Unlike a project manager whose field of vision is a single building or infrastructure job, a construction executive is accountable for the entire business: strategy, capital allocation, risk, quality standards, and the development of systems that allow project management to scale across regions and sectors. They coordinate civil engineering, estimating, preconstruction, and operations, and they are constantly balancing people, materials, tools, and schedules. The best executives maintain a deep understanding of jobsite realities—how installation actually happens, why procurement lead times slip, where production is bottlenecked—while also translating that knowledge into boardroom language that lenders, owners, and partners understand. When they are good, they feel both human and technical: they can walk a slab with superintendents in the morning, resolve legal issues with counsel at noon, and present a growth plan to ownership before close of business.

The remit typically spans four pillars. First is strategy and business development: defining markets, targeting new construction opportunities, and cultivating relationships with owners and contractors who award repeat work. Second is financial stewardship: setting budgets, approving capital purchases, sequencing cash flow, and protecting margin when change orders, materials spikes, or weather disrupt production. Third is risk and compliance: ensuring that project management systems, quality standards, and safety programs align with local regulations and OSHA frameworks while remaining practical for construction workers in the field. Fourth is organizational leadership: building an executive bench, improving process and systems, and mentoring the next generation of project executives so the company can develop talent faster than competitors. In high-performing firms, these pillars are not silos; they operate as a unified system that helps teams plan better, install work correctly the first time, and complete projects that owners recommend.

Because the work crosses so many domains, hiring criteria must extend beyond generic leadership tropes. A strong candidate often holds a bachelor’s in construction management, civil engineering, architecture, or a related engineering discipline, with many adding an MBA or master’s in construction management for breadth. Certifications like PMP, CCM, and DBIA help signal process discipline; OSHA credentials and LEED knowledge show they understand safety risks, environmentally responsible design, and how sustainability requirements alter logistics, materials selection, and commissioning. More important than the letters, however, is evidence that the person can lead people and systems: a portfolio that demonstrates they can organize a project team, make trade-space decisions when labor or materials are scarce, and keep owners engaged when inevitable surprises surface.

Experience still matters. Companies hiring at the CEO, COO/President, VP Construction, or Director of Operations levels usually seek fifteen to twenty years in progressively larger roles, including oversight of multiple projects and sectors—commercial, industrial, healthcare, transportation, or other specialized work. Candidates should show stewardship of nine-figure budgets, hands-on contract negotiation, and fluency with modern tools: Procore or Autodesk Construction Cloud for collaboration, Primavera P6 for complex scheduling, and ERP platforms like SAP or Oracle for financial control. When we speak with references, we listen for two themes: whether the executive can design processes that ordinary people can follow in the field, and whether those processes actually reduce rework, claims, and schedule variance. If both are true, the organization tends to become more innovative without burning out its human element.

Compensation should acknowledge that the role carries both upside opportunity and reputational risk. Base salary ranges vary by revenue band, with mid-sized firms often paying within the middle columns below and larger enterprises extending higher through long-term incentives. Geographic modifiers are real: coastal metros and high-growth markets demand premiums to compete for scarce executive leadership.

Executive Base Salary Benchmarks

Most plans pair base with performance pay—commonly 20–50% as an annual bonus tied to schedule adherence, budget performance, safety metrics, and client satisfaction—plus equity, profit sharing, or retention grants at senior levels. Benefits usually include medical/dental/vision, executive life and disability, a 401(k) match of 4–6%, and, depending on fleet strategy, a company vehicle or allowance. For macro context, hiring teams can cross-reference the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics and track sector health in ENR. To calibrate offers against peer data, download our latest Construction Salary Survey.

If you’re preparing to open a search right now, our team can advise on scope, compensation, and market mapping for your sector and geography. Contact The Birmingham Group to discuss options, or—if you’re an executive considering a move—share credentials confidentially through our submit resume page.

Scope and scorecard. Start by defining outcomes, not just responsibilities. The scorecard should convert vague aspirations into measurable objectives: stabilize backlog quality within two quarters, lift gross margin through procurement strategy, improve safety indicators by reducing recordables, develop two internal successors, and open a new construction market sector by year two. When targets clarify what “good” looks like, interviewers can test for the abilities that matter—pattern recognition, financial judgment, process design, and the human capacity to coach under pressure.

Structured stages. Most companies succeed with a four-to-five step cadence. A thirty-minute screen validates minimums and compensation alignment. A technical interview examines how the candidate manages construction activities across parallel projects, how they protect margin when materials prices surge, and how they navigate local regulations that affect permitting, inspections, and sequencing. A panel with senior leaders explores change management, culture, and whether the person can communicate vision without losing operational detail. When feasible, a site visit reveals field credibility—how they talk about installation methods, temporary works, safety planning, and quality hold points. References round it out: supervisors, clients, direct reports, and trusted subcontractors who can speak to both project management rigor and human leadership. For baseline safety and compliance, recruiters should remain conversant with OSHA frameworks.

