Industrial construction chief operating officer job description
An industrial construction COO runs every active site at once, from plant expansions to warehouse builds to outage work for different owners. The COO sets the safety system all sites follow, decides how superintendents and crews are shared, and keeps each project on its schedule and budget.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, commercial and industrial building contractors · BLS, May 2025
Provide strategic and operational leadership across multiple industrial construction sites to drive efficiency, enforce safety standards, and support sustainable business growth.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Oversee the strategic planning and day-to-day management of multi-site operations.
Enforce and uphold rigorous safety standards and industry regulations across all sites.
Drive operational efficiency improvements and optimize resource allocation.
Collaborate with the executive leadership team to implement business strategies.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Monitor and review site performance metrics and adjust operational strategies as needed.
Conduct regular site inspections, safety audits, and risk assessments.
Engage in team meetings and provide guidance to site managers to ensure smooth operations.
Evaluate project timelines and resource utilization to maintain productivity benchmarks.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Multi-site Operational Efficiency: Achieve at least 95% on-time project completion.
Safety Compliance Rate: Maintain recordable incidents at less than 2 per 1,000 work hours.
Employee Productivity: Increase productivity by a minimum of 10% annually.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: Secure an overall rating above 4.8 stars.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Construction Management, Engineering, or a related field.
10+ years of operational leadership experience in industrial construction or a similar sector.
Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities to drive operational improvements.
Excellent communication, interpersonal, and team leadership skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Proven track record of managing multi-site operations within industrial construction.
Experience implementing process improvement methodologies such as Lean or Six Sigma.
Demonstrated success in enforcing robust safety protocols across diverse work environments.
Prior collaboration with executive management teams in strategic decision-making.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to occasionally lift up to 20 pounds.
Frequent site visits required in various environmental conditions.
Capability to navigate construction sites with potential hazards.
Endurance to work in environments with varying temperatures and noise levels.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours consist of 40 hours per week in an office and field-based setting.
Occasional travel required to different construction sites and project locations.
Extended hours and on-call availability during critical project phases.
Collaborative work environment that integrates both office and on-site engagement.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Competitive salary range: $150,000 - $200,000 per annum.
Performance-based bonus structure to reward operational excellence.
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance packages.
401k retirement plan with a company match.
Additional benefits including paid time off and professional development opportunities.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are a unified and innovative team committed to operational excellence and continuous improvement.
[INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE] fosters a supportive and inclusive environment that empowers career growth.
Our culture values integrity, safety, and collaboration, driving us to surpass industry standards.
Join us to be part of a dynamic team where your skills help shape the future of industrial construction.
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
An industrial COO runs sites that sit inside other companies' plants, with crafts from several employers on each one. One safety system has to hold up on all of them.
OSHA can cite more than one employer
On a plant job, your crews, your subcontractors and the owner's staff share the same ground. Under OSHA's multi-employer citation policy, several employers can be cited for one hazard: the one that created it, the one whose workers were exposed, the one responsible for fixing it and the one in overall charge of the site. Write down which role your company plays on each site. Source: OSHA: Multi-employer citation policy (CPL 02-00-124).
Oregon writes some of its own safety rules
Oregon, for one, runs a state OSHA program with rules federal OSHA doesn't have. Its wildfire smoke rule covers construction. Once fine particulate reaches AQI 101, employers must train workers, set up two-way communication and offer approved respirators for voluntary use, with stricter steps at higher levels. Check which state plan each of your sites falls under. Source: Oregon OSHA fact sheet: Permanent rules for protection from wildfire smoke (OAR 437-002-1081).
Outage seasons pile up
Plant owners often pick the same low-demand weeks for outages and turnarounds, so several owners may want your best superintendents at once. Decide early which outages the company can staff without stripping its capital jobs, and turn down the rest. Agree on that list with the general manager each year, before owners start asking.
Owners' rules differ, your system shouldn't
Every plant owner adds its own permits, sign-ins and site rules. Keep one company safety and quality system underneath them, so a foreman who moves from a chemical plant job to a warehouse build uses the same pre-task plan, incident report and daily log. Layer each owner's extra steps on top of that base.
