Post job

How to hire a site manager

Site manager hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring site managers in the United States:

  • The median cost to hire a site manager is $1,633.
  • It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
  • HR departments typically allocate 15% of their budget towards recruitment efforts.
  • Small businesses spend $1,105 per site manager on training each year, while large companies spend $658.
  • It takes approximately 12 weeks for a new employee to reach full productivity levels.
  • There are a total of 58,411 site managers in the US, and there are currently 47,853 job openings in this field.
  • New York, NY, has the highest demand for site managers, with 27 job openings.

How to hire a site manager, step by step

To hire a site manager, you need to identify the specific skills and experience you want in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and advertise the job opening to attract potential candidates. To hire a site manager, you should follow these steps:

Here's a step-by-step site manager hiring guide:

  • Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
  • Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
  • Step 3: Make a budget
  • Step 4: Write a site manager job description
  • Step 5: Post your job
  • Step 6: Interview candidates
  • Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new site manager
  • Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a site manager do?

The tasks of a Site Manager may vary, but the responsibility will always revolve around supervising the construction project and its employees, making sure that the project is completed within the allotted time, budget, and quality. Site Managers are required to have great communication and leadership skills as they are often the ones to engage with the clients and coordinate with the employees. Moreover, It is also the Site Manager's responsibility to ensure the safety of employees, prepare site reports, conduct quality control procedures, assess and solve problems, negotiate contracts, and secure permits needed for the project.

Learn more about the specifics of what a site manager does
jobs
Post a site manager job for free, promote it for a fee
  1. Identify your hiring needs

    The site manager hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

    Determine employee vs contractor status
    Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

    A site manager's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, site managers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

    This list presents site manager salaries for various positions.

    Type of Site ManagerDescriptionHourly rate
    Site ManagerConstruction managers plan, coordinate, budget, and supervise construction projects from start to finish.$15-52
    General Manager Of OperationsGeneral managers of operations are employed to oversee the overall operations of businesses. Their responsibilities include the improvement of the efficiency of the operations and overall management... Show more$23-79
    Area Operations ManagerIn an organization, an area operations manager takes responsibility in every aspect of safety and health. The area operations managers report and oversee the performance of individuals and teams within the enterprise... Show more$14-37
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common skills:
    • Customer Service