Recommended Interview Cadence (Quick Reference)

What to ask. Narrative questions work when they require numbers and outcomes. “Describe your largest project failure and the controls you put in place afterward” tests ownership and systems thinking. “Explain how you recovered a slipped schedule without eroding margin” surfaces sequencing tactics, procurement moves, and communication style. “Walk us through a cost overrun greater than ten percent” demonstrates whether they can protect relationships while protecting the business. Safety questions should go beyond slogans: ask how they measure leading indicators, how they coach foremen on hazard recognition, and how they collaborate when human factors and production pressures collide. Because technology underpins modern control, ask how they evaluate new tools; strong answers reference pilots, KPIs, and change-management plans rather than buzzwords. For sustainability, explore how LEED or other standards reshaped submittals, commissioning, and lifecycle cost; the USGBC’s LEED guidance is a useful frame.

Where the best candidates come from. Senior talent is rarely applying on job boards. They are leading work right now. Companies that win searches combine targeted outreach with trusted networks. Association ecosystems—AGC, CMAA, and DBIA—surface respected operators and thoughtful builders. Flagship events like World of Concrete and CONEXPO-CON/AGG provide a neutral setting to observe how leaders talk about process, innovative methods, and sector trends. Digital channels still help, but they work best when paired with true market mapping and referral-driven introductions.

Timelines and cost realities. Internal promotions can land in forty-five to sixty days because cultural due diligence is already complete and the project team knows the candidate’s ability. External searches with a specialized recruiter typically close in sixty to ninety days, while purely direct efforts often run ninety to one hundred twenty because discovery takes longer. The visible costs—fees, ads, internal recruiting time—are only part of the equation. The hidden cost is deferred production: each month a key seat is vacant can shave one to two percent of annual revenue on large portfolios. That calculus is why owners treat executive hiring as a project with milestones, not an ad hoc series of interviews.

Red flags to weigh early. Résumés with four or more companies in a decade deserve context; acquisitions, market exits, or authentic advancement can be healthy, but unexplained hops usually are not. In interviews, avoid candidates who cannot cite budgets, contract structures, or recovery steps; specificity is the friend of truth. Safety posture is non-negotiable: if OSHA citations were routine under their leadership, you need to understand why. Relationship references matter: ask owners about transparency, subcontractors about fairness, and direct reports about coaching. Finally, look for resistance to systems: leaders who wave away Procore, Autodesk Construction Cloud, P6, or ERP will struggle to maintain control as volume increases.

Internal links to help readers go deeper: If you are a hiring manager calibrating offers, bookmark our salary survey. If you need a fast conversation about search design in your market and sector, use our contact form for hiring managers. And if you are a candidate exploring options, share your background via the resume submission page.

Design onboarding like a project. The first month should immerse the leader in how work actually gets done: current budget health, backlog risk, claims and change orders, procurement status on long-lead materials, and the human dynamics of each project team. Give them clean visibility into systems—Procore or ACC for documentation, P6 for schedule health, ERP dashboards for cash and cost. Introduce the people who control outcomes: not just vice presidents but superintendents, foremen, and administrators who keep submittals, pay apps, and inspections moving. The second month shifts to strategy in motion: establish a cadence for reporting, co-lead business development meetings, and align on a short list of process improvements that will remove friction in production and punchlist. By month three, the executive should be driving those improvements, confirming KPIs, proposing org refinements, and setting the next two quarters of priorities. Short written updates to ownership keep expectations inside the same narrative.

Measure what matters. Early metrics should connect directly to the pain you hired to solve: schedule reliability, rework rates, open RFI age, subcontractor readiness, safety leading indicators, and client satisfaction at key milestones. Use numbers to tell a human story. If a superintendent can pour on the planned date because submittals, inspections, and concrete placement were coordinated with fewer handoffs, call that out. When the culture hears that leadership is focused on removing obstacles—rather than adding meetings—momentum builds fast.

Build agreements that reflect reality. Executive employment terms should clarify scope, reporting relationships, and decision rights. Compensation architecture—base, bonus mechanics, and any long-term incentives—should reward outcomes the board actually values: hitting margin on the work we win, winning work we can deliver, and building a resilient team. Restrictive covenants must be tailored to state law; non-competes often run twelve to twenty-four months with reasonable geography tied to where you operate, while non-solicit provisions and confidentiality protect client lists, subcontractor pricing, and proprietary process. Spell out KPIs and the review cadence, including mid-year checkpoints and 360-degree feedback for senior roles. Define termination for cause, set severance norms, and specify benefits continuation. For baseline references on safety and labor, you can consult OSHA and the BLS, but always work with counsel on state-specific employment law and emerging regulatory shifts.

Keep the culture practical and innovative. The best executives model curiosity. They spend time with crews to understand why an installation detail is failing, and they use that insight to tune submittals, prefabrication, or sequence so production improves. They invest in training that blends project management fundamentals with new tools, because systems only work when humans can use them under pressure. They make environmentally responsible choices when they improve lifecycle value, not just headlines, and they ensure that sustainability requirements are embedded in procurement and commissioning instead of treated as last-minute add-ons. Most importantly, they develop people. When project engineers, estimators, and superintendents see a path to executive leadership, the entire organization performs with more intent.

Close the loop with readers. If you’re hiring, you can pressure-test your plan against the market in a quick consult with our search team—use the Hiring Manager contact form. If you’re an executive exploring a confidential move, share your background through our resume portal. If you’re benchmarking compensation or building an internal business case, download the Construction Salary Survey. For role-specific insights that often inform interview prep and career development, see our guides on Project Manager salaries, Senior/Chief Estimator skills and pay, and Assistant Superintendent compensation.