General contractor chief executive officer job description
A general contractor's chief executive officer chooses the work the company goes after: remodels, additions or new homes, sold direct or bid on architects' plans. They pick fixed prices or cost plus a fee, choose the leaders and trade partners, and report margin and risk to the owners or board.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, residential builders and remodelers · BLS, May 2025
Annual pay: 10th percentile $91,200, middle half $157,070 to $315,530, 90th percentile $392,560. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Reports to
Owner or board of directors
Department
Operations
Schedule
Office hours, site visits, some on-call · The template sets full-time office hours, frequent travel to sites and meetings, and on-call duty in critical phases
Also called
President · President and CEO · Principal · Managing member
General contractor chief executive officer job description template
This is our Role Blueprint, word for word. Replace the highlighted fields and adjust the example targets and pay to fit your company.
Spearhead the overall strategic vision and leadership for the company while driving growth, ensuring profitability, and overseeing multi-discipline builds. Integrate extensive general contracting expertise to deliver high-quality outcomes and operational excellence. Serve as the key decision-maker in aligning business goals with market opportunities and long-term sustainability.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Develop and execute strategic plans to drive business growth and profitability across large-scale projects.
Oversee the integration of general contracting operations with broader business objectives to ensure timely and quality delivery of projects.
Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders, investors, and industry partners.
Lead high-level negotiations, manage financial performance, and steer company culture toward excellence.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Conduct executive meetings to align departmental goals with company strategy.
Monitor project progress, financial performance, and operational efficiency on a daily basis.
Engage with major clients and partners to foster strategic partnerships and secure new opportunities.
Review contractor performance and ensure that all builds meet quality, safety, and budgetary requirements.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Revenue Growth: Achieve at least a 10% increase annually.
Project Profit Margins: Maintain a gross margin of over 30%.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: Sustain an average rating of greater than 4.8 stars.
Operational Efficiency: Improve capacity efficiency by 15%.
New Business Development: Generate a minimum of 20% increase in new sales leads annually.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
Minimum of 10 years of leadership experience within the construction or home services industry.
Demonstrated ability in setting strategic vision and managing large-scale, multi-discipline projects.
Strong financial acumen, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.
Excellent interpersonal, communication, and decision-making abilities.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience working as a General Contractor on comprehensive, multi-discipline builds.
Previous tenure as a C-level executive or equivalent leadership role in the home services or construction sectors.
Proven track record of successful business scaling and profitability optimization.
Background in forging and managing strategic industry partnerships.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to travel extensively to various construction sites and stakeholder meetings.
Capacity to stand and walk for extended periods during on-site inspections.
Comfortable working in varied environmental conditions, including outdoor and construction settings.
Possession of a valid driver's license for travel between sites.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Regular full-time office hours with occasional extended hours during project deadlines.
Frequent travel required for on-site inspections and executive meetings.
On-call responsibilities during critical phases of large-scale projects.
Collaborative work setting with a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $180,000 - $250,000 USD base per annum.
Eligibility for a performance-based bonus structure.
Comprehensive Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance.
401(k) retirement plan with company match.
Additional fringe benefits including paid time off and professional development opportunities.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are a forward-thinking organization that champions innovation, accountability, and integrity.
Our team prioritizes collaboration and continuous learning, ensuring both personal and professional growth.
We celebrate diversity and foster an inclusive environment that values every team member's contribution.
Committed to excellence, we ensure our customers receive exceptional service, positioning us as leaders in the home services 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].
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A residential general contractor sells a promise to build something that doesn't exist yet, mostly with other companies' crews. The CEO decides which promises the company makes, on what terms, and with whom.
Fixed price or cost plus a fee
A fixed price suits a kitchen or bath with a clear scope. A custom home or a gut remodel of an old house hides unknowns, so many builders take those at cost plus a fee or with a guaranteed maximum price. Fixed price puts overruns on the company; cost-plus moves them to the client. The CEO decides which contract fits which job and who may sign it. Federal tax rules exempt home construction contracts from the percentage-of-completion method, so settle with the CPA when job income is reported. Source: eCFR: 26 CFR 1.460-3, exempt home construction contracts.
Which door the work comes through
Some residential builders live on architects' referrals: the architect draws the house, asks a few builders to price the plans, and price often decides. Others sell straight to homeowners and bring in their own designer. Architect jobs are often larger and better drawn, but priced against other builders, with less say over the client. The CEO sets the mix, picks which architects to court, and decides when to drop off a bid list.
What the company's own crews build
Past the licensed trades, the CEO chooses what the company's own people build: framing, drywall, tile, finish carpentry or none of it. A new in-house crew adds payroll, trucks, tools and a workers' comp class, and it only pays when that crew stays busy all year. Revisit the choice when a key sub raises prices, slips on quality or retires.
New homes and remodels may need separate registrations
Connecticut, for example, registers new home builders and remodelers separately. A new home certificate can cover remodels too, once the company tells the state in writing and pays the Home Improvement Guaranty Fund fee. It expires each March 31 and can't be transferred, except for a change in the business's name or form. Since June 24, 2025, the new home fund can also pay a homeowner's unpaid award against a proprietor, an owner a court found broke that law. The company and that owner can then owe the fund. Source: Connecticut General Statutes 20-417b (example): new home construction contractor registration.
