purchasing team signs the price sheet, but its superintendents decide whether you keep the work. They release lots, call out a missing header, and some rate their trades for the builder's reviews. The GM meets each superintendent on site, learns what each one checks, and returns their calls the same day. When a community gets a new superintendent, the GM is the first to visit.
Callbacks come through other trades
Many framing callbacks don't start with a homeowner. The window installer finds an opening out of square, the drywall crew finds a bowed stud, the cabinet setter finds a wall out of plumb, or the plumber needs blocking moved. Each one sends a framer back to a house the crew has left. The GM logs who reported each one and why, counts these trips in the callback rate, and fixes the crew habit or plan detail behind repeats.
Signing with a homeowner changes the license
In Arkansas, for example, a subcontractor working under a builder or remodeler licensed by the Residential Contractors Committee doesn't need its own license from that committee. Sign an addition directly with a homeowner, though, and a job over two thousand dollars needs the committee's license, such as a remodeler or a carpentry and framing specialty license. Splitting the work into smaller contracts doesn't get around it, and working unlicensed is a misdemeanor counted per day. Whether to take homeowner jobs at all is the GM's call. Source: Arkansas Residential Contractors Licensing Law and rules, revised April 2026 (example).
How much framing and carpentry general managers make
The closest BLS group for framing and carpentry general managers is general and operations managers. General and operations managers who work for foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors earned a median of $102,230 a year ($49.15 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $105,770 median for general and operations managers in all industries. About 30,750 of the 3,503,020 general and operations managers in that survey work for structure and exterior contractors.
Salary, performance bonuses and a commission plan make up the template's offer. The median on the pay chart, for foundation, structure and exterior contractors, sits just above the template's starting salary, so seasoned candidates may aim for the top. If you pay commission, base it on margin by builder, so volume the crews can't frame well doesn't pay.
Structure and exterior contractors
$102,230$102,230 median Middle half $74,190–$154,760 10th–90th $51,090–$210,280
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
Structure and exterior contractors
$51,090
$74,190
$102,230
$154,760
$210,280
All industries
$50,090
$72,320
$105,770
$167,280
$253,390
BLS doesn’t publish pay for framing contractors on their own. These figures cover foundation, structure and building exterior 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 answered to builders for framing and trim on the same houses
Talks a superintendent through a correction notice and what will change
Sees from revenue per crew hour which builders and plans pay the company
Can tell a framing error from damage another trade did
Has managed lead-safe work in older homes, or worked beside a certified renovator
Teach these on the job
Which superintendents walk every frame and which rely on the inspector
How your callback log records which trade reported a problem
EPA's lead-safe work steps and records
How you price trim: per door, per opening or per foot of base
Which jobs your license lets you sign directly with a homeowner
The GM works from each department's weekly numbers, framing and trim, plus builders' schedules, the callback log sorted by reporting trade, and the lead-safe certification file. In the ad, say whether trim runs as its own department and who leads it.
Framing and carpentry 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 · Customer concentration
One builder makes up most of your revenue and asks for a price cut. What do you do?
A strong answer: Knows the margin on that builder's plans, negotiates on scope or payment terms instead, and starts adding other customers to cut the risk.
Behavioral · Diversifying customers
Tell me about a time you diversified a company's customer base.
A strong answer: Explains how they found new customers, such as remodelers, multifamily or light commercial contractors, what they changed to win them, such as insurance limits or crew skills, and how much the largest builder's share dropped.
Pick the bars from your last full year of houses and buildings, and set framing and trim targets apart.
Revenue per project
Divide the month's billed framing and trim revenue by the crew hours paid to produce it, since the template's goal is hourly. Rank builders on it: one whose lots are rarely ready sinks to the bottom.
Callback Percentage
Return trips to finished frames or trim, counted against houses and floors completed, and tagged by who reported them: the inspector, a superintendent, another trade or a homeowner.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Score framing and trim apart. Superintendents rate the frame after inspection and the trim at the builder's walk before closing; read the comments with each department's lead.
On-time Project Completion
Frames and trim jobs finished by the builder's due date, reported as two separate rates because trim waits on drywall. Go over each month's misses with both department leads.
Career path
Project managerBooks trusses, cranes and inspections for several builder communities.
It helps. Leads trust a GM who can read a shear wall schedule and talk through a correction notice with them. A GM who came from a builder's purchasing or construction side brings pricing sense and knows how superintendents think. Either way, give finalists a case: a lead and a superintendent each blame the other for a failed inspection. Ask what they would do first.
How much does a framing and carpentry general manager make?
General and operations managers who work for foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors earned a median of $102,230 a year ($49.15 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $74,190 and $154,760 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
What should a framing GM do about a builder whose lots are rarely ready?
Bring numbers, not complaints. Over a quarter, count the crew trips to lots with no slab, no lumber or no trusses, and the paid hours lost. Show them to the builder's purchasing manager, then ask for a return-trip fee or more notice in the next price sheet. If nothing changes, the GM decides whether that community keeps as many crews.
What does lean management look like in a framing company?
The template lists lean experience as a plus. In framing it shows up as cut lists and precut packages, lumber dropped where each wall gets built, standard layouts for plans that repeat, and fewer trips back for missing pieces. Ask finalists for one kind of waste they cut, such as reorders or crew time spent waiting on trusses, and how they measured the change.
How should a framing GM ad describe the site work?
The template's lines on active construction sites, light hands-on tasks, 25-pound lifts and weather ship unchanged. For a framing GM, that means walking decks and stairs before an inspection, climbing a ladder to look at a callback, carrying a door sample or a bundle of casing, and standing through a superintendent's walk in rain or heat. Write the posting around those duties, and note that you'll consider accommodation requests.
