A residential developer office manager runs the front office that keeps lot sales, home closings and trade bills moving. They handle the files, buyer packets, invoices and schedules for each subdivision, and keep the office, sales center and phones working for buyers, vendors and staff.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, residential builders and remodelers · BLS, May 2025
Responsible for managing the front office operations and administrative functions to support the success of residential building and development projects. Acts as a key liaison between clients, vendors, and internal teams to ensure timely billing, scheduling, and overall office efficiency. Plays a vital role in maintaining a professional office environment that upholds company standards and ensures customer satisfaction.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Oversee daily office operations, including administrative support, billing processes, and schedule coordination.
Manage documentation, invoicing, and record-keeping for residential construction projects.
Coordinate with vendors, contractors, and internal teams to streamline communications and resolve issues promptly.
Ensure compliance with company policies and procedures while maintaining office organization and efficiency.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Process and monitor billing activities to ensure timely invoicing and collection.
Handle incoming calls and emails, providing support and information to clients and team members.
Schedule meetings, appointments, and on-site visits for project teams and senior management.
Maintain accurate and up-to-date records of project documentation, payments, and office supplies.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Billing Accuracy Rate: 98% or higher.
Invoice Processing Time: Less than 48 hours per transaction.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: >4.8 stars on post-interaction surveys.
Administrative Task Completion: 95% of tasks completed within deadlines.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in business administration, office management, or a related field.
Minimum of 3 years of experience in office management or administrative roles, preferably in the construction or residential building industry.
Strong organizational and time-management skills with proficiency in common office software (MS Office, billing software, etc.).
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to effectively interact with clients, team members, and vendors.
6. Preferred Experience
Previous experience with residential builders or developers and understanding of construction-related billing procedures.
Familiarity with project management tools and office management software.
Demonstrated success in streamlining administrative processes in a fast-paced environment.
Experience working in a role that required coordination across multiple teams and departments.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to frequently use standard office equipment such as computers, telephones, and printers.
Occasional lifting of office supplies or documents up to 20 lbs.
Extended periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
Adequate mobility to move between office and occasional on-site meetings.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Standard office environment with a mix of individual work and team collaboration.
Occasional visits to residential project sites may be required.
Limited travel; primarily local within the assigned region.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $45,000 - $60,000 per year, depending on experience and qualifications.
Eligible for performance-based bonuses.
Comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, and vision insurance.
401(k) plan with company matching contributions and other fringe benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are a forward-thinking residential building and development company that values innovation, collaboration, and excellence.
Our team is committed to professional growth and provides continuous training and development opportunities.
We foster an inclusive work environment where every team member is empowered to contribute to our success.
Join us to be part of a dynamic company that places a strong emphasis on customer satisfaction, integrity, and mutual respect.
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
Any office manager keeps billing, calls and records on track. A developer's office also files papers that set lien priority, readies disclosure packets for buyers and runs a sales office the public walks into.
Notices of commencement in Nebraska
Nebraska lets a contracting owner record a notice of commencement for an improvement. A construction lien recorded later then takes priority from the date the notice was recorded. A notice with no stated end date lasts one year. It can be extended by recording a continuation statement before it lapses. Ask your lender or lawyer when to record one. Then track each notice by subdivision, so none lapses mid-build. Source: Nebraska Revised Statute 52-145, notice of commencement.
A sales office inside a model home
The Justice Department's ADA guidance says a model home generally isn't a place of public accommodation. But the area used as a sales office inside one is. If buyers meet sales staff at a desk in a model, set that area up to the ADA's rules for public places. The department also urges some access to models, such as a ramp to one model's main floor and photos of the other levels. Source: ADA.gov: ADA Title III Technical Assistance Manual.
New Hampshire notices before the contract
In New Hampshire, the seller or seller's agent must give the buyer a set notice before a contract is signed for property that includes a building. The statute spells out the notice, which covers radon, arsenic, lead, PFAS and flood risk. The buyer signs a copy to show they got it. Put the current notice in every purchase packet, and keep the signed copy in the lot's file. Source: New Hampshire RSA 477:4-a, radon, arsenic, lead, PFAS and flood notification.
One permit log for every lot
Keep one log by lot with the permit number, the open inspections and the date the town signs off on occupancy. Share it with sales and the title company. Then no closing gets booked on a house the town hasn't released, and no permit runs out while a lot sits unsold.