How much general contractor chief executive officers make
The closest BLS group for general contractor chief executive officers is chief executives. Chief executives who work for residential builders and remodelers earned a median of $213,510 a year ($102.65 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about the same as the $213,990 median for chief executives in all industries. About 520 of the 204,350 chief executives in that survey work for residential builders and remodelers.
The template's base comes with a bonus. Link that bonus to margin on finished jobs and to the safety record, not to signed contracts, since a big job can look fine at signing and lose money a year later.
Residential builders and remodelers
$213,510$213,510 median Middle half $157,070–$315,530 10th–90th $91,200–$392,560
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
Residential builders and remodelers
$91,200
$157,070
$213,510
$315,530
$392,560
All industries
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
BLS doesn’t publish pay for general contractors on their own. These figures cover residential building construction, 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 a home building or remodeling company, or a big part of one, with the profit on their scorecard
Has priced homes or additions both ways, fixed and cost-plus, and knows how each loses money
Has built ties with architects, designers or lenders that brought in steady work
Has hired and replaced project managers and senior leaders
Can read a balance sheet and judge each open job's projected margin on their own
Teach these on the job
The towns, building departments and lot types in your markets
Your registrations, insurance program and contract forms
Your trade partners and which ones the company leans on most
Your estimating and job cost systems
The reporting calendar your owners or board keep
Expect a builder's CEO to work from reports, not screens: the work-in-progress schedule each month, closeout margins by contract type, and a lead log split by architect, past client and web. In the interview, ask which of those reports a finalist would ask for first.
General contractor chief executive officer 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 · Taking on bigger projects
A developer offers your company a contract to build [12] homes, bigger than anything you've done. How do you decide?
A strong answer: Checks cash and bonding needs, PM and supervisor capacity, sub availability, contract risk and the effect on current clients, and negotiates a phased start if possible.
Behavioral · Hiring estimating leadership
Tell me about a time you hired an estimator or preconstruction leader to fix bids that kept losing money in the field.
A strong answer: Defined the problem with numbers like estimate-to-actual fade, tested candidates by having them price a sample remodel, handed off in stages, and shows the change in margin fade or win rate.
A residential builder's year can turn on two or three big jobs, so judge these over the full year and replace the template's targets with ones drawn from your own closeouts.
Revenue Growth
Earned revenue for the year next to the prior year's, not contracts signed. Track cost-plus revenue separately, since it carries the client's full costs at a thin fee and can grow while profit doesn't.
Project Profit Margins
Gross margin at closeout on every job, set beside the margin in its signed estimate and grouped by contract type, fixed price or cost plus a fee. A widening gap points at estimating or field control.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Homeowner ratings at closeout and again about a year after move-in, read next to warranty calls, since a remodel client often judges the job twice.
Operational Efficiency
Days from signed contract to start, and from start to closeout, by project type, plus how many jobs each project manager carries. Shorter cycles with the same staff mean real capacity gained.
New Business Development
Qualified leads and bid invitations logged each quarter by source, such as architects, past clients, agents and the website, next to the count for that quarter the year before.
Career path
Lead carpenterLeads a remodel crew; many builders' founders started here.
Project managerLearns where margin is won and lost, one remodel or addition at a time.
General managerLeads the company's day-to-day business under the COO.
Chief executive officerChooses the work, the contract terms and the senior team for the owners.
When should a remodeling contractor start building new homes?
When remodel work is steady and at least one project manager has run a full new build somewhere. A new home stacks one large contract, a lender's draw schedule and a family's move-in date on one project manager. Check the registration too: a Connecticut remodeler's registration, for one, doesn't cover building new homes, so the company needs a new home certificate first. Start with one or two homes for clients who already trust you, and price in room for steps your team hasn't done before.
How much does a general contractor chief executive officer make?
Chief executives who work for residential builders and remodelers earned a median of $213,510 a year ($102.65 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $157,070 and $315,530 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Does a general contractor CEO need a license?
That depends on the state, and often the company holds it. Connecticut, for one, has the business register as a home improvement or new home contractor, and an officer or director of a registered corporation can sell remodels without a salesperson certificate. That law names corporations, so an LLC should ask how it applies. Before you hire an outside CEO, ask your lawyer whose name the registration rests on, and what happens if that person leaves.
What should a builder's CEO do when a homeowner relationship falls apart?
Go see the house with the project manager. Read the contract and every signed change before the meeting, and separate what the company owes from what the homeowner wants. Then offer a written plan with dates. A fast, fair fix costs less than a lawsuit or a state complaint. Put the agreed fix and any money terms on paper, and have both sides sign it.
What do the CEO template's site and travel lines mean in practice?
They describe real tasks. The CEO walks an addition at framing, stands through a final walk-through with a homeowner, and crosses a muddy new-home lot. They also drive between towns several times a week, the reason for the template's driver's license line. Name tasks like these in your posting, with about how often each comes up, and add that you'll weigh any request for reasonable accommodation.
