How To Become A Land Development Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a land development manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The basic role of a land development manager is to examine and authorize land development conditions in a real estate business. You are also expected to oversee field and section engineering tasks.

Land development managers organize engineering and construction specialists to meet up both corporate and project goals. It is also your duty as a land development manager to find land properties and serve as a mediator in acquiring the land for property improvement policies in the business. Your role as a land development manager requires you to take care of staff and worker's payroll, along with working together with a certified public accountant (CPA) for end-of-the-year tax statements.

To fit the role of a land development manager, you need to have at most a bachelor's degree in either civil engineering or construction management. In addition to this, you must develop good communication, negotiation, and marketing skills. You are also required to be knowledgeable in real estate. A land development manager earns between $43,000 and $102,000, but an average yearly salary of $66,920 is most prevalent, which is about $32.17 per hour.

ScoreLand Development ManagerUS Average

Salary

7.2

Avg. Salary $92,079

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.8

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.56%

Asian 2.82%

Black or African American 3.66%

Hispanic or Latino 17.18%

Unknown 4.43%

White 71.36%

Gender

female 10.37%

male 89.63%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

7.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a land development manager

Explore land development manager education requirements

Most common land development manager degrees

Bachelor's

69.9 %

Associate

13.3 %

Master's

9.5 %

Start to develop specific land development manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Civil Engineering	11.67%
Project Management	11.03%
Construction Management	7.39%
Development Projects	6.70%
Due Diligence	6.62%

Complete relevant land development manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 2-4 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New land development managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a land development manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real land development manager resumes.

Research land development manager duties and responsibilities

Manage HOA's from inception to assigning management control to resident board.
Lead development efforts with aggressive time-lines on many web-base java projects in a dynamic environment concluding in successful on-time deliveries.
Handle payroll for staff and workers.
Collaborate with CPA for year-end tax reporting.

Prepare your land development manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your land development manager resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a land development manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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