A home builder operations manager assigns crews and trades to houses across every open lot, keeps the build schedule moving, and makes sure materials are on site when each phase starts. They walk sites for safety and quality, and give buyers an update when a date moves.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, residential builders and remodelers · BLS, May 2025
Lead and oversee home building projects by allocating crews, organizing schedules, and managing resources to ensure timely and efficient project execution. Enhance operational performance while maintaining high standards of quality and customer satisfaction. Play a strategic role in driving team coordination and optimizing construction workflows.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Allocate and assign work crews to appropriate home building projects based on skill, availability, and project requirements.
Organize and manage project schedules to ensure timely completion and adherence to established timelines.
Oversee the efficient utilization and inventory management of construction resources and materials.
Coordinate with project managers, subcontractors, and suppliers to maintain consistent communication and workflow.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Monitor daily project progress and adjust crew assignments as necessary to meet deadlines.
Review and update work schedules while conducting regular progress meetings with crews and project stakeholders.
Inspect build sites to ensure compliance with safety guidelines and quality standards.
Communicate with clients to provide updates and address any concerns regarding project timelines or resource allocation.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
On-time Project Completion Rate: Target 98%.
Crew Utilization Rate: Maintain above 95%.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: Achieve >4.8 stars.
Resource Efficiency: Reach at least 90% utilization in material and labor management.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
Minimum of 5 years of experience in operations management within the construction or home building industry.
Strong leadership and communication skills with a proven track record in team coordination.
Proficient in project scheduling software and resource management tools.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience working directly with home builders or in residential construction.
Prior involvement in allocating crews and managing multiple simultaneous projects.
Familiarity with current building codes, safety regulations, and industry best practices.
Demonstrated success in enhancing operational efficiency through process improvements.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to occasionally lift up to 25 lbs.
Frequent site visits, including exposure to outdoor construction environments.
Capability to navigate uneven terrain and confined spaces where necessary.
Regularly work in conditions ranging from hot, humid summers to cool winters.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard work hours from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with additional hours as required during peak project phases.
Occasional evening or weekend meetings to review project progress and schedules.
Regular travel between office and job sites.
On-call duties during critical project phases or emergencies.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Competitive salary range of $75,000 - $95,000 USD per year based on experience and qualifications.
Comprehensive Health, Dental, and Vision insurance plans.
401(k) plan with company match and additional fringe benefits such as paid time off and professional development allowances.
10. Company Culture and Overview
At [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE], we are dedicated to fostering an inclusive, dynamic, and growth-oriented work environment.
We encourage innovation and continual learning, enabling every team member to build a rewarding career.
Our culture emphasizes teamwork, integrity, and commitment to customer satisfaction, providing opportunities to advance professionally and exceed goals.
We believe in celebrating success and supporting our employees every step of the way.
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
What a home builder operations manager does differently
A home builder has many houses at different stages, and each crew finishes one and moves to the next. The operations manager keeps that line moving without gaps or pileups.
Crews follow the house
Each phase hands the house to the next crew: foundation, framing, rough-ins, drywall, trim. Plan crew moves so a framer finishing one house walks onto the next ready slab, not an empty lot. A slip in one phase moves every house behind it, so check each morning which houses are ready for the next trade and reshuffle before crews leave the yard.
Crawl spaces and attics can be confined spaces
The template mentions confined spaces. OSHA's construction rule says that before work starts, a competent person chosen by each employer identifies every confined space its workers may enter and flags the permit spaces, testing as needed. On your homes, have that person look at crawl spaces, attics and other tight areas before the plumbing, HVAC or insulation crews go in. Source: eCFR: 29 CFR 1926.1203, OSHA confined spaces in construction (general requirements).
Fiber cement gets cut outdoors
OSHA's silica rule gives a table of controls employers can follow instead of measuring exposure. For handheld saws cutting fiber-cement board with blades of 8 inches or less, the table says outdoors only, with a dust collection system on the saw, run as the maker instructs. Set the cut station outside the house and garage on every lot, and look for it on site walks. Source: eCFR: 29 CFR 1926.1153, OSHA respirable crystalline silica in construction (Table 1).
Rain moves the whole week
A wet week stops grading, foundations and roofing but not the work inside houses that are dried in. Keep a short list of indoor tasks ready for each crew and trade, and rework the board the afternoon before rain, so nobody drives to a muddy lot with nothing to do.
Buyers want dates, not phases
Buyers drive past their lot and call when nothing seems to happen. Give customer service or sales a weekly stage update for every sold house, and explain gaps such as concrete curing, an inspection or a trade waiting on a delivery. Hold back a firm closing date until the house is far enough along to trust it.
How much home builder operations managers make
The closest BLS group for home builder operations 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.
Pay is a yearly salary. On top, the template offers a quarterly bonus for performance. Its range falls under the median BLS reports for this job at residential builders.
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 reports home builders and remodelers together. 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 scheduled crews and trades across many homes at once
Reads a site and knows what the next trade needs ready
Keeps scheduling software current every day
Knows OSHA rules that apply on residential sites
Explains schedule changes to buyers in plain words
Teach these on the job
Your plans and build sequence
Your trade partners' crews and lead times
How your inspections get booked
Your purchasing and delivery system
Operations managers live in the build schedule, often in BuildPro, BuildTopia or Buildertrend, and push daily updates to trades by text or app. A shared map of open lots and their stages helps on mornings when crews need to move.
Home builder operations 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 · Assigning scarce crews
Two communities both need your only in-house punch-out crew this week to make closings. How do you decide?
A strong answer: Looks at closing dates and what each house still needs, splits the crew or adds overtime or a trade partner, decides, and tells both superintendents why.
Behavioral · Using resources well
Tell me about a time you improved how crews or equipment were used across several jobs.
A strong answer: Gives a specific change (sharing equipment, routing crews by area, matching skills to tasks) and a measured result.
The template's figures are examples, not rules. Build your own targets from the last year of starts, crew hours and survey scores, and check them with the general manager each month.
On-time Project Completion Rate
Count houses that reached each phase and final on the scheduled date, out of all houses due in the period. Note which phase caused each late finish.
Crew Utilization Rate
Compare hours your own crews spent working on houses with the hours they were paid each week. Count time lost waiting for a house or material as idle.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Pull the buyer survey questions on communication and schedule, and read them by superintendent and community.
Resource Efficiency
Compare materials and labor used per house with the plan's takeoff and labor budget. Track extra purchase orders and returns by phase.
Career path
Assistant superintendentWalks lots with a superintendent and learns the build order.
Hold it when the lot isn't ready: no permit, no utilities stubbed, an unapproved plot plan, or buyer choices still open that affect the slab or framing. Starting anyway leaves a half-built house waiting and pulls crews off houses that could move. Keep a start checklist and have the operations manager sign it.
How much does a home builder operations 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.
How should an operations manager share the schedule with trades?
Send each trade a rolling look-ahead of the houses coming to them, update it daily, and confirm the next day's houses by mid-afternoon. Clear notice helps trades plan their crews and keeps your houses near the top of their list.
What should an operations manager check on a site walk?
Look at what the next trade needs: is the house ready, clean and safe to work in? Check housekeeping, ladders, the saw cut station and the erosion controls. Note anything the current trade must fix before leaving, and photograph it into the schedule system so the superintendent sees it too.
What do the template's terrain, confined space and weather lines involve?
They describe tasks like walking graded or muddy lots between houses, looking into a crawl space or attic to check work, carrying light items such as a box of hardware, and visiting sites through summer heat and winter cold. Name how many communities the role covers so candidates can judge the driving and walking.
