A commercial remodeling CEO steers a company that renovates offices, stores and restaurants for tenants, landlords and property managers. They sign the largest contracts, choose which clients and states to chase, and pick the leaders who run bids, crews and the books.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, commercial building contractors · BLS, May 2025
Provides visionary leadership to drive overall strategy and operational excellence across all commercial remodeling projects. Steers the company toward sustained growth, enhanced profitability, and industry leadership. Acts as the primary negotiator for contracts and key business relationships.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Lead the development and execution of the company’s strategic plan to ensure long-term growth and profitability.
Negotiate high-value contracts and manage key business relationships.
Oversee all commercial remodeling projects ensuring operational efficiency and quality standards.
Drive financial performance by monitoring budgets, forecasting revenue, and implementing cost control measures.
Build, mentor, and provide guidance to the executive leadership team.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Conduct daily executive briefings and strategy review meetings.
Evaluate project performance and review financial reports and KPIs.
Engage with clients and stakeholders to secure new business opportunities.
Host negotiations and finalize contracts with suppliers, partners, and clients.
Review and approve major operational decisions and capital investments.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Gross margin: Achieve a minimum of 25% margin on commercial remodeling projects.
New contract acquisitions: Secure at least 5 high-value contracts per quarter.
Overall company profitability: Increase net profit by 15% year-over-year.
Client satisfaction: Maintain a customer satisfaction rating of >4.8 stars.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Construction Management, or a related field; MBA preferred.
Minimum of 10 years of progressive leadership experience in a commercial or remodeling environment.
Strong strategic planning, financial acumen, and negotiation skills.
Demonstrated ability in business development, contract negotiation, and operations management.
Excellent communication, relationship-building, and team leadership skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience directly within the commercial remodeling or construction industry.
Proven track record of driving revenue growth and managing large-scale projects.
Background in strategic partnerships and complex contract negotiations.
Familiarity with modern remodeling technologies and sustainable building practices.
7. Physical Requirements
Primarily office-based with occasional site visits; must be able to travel as necessary.
Ability to move and lift light objects (up to 10 lbs) during occasional site assessments.
Comfortable working in diverse settings including construction environments and corporate offices.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard executive office hours with flexibility during peak project periods.
Regular travel required to construction sites and industry events.
Occasional evening meetings and extended hours during critical project phases.
On-call availability for urgent strategy or operational issues.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Base salary range: $250,000 - $350,000 USD annually.
Performance-based bonuses tied to revenue growth and profitability targets.
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance plans.
401(k) retirement savings plan with company matching.
Additional fringe benefits including paid time off, professional development opportunities, and wellness programs.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and accountability where every team member is empowered to excel.
Our company prides itself on delivering exceptional quality and customer satisfaction while continuously pushing the boundaries of commercial remodeling.
Join us if you are passionate about strategic leadership and ready to make a significant impact in an industry poised for growth.
Our inclusive environment encourages professional development and recognizes outstanding performance.
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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Tenants, landlords and property managers buy these jobs, most of them last weeks rather than years, and state law limits what your contracts can say.
A condo unit can fall under Maryland's home improvement law
Maryland's home improvement law covers remodeling a building used as a home, and it names work on individual condominium units. It leaves out apartment buildings with four or more units and the shared areas of condominiums. Anyone acting as a contractor on covered work needs a Maryland home improvement contractor license. So before the company says yes to a condo unit for a property manager client, the CEO decides whether to hold that license or pass on the job. Source: Maryland Code, Business Regulation § 8-101: home improvement definitions.
Maryland subcontracts can't strip lien rights
A Maryland subcontract for building, alteration or repair work can't make the sub give up, in advance, the right to claim a mechanics' lien or to sue on a contractor's bond. A clause that pays the sub only once the owner pays can't take those rights away either. The CEO who signs off on the company's subcontract form should have a lawyer check it against this law before it goes out to subs. Source: Maryland Code, Real Property § 9-113: lien and bond rights in subcontracts.
Mississippi licenses your subs as well as you
Mississippi's State Board of Contractors requires a license for every contractor and subcontractor working on any commercial job worth more than 50,000 dollars. For fire sprinkler work the line is lower: over 10,000 dollars on private jobs. A CEO who wants work in Mississippi gets the company licensed before chasing bids there, and has the subcontract form ask each sub for its license number. Source: Mississippi State Board of Contractors: frequently asked questions.
The lease sets the real deadline
Most buildouts exist because a tenant signed a lease, and that lease often ties rent, a store opening or a move out of the old space to a date. When a contract carries a charge for finishing late, find out what sits behind that date before you sign. The CEO decides which deadlines the company will accept and how the schedule risk shows up in the price.
Growth comes from many short jobs
A year here can mean a suite for a law firm, a dental office, a chain store refresh and dozens more like them. Growth depends on how many good bids the company turns out and how cleanly it closes jobs, more than on one big win. Track bid turnaround, hit rate by client type and the load on each estimator, and hire before the backlog backs up.
How much commercial remodeling chief executive officers make
The closest BLS group for commercial remodeling chief executive 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 building contractors.
Pay is mostly base salary with a bonus on growth and profit, per the template. In an owner-led company, the CEO may also hold equity or a share of profits.
Commercial 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 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 doesn’t publish pay for commercial remodelers on their own. These figures cover nonresidential 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
A record of growing a contracting company's revenue while holding margins
Reading a lease, a work letter and a construction contract and spotting the risk in each
Building long-term accounts with property managers, landlords and retail chains
Hiring and coaching the people who run bids, field crews and accounting
Pricing work done at night or in buildings that stay open
Teach these on the job
Your estimating and job cost reports
Licensing and tax rules in each new state you enter
What your bonding company and bank expect to see
Brand standards for national retail or restaurant clients
Your CRM and bid tracking tools
Expect this CEO to live in reports: job cost and backlog from construction accounting software such as Sage 100 Contractor or Foundation, and bids and accounts in a CRM. Say in the ad which reports reach the CEO each week.
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 · Master agreement risk
Your largest client, a property management firm, wants you to sign a master service agreement with broad indemnity and slower payment terms. What do you do?
A strong answer: Reviews it with counsel and the insurance broker, negotiates indemnity down to the company's own negligence and better payment terms, weighs the client's share of revenue, and is ready to walk on uninsurable terms.
Behavioral · Entering new segments
Tell me about a time you took a company into a new type of work, such as healthcare or restaurants. How did you manage the risk?
A strong answer: Learned the requirements (such as infection control in healthcare), hired or trained the expertise, started with smaller jobs, priced the risk and measured results.
Treat the template's targets as a sketch. Set the real ones with the owners or board, using the last few years of closed jobs and the backlog in hand.
Gross margin
Take what closed jobs billed, less their direct costs, and report it by client type and by project manager, so you can see whether overnight retail work earns as much as daytime office work.
New contract acquisitions
Tally contracts signed above the size you call high value, and note where each one started: a property manager, a repeat tenant, a designer or an open bid.
Overall company profitability
Profit after all overhead on the year-end financials, set against the prior year, with one-time gains or losses shown apart.
Client satisfaction
Survey whoever signed each contract, landlord or tenant, after the punch walk, and talk through low scores with the project manager before you bid that client again.
Career path
EstimatorPrices tenant buildouts and learns where jobs make or lose money.
General managerRuns estimating, field work and client accounts for the company.
Chief executive officerSets the plan, signs the biggest deals and reports to the board or owners.
Owner or board memberTakes an ownership stake or a board seat through a sale or succession plan.
Should a commercial remodeling CEO still price the big bids?
Many CEOs at this size still review every large bid, and that works for a while. The risk is that bids wait on one person while competitors answer faster. A better setup is a written pricing policy covering markup, contingency and when to walk away, with the CEO approving only bids above a set size or outside the policy. That frees time for the accounts and leaders only the CEO can handle.
How much does a commercial remodeling chief executive 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.
What should a CEO do when a tenant client closes in the middle of a job?
Find out who signed the contract and who holds the money. If the landlord funds an allowance, the landlord may still pay for work in place. If the tenant signed alone, collecting gets harder. Pause new orders, document the work done and the materials on site, and call a lawyer about lien and notice deadlines in that state, since they are short and they differ from state to state.
Can a CEO from new construction run a commercial remodeling company?
Yes, if they have run work inside buildings that stay open. Ask how many jobs they had open at once and how they handled tenants working next door. A builder used to one large site a year may struggle with dozens of short jobs and night shifts. Look for someone who has priced and managed small, fast work, or pair them with a COO who has.
What physical work does the CEO template's travel and lifting wording cover?
Visits are short and mostly about people: walking an occupied floor with a property manager, checking a store refresh before it reopens, or meeting a tenant at a punch walk. The CEO may carry a plan set, a laptop or a sample board, which fits the template's light lifting line. On active jobs that means a hard hat, eye protection and work boots, and getting to sites and industry events by car or plane.
