Tell us who you need
We talk through the job, the projects, location, pay and why someone good would want it.
FIELD LEADERSHIP
Superintendents and field leaders who run the work, not just manage it.
Construction Headhunters recruits field leadership professionals for general contractors, specialty subcontractors, and construction managers with direct-hire positions across the United States.
For employers
Superintendent or General Superintendent?
Start with the site and team the person will lead. A bigger title alone does not show that someone can handle your assignment.
Set the boundary between site leadership and wider coordination
| Responsibility | Superintendent brief | General Superintendent brief |
|---|---|---|
| Site and team authority | Define the job or phase they run, direct reports and daily site decisions. | Define the projects or field teams they oversee and whether they still run a site themselves. |
| Coordination | Which trades, deliveries, inspections and occupied-site interfaces must they coordinate? | How do they allocate field leaders, resolve shared-resource conflicts and support multiple site teams? |
| Escalation | What can they decide on site, and when must they involve the PM or owner? | Which issues come to them from superintendents, and what authority do they have to resolve them? |
| Individual evidence | Walk through a phase they personally planned, coordinated and completed. | Ask for an example of helping another field leader recover a job without taking credit for that person’s work. |
Use the scorecard below with the actual brief
Record what the candidate reports separately from references, work samples or other evidence you have checked. Ask who made the decision and what the candidate did, not only which contractor employed them.
Planning a superintendent hire before a project starts
Work backward from the date the superintendent must be ready on site. The example below assumes an eight-week planning window. It is a planning aid, not a promise that a search will finish within eight weeks; candidate availability, notice and project requirements may change the schedule.
| Planning window | Employer decisions and work |
|---|---|
| Weeks 1–2 | Agree project scope, required phase experience, location, compensation, travel package and interview decision-makers. Begin outreach once the brief is clear. |
| Weeks 2–4 | Review candidates against the same scorecard. Distinguish candidate-reported experience from references or other checks. Hold interview time in advance. |
| Weeks 4–5 | Complete the interview rounds and any agreed checks. Resolve scope, reporting line and package questions before an offer. |
| Weeks 5–6 | Agree the offer and realistic start date. Account for the candidate's actual notice obligations and any conditions in your hiring process. |
| Weeks 7–8 | Complete your onboarding, site access and handover plan. Confirm the project contacts, schedule, current risks and decisions the new superintendent will inherit. |
If the start date is fixed and the plan leaves no room for interviews or notice, discuss a contingency plan early. Do not assume that every qualified candidate can start immediately.
Roles We Recruit
Field leadership roles vary significantly by project size, sector, and company structure. These are the positions we recruit most often.
Superintendent
Manages daily field operations, trade coordination, scheduling, and safety on a single project or major project phase. The backbone of on-site execution.
Senior Superintendent
Leads large-scale or complex projects requiring deep experience with multiple trades, tight schedules, and high-stakes owner and inspection relationships.
General Superintendent
Oversees multiple superintendents or project sites simultaneously. Responsible for field operations standards, production oversight, and superintendent development.
Traveling Superintendent
Deploys project to project, often regionally or nationally. Typically found in rollout programs, national retailers, healthcare, or multi-site industrial construction.
Field Operations Manager
Bridges field and office, managing field staffing, equipment, subcontractor performance, and production across the company's active project portfolio.
What Employers Commonly Need
- Hands-on production management with demonstrated schedule adherence
- Trade coordination experience across multiple specialty contractors
- Safety leadership, not just compliance but a documented safety culture
- Role-relevant safety training and project-specific safety plan experience, where applicable
- Ability to supervise and develop field crews and junior field staff
- Experience running projects of comparable size and sector
- Strong owner and inspector relationship management
- Self-sufficiency, with the ability to work without constant PM oversight
What We Evaluate in Candidates
- Project types, sizes, and trade mix managed as superintendent-of-record
- Safety record and approach to managing site safety
- Relationship to the PM: how independently did they operate?
- Geographic flexibility and travel willingness for traveling roles
- Career trajectory and long-term motivations
- Peer and PM references, since reputation in the field matters
- Compensation expectations and realistic market alignment
Relevant Construction Sectors
Commercial ConstructionHealthcare ConstructionIndustrial ConstructionHeavy Civil and InfrastructureMultifamilySpecialty TradesMechanicalElectricalConcreteRoofingWater and WastewaterTransportation
Frequently Asked Questions
What do employers look for in a Superintendent candidate?