How much industrial construction chief operating officers make
The closest BLS group for industrial construction chief operating officers is chief executives. Chief executives who work for commercial and industrial builders earned a median of $225,550 a year ($108.44 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s above the $213,990 median for chief executives in all industries. About 840 of the 204,350 chief executives in that survey work for commercial and industrial building contractors.
Expect salary and an operating-results bonus. Because BLS lumps all top executives at commercial and industrial builders into one code, the template's range sits beneath the median for that whole group.
Commercial and industrial building contractors
$225,550$225,550 median Middle half $168,640–$347,300 10th–90th $124,070–$499,640
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
Commercial and industrial building contractors
$124,070
$168,640
$225,550
$347,300
$499,640
All industries
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
BLS reports industrial and commercial building contractors 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 run several industrial projects at once for different owners
Builds safety and quality systems that work on every site
Picks and coaches superintendents and site managers
Reads schedules and labor reports to spot slips early
Tells an owner bad news early, with a plan attached
Teach these on the job
Each owner's site rules and approval steps
Your ERP, scheduling and safety software
Your craft agreements and labor sources
State plan rules where you work
Lean or Six Sigma tools, if you plan to use them
Plant owners sometimes require schedules in Primavera P6 format, so the COO should read P6 or Microsoft Project files with ease. Add a safety inspection app and the ERP's labor and cost reports, and name each one in the ad.
Industrial construction chief operating 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 · Staffing overlapping outages
Two client turnarounds overlap by a week, and you don't have enough qualified supervisors for both. What do you do?
A strong answer: Talks with both clients early, brings in qualified supervisors from other sources, adjusts start dates if possible, and refuses to stretch supervision too thin.
Behavioral · Process improvement
Tell me about a Lean or similar improvement effort you led in field operations. What changed?
A strong answer: Names the waste targeted, such as waiting on permits, tools or materials, how craft workers helped design the fix, and measured results such as hours saved.
Industrial construction chief operating officer KPIs
Start from the template's targets, then build your own from recent jobs, with capital projects and outage work on separate lines, and settle them with the CEO.
Multi-site Operational Efficiency
Count projects that reached the owner's handover date on time, against all projects due in the period. Track outage work on its own line.
Safety Compliance Rate
Divide OSHA recordable cases from your injury log by total hours worked on all sites, scaled the way the template states. Review every case with the site leader.
Employee Productivity
Compare installed quantities, such as tons of steel or feet of pipe, with craft hours each month. Use the same units every year so the trend means something.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Ask each owner's project lead to rate you at closeout and at set points on long jobs, and log the reasons behind any low score.
Career path
SuperintendentDirects the field work on one plant project.
Industrial construction chief operating officer FAQ
What does the COO do when an owner stops work on a site?
Go to the site or join the call the same day. Find out exactly what the owner saw, make the area safe, and start a fact-finding review with the superintendent. Give the owner a written plan with causes, fixes and who checks them, and agree on what must be true before work restarts. Then share the lesson with every other site, since the same gap may be there too.
How much does an industrial construction chief operating officer make?
Chief executives who work for commercial and industrial builders earned a median of $225,550 a year ($108.44 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $168,640 and $347,300 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Can a COO from commercial building run industrial work?
Often, with the right interview questions. Ask about jobs inside operating plants, work under an owner's permit system, outage planning, process piping and equipment setting, and crafts from several unions on one site. A strong commercial COO may lack some of these. Pair that person with a superintendent who knows plant work, and set early meetings with your largest owners.
How does a COO keep good crafts between projects?
Set start dates so a new job ramps up as another winds down, and tell foremen early where they'll go next. Union crafts laid off at the end of a job go back to the hall and may be sent to another contractor, so the gap between jobs is when you lose them.
How should we turn the template's site lines into a list of tasks?
Keep the template's lines as written, and add what the COO really does on site. That includes walking active units and pipe racks alongside the plant's site lead, climbing stairs to platforms during an audit, carrying a bag of inspection gear or a laptop, and wearing hearing protection and other gear the plant sets. Describe these tasks in the ad and leave out anything about a person's health.