How much residential developer office managers make
The closest BLS group for residential developer office managers is First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers. First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers who work for residential builders and remodelers earned a median of $34.00 an hour ($70,720 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about the same as the $69,500 median for First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers in all industries. About 7,630 of the 1,436,680 First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers in that survey work for residential builders and remodelers.
Most often salaried, plus a performance bonus. At residential builders, the BLS median for office supervisors is higher than the template's band, so experienced candidates may expect more.
Residential builders and remodelers
$70,720$70,720 median Middle half $53,830–$91,480 10th–90th $38,360–$110,850
All industries
$69,500$69,500 median Middle half $55,950–$85,090 10th–90th $45,610–$104,710
$25k$50k$75k$100k$125k
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
$38,360
$53,830
$70,720
$91,480
$110,850
All industries
$45,610
$55,950
$69,500
$85,090
$104,710
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
Office management experience, ideally at a builder, title company or real estate firm
Tracking many deadlines at once: permits, contracts, closings and lien notices
Clear, polite emails to buyers, trades and town staff
Billing and invoice processing in accounting software
Leading a small office team and keeping it steady on closing days
Teach these on the job
Your purchase agreement packet and disclosures
Nebraska lien notices and how your lender wants them handled
Your project management and billing software
Each town's online permit portal
Opening and closing routines for the sales office
Expect a builder ERP or project tool such as Buildertrend or NewStar, accounting software, an e-signature tool for buyer packets, and each town's online permit portal. List these in the ad; candidates who already know them start faster.
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 · Unpaid contractor calls
A contractor calls, angry that an invoice is long past due. What do you do?
A strong answer: Looks up the invoice, finds where it's stuck (approval, a missing lien waiver), tells the contractor what's needed and when, and follows up with the approver.
Behavioral · Scheduling systems
Tell me about a time you set up a system that kept inspections, closings or meetings from being missed or double-booked.
A strong answer: Describes the problem, the tool (shared calendar, request form, reminders), how people adopted it, and fewer missed or double-booked appointments.
The template's targets are samples. Clock one normal month and one busy closing month, then set goals you can defend to the general manager.
Billing Accuracy Rate
Of all invoices issued, count those never corrected, credited or disputed afterward. Include lot sales to builders, buyer upgrades and work billed to others.
Invoice Processing Time
Time from when an invoice arrives or is requested to when it's entered, approved and sent or paid, pulled from the date stamps in your billing system.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
A short survey for buyers after closing and for trades and vendors once a year. Read the comments as closely as the score, and share the themes with the general manager.
Administrative Task Completion
Keep a calendar of repeating deadlines, like lien notice extensions, permit renewals and insurance updates, and count those met each month.
Career path
Paralegal at a real estate law firmLearns purchase contracts, deeds and closing files.
Office managerRuns the office, the sales center's paperwork and the lot files.
Director of administration for a multi-community builderRuns offices, sales centers and records across several communities.
Other roles in a residential builders & developers business
Should the office manager handle lien notices or leave them to the lawyer?
Both have a part. The lawyer or lender decides which notices to record and what they say. The office manager gets them signed, sends them to the county for recording, files the recorded copies and keeps a calendar of every lapse date, so a renewal never depends on someone remembering.
How much does a residential developer office manager make?
First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers who work for residential builders and remodelers earned a median of $34.00 an hour ($70,720 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $53,830 and $91,480 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Who should report to a developer's office manager?
Usually the receptionist, the customer service reps and any sales center or closing helpers. The bookkeeper most often reports to the CFO, and the dispatcher to operations, even when they sit in the same office. Write the lines down, so each buyer question and each trade bill has one owner.
How should the office get ready for a new subdivision's sales opening?
Set up phone routing and CRM fields for the new lots. Update the purchase packet and the disclosures for that town. Check the sales office layout, and load the plat map and the price sheet sales approved. Do a dry run with sales a week ahead, so the first visitors don't find gaps.
At a developer, what do the office manager's lifting and mobility lines mean?
The template keeps them verbatim. Here they mean moving a box of contract packets or printer paper, carrying supplies to the sales office in a model, and walking a street of homes for a meeting with the project team. Explain them plainly and agree with the candidate on any accommodation needed.
