General contractor general manager job description
A general contractor's general manager runs sales, estimating, project managers and the office from week to week. Their job is to see that each job is sold at a price that can be built, handed off cleanly and finished on time. The COO holds them to those results and to homeowner ratings.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, residential builders and remodelers · BLS, May 2025
Annual pay: 10th percentile $52,000, middle half $72,790 to $156,380, 90th percentile $210,110. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Reports to
Chief Operating Officer
Department
Operations
Schedule
Weekdays 8 to 5, on call in key phases · The template sets Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM, with longer days near deadlines, site travel and on-call duty
Also called
Vice president and general manager · Division manager · Remodeling division manager · Construction general manager
General contractor general manager 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.
Lead and oversee multi-department initiatives while ensuring operational excellence in the home services industry. Utilize expertise as a General Contractor to drive construction-related projects and quality control. Monitor KPIs and implement strategies that steer profit goals and enhance service delivery. Serve as a strategic partner to senior leadership, fostering cross-functional collaboration to achieve sustainable growth.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Develop and execute business strategies to maximize profitability and operational efficiency.
Oversee day-to-day operations while providing expert guidance on general contracting projects.
Monitor and analyze departmental KPIs, adjusting operational tactics as necessary.
Manage and mentor multi-disciplinary teams to ensure high performance and adherence to best practices.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review daily performance reports and evaluate KPIs to maintain target operational standards.
Conduct site visits and oversee project execution to ensure high-quality construction practices.
Hold regular departmental meetings to align goals and address emerging challenges.
Engage with customers and stakeholders to gather feedback and drive service improvements.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Revenue per project: Achieve a minimum of $150 per hour.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: Maintain an average of >4.8 stars.
Project Completion Rate: Complete 95% of projects on or ahead of schedule.
Cost Efficiency: Achieve a gross margin of at least 40%.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Construction Management, or a related field.
Minimum of 7 years’ progressive experience in operations management within the home services or construction industry.
Strong analytical skills with expertise in monitoring and interpreting KPI metrics.
Exceptional leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Proven track record in a General Manager or senior operational role within the home services or construction sectors.
Experience managing multi-department teams and large-scale construction projects.
Familiarity with modern project management and business intelligence tools.
Prior success in driving profit goals and implementing process improvements in a competitive market.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to conduct regular site inspections in various environmental conditions.
Capability to lift up to 25 pounds occasionally during site visits.
Navigate construction sites and manage physical tasks related to project oversight.
Comply with all required safety and operational guidelines.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours: Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Flexibility to work extended hours when needed to meet project deadlines.
Occasional travel to job sites and customer locations is required.
Availability for on-call support during critical project phases.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $90,000 - $120,000 per year, based on experience and qualifications.
Eligibility for performance-based bonuses that reward achieving operational and profit goals.
Comprehensive benefits package including Health, Dental, and Vision coverage.
401(k) plan with company match along with additional fringe benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
Join a dynamic and innovative work environment where teamwork and continuous improvement are celebrated.
Experience a culture that values growth, integrity, and excellence, inspiring employees to reach their fullest potential.
Thrive in a supportive setting that encourages creative solutions and professional development.
Become part of a forward-thinking company committed to making a positive impact 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].
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 owns the stretch from first meeting to final payment: what sales promises, how it's priced, how it's handed to the field, and how the homeowner feels at the end.
In Connecticut, the contract form decides who gets paid
In Connecticut, for example, the homeowner can't be held to a remodeling contract unless it is written, signed by the owner and the company, and holds the whole deal. It also needs the date, the company's name, address and registration number, a notice of the owner's cancellation rights, start and finish dates, and the owners' other contracting companies from the past five years. Every change needs the same signatures. New home contracts have a similar list. The GM owns the form and lets no one work around it. Source: Connecticut General Statutes 20-429 (example): home improvement contract requirements.
Allowances that match real prices
Allowances let a homeowner sign before every tile and light is picked. Set them low and the price looks good at signing. Later it turns into change orders the homeowner resents. The GM sets allowance amounts from what clients picked on recent jobs. Each selection deadline is tied to the schedule, and salespeople explain both at the table.
A handoff meeting before every start
The person who sold the job knows what was promised in the kitchen; the project manager and lead carpenter have to deliver it. The GM holds a handoff before each start: scope, exclusions, allowances, the homeowner's worries, and anything said but never written down. Promises that never reach the field turn into disputes and lost margin.
The last two weeks shape the review
A punch list that drags, a final inspection nobody booked, or a dusty house at the end can undo months of good work. In Bristol, Connecticut, for example, using a structure or addition without its certificate of use and occupancy breaks the building code, so a late final can hold up a move-in. The GM watches each project manager's open punch items, holds the final bill until the homeowner signs off on the walk-through, and calls each homeowner when the job closes. Source: City of Bristol, Connecticut (example): building department inspections.
How much general contractor general managers make
The closest BLS group for general contractor general managers is general and operations managers. General and operations managers who work for residential builders and remodelers earned a median of $105,010 a year ($50.48 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 40,030 of the 3,503,020 general and operations managers in that survey work for residential builders and remodelers.
Per the template, the GM is paid a salary with bonuses for operational and profit goals. Base some of that bonus on margin at closeout, so jobs sold thin or handed off badly show up in the GM's own number.
Residential builders and remodelers
$105,010$105,010 median Middle half $72,790–$156,380 10th–90th $52,000–$210,110
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
Residential builders and remodelers
$52,000
$72,790
$105,010
$156,380
$210,110
All industries
$50,090
$72,320
$105,770
$167,280
$253,390
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 run a residential remodeling or building business, or a division, with sales and production reporting in
Prices and sells large remodels and additions, and coaches others to do it
Reads estimates, job cost reports and change orders line by line
Has led project managers and salespeople at the same time
Stays calm and fair with an upset homeowner
Teach these on the job
Your contract templates and the state rules behind them
Your allowance levels and the showrooms you send clients to
Your estimate format and cost database
Your lead tracker and project app
Your smallest-job rule and pricing policy
Estimating software or spreadsheets, a CRM for leads and bids, and the project management app that holds selections, change orders and homeowner messages. A good GM can pull up any job's estimate, signed changes and cost to date in a few minutes.
General contractor 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 · Late projects and shrinking margins
Projects are finishing late and margins are shrinking. What do you do?
A strong answer: Reviews each project's schedule and budget, finds common causes such as late selections, sub delays or unbilled changes, fixes the process and tracks it.
Behavioral · Building the field leadership bench
Tell me about a time you built a bench so the company didn't depend on one or two lead carpenters.
A strong answer: Named the risk, picked carpenters with potential, paired them with leads on real jobs, set a skills path (reading plans, running subs, client walk-throughs), checked readiness and names who stepped up.
These four tie the GM to sales, homeowners, schedule and margin. The template's goals are placeholders until you've checked them against what your company actually closed.
Revenue per project
Revenue billed for each hour the company's own crews log, job by job. The template names it per project but sets the goal per hour, so count subcontracted work on its own line.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Closeout ratings from homeowners, sorted by the salesperson and project manager on each job, so a pattern points to the right person to coach.
Project Completion Rate
Jobs done by their contract date, adjusted only for changes the homeowner signed, with each late job tagged by cause: selections, subs, inspections or weather.
Cost Efficiency
Gross margin on jobs closed each month, set against each job's estimate, with change orders and allowance overages shown so the GM sees where money was made or lost.
Career path
Project managerRuns several remodels and additions and the homeowners on each.
Sales managerLeads the people who meet homeowners and architects and price the work.
General managerRuns sales, estimating and project delivery, and owns each month's numbers.
What happens if a Connecticut remodeling contract leaves out the start date?
Under the statute, the homeowner generally can't be held to it. The statute has one fallback: a court may let a contractor recover the reasonable value of work the owner asked for, if the contract was written, signed, had the cancellation notice and both dates, and was made through a registered contractor or salesperson, and denying payment would be unfair. A missing date fails that test too. Court decisions add a narrow exception when the homeowner acted in bad faith. Don't plan on either; check every contract before work starts.
How much does a general contractor general manager make?
General and operations managers who work for residential builders and remodelers earned a median of $105,010 a year ($50.48 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $72,790 and $156,380 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Should a general contractor take small jobs?
Only on purpose. A small bathroom or a porch repair can take as much selling, permitting and project manager time as a job three times its size, for far less margin. Some builders set a smallest contract they'll sign, send smaller work to a handyman partner, or run it through a service crew billed by the hour. Agree on the rule with sales so nobody spends a week on a job you'd turn down.
Can homeowners supply their own fixtures and appliances?
Yes, if the contract says how. Write down who orders, receives and checks each item, who pays when it arrives damaged or late, and that your warranty covers the installation, not the product. Some builders add a handling fee. Ask for owner items to be on site before the trade that installs them is booked, or the schedule waits on a delivery nobody controls.
What do the GM template's site inspection and lifting lines mean?
A GM visits several jobs a week. They walk a framed addition before drywall and look over a finished kitchen with the project manager ahead of the homeowner. They carry tile boards or a door sample, up to 25 pounds, and sites can be muddy, cold or hot. In the job ad, say roughly how often each kind of visit happens, and that the company considers reasonable accommodation.