First and foremost, employers want someone who can run the work: manage trade crews, enforce quality and safety standards, and hit production milestones. Beyond the technical, they want superintendents who are respected in the field and don't require constant direction. Self-sufficiency, reliability, and the ability to read a schedule are consistently cited criteria.
How do you find superintendents who aren't actively looking?
Most experienced superintendents are employed. We reach them through direct outreach, by role, sector, and geography. We do not rely on job board responses. Superintendents who aren't on job boards can still be identified and approached directly.
Do you recruit for traveling superintendent roles?
Yes. We discuss stated travel availability, rotation and assignment commitments, compensation expectations, and career motivation. Traveling roles require clear communication of the travel expectation, per diem or housing structure, and career path.
What sectors do field leadership searches typically cover?
Most frequently: commercial, healthcare, industrial, multifamily, heavy civil, specialty trades, and rollout. Sector experience matters significantly for superintendent roles. A commercial superintendent and a heavy civil superintendent are not interchangeable in most situations.
Can you recruit a General Superintendent or Field Operations Manager?
Yes. We conduct direct outreach for senior field leadership searches and discuss the role scope, project context, team responsibilities, and travel expectations before making introductions.
Free printable tool
Superintendent evaluation scorecard.
Use one copy per candidate. For each row, record what the candidate told you separately from what you were able to check. Interview notes and verified facts are different kinds of evidence; treat them that way.
Which checks are possible depends on the candidate, the references they offer, and your own process; not every item can be confirmed for every hire. Do not ask candidates for confidential documents belonging to a current or former employer. Ask for work they are free to share, or have them walk you through it verbally.
| Item | What to decide | Candidate reported | Checked by you (source) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project context | Sector, size, delivery model, and whether the candidate was superintendent-of-record or assisting. | ||
| Individual phase responsibility | Which phases the candidate personally ran versus inherited or handed off. | ||
| Trade coordination | Number and type of trades directly coordinated; how look-aheads and conflicts were handled. | ||
| Occupied-site constraints | Work around tenants, patients, students, or live operations; phasing, noise, access, infection control where relevant. | ||
| Schedule recovery | A specific slip, its cause, what the candidate changed, and the outcome they describe. | ||
| Safety-process evidence | How pre-task planning, inspections, and corrective actions actually ran on their site. | ||
| Reference and work-sample questions | Questions for a PM or peer reference; a sample the candidate created and may share, such as a look-ahead they authored. |
Tip: in the checked column, name the source, such as a reference call or a site walk, rather than writing only yes or no.
Looking to hire a Superintendent?
Tell us about the role and what you need in the field. We'll review the search and reach out to discuss fit.
Search possibilities
Types of searches we can take on.
Examples of jobs we can fill. Tell us about yours.
- General SuperintendentIndustryGround-Up CommercialMarketTexas
- General SuperintendentIndustryHealthcare CampusMarketFlorida
- Superintendent, Commercial ConstructionIndustryCommercialMarketLocal or relocation search
- Superintendent, Healthcare RenovationIndustryHealthcareMarketLocal or relocation search
- Assistant SuperintendentIndustryGround-Up CommercialMarketTexas
- Assistant SuperintendentIndustryHealthcareMarketFlorida
- Field EngineerIndustryGround-Up CommercialMarketTexas
- Field EngineerIndustryHighway ConstructionMarketFlorida
Start the search
Tell us who you need.
Share the basics. We will call to talk through the job.
No finished job description needed. Ivan or a senior teammate will help you work through the details.
Prefer a conversation? Book a 15-minute employer callFor employers hiring talent. This 15-minute call is for companies discussing a hiring need. Candidates: submit your profile and resume here.
Or call 954-758-9593.
For a standard contingency search, there is no upfront recruiting fee. You pay only if you hire under the signed agreement.
Public candidate profiles
Available now in construction.
Every profile is presented without identifying details. We confirm current interest and fit before arranging a private introduction.
How it works
How we fill your job.
Four steps, run by Ivan or a senior teammate.
We find and speak with candidates
We call people with the right experience, including many who are not applying for jobs.
You meet the strongest matches
You get a short list with notes on each person. We set up interviews and share feedback.
We help you complete the hire
We help with the offer, counteroffers, notice and start date.
Relocation and travel
Location is part of the search.
We look locally first and discuss whether relocation or travel makes sense. A traveling superintendent's rotation, a PM's family move and a local commute are different decisions. We cover relocation help, per diem and timing before you meet anyone, not at the offer.
Placement protection
Candidate replacement guarantee
How long is the candidate replacement guarantee?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
Eligibility, exclusions, notification requirements, payment requirements, and replacement terms are governed by the signed client recruiting agreement.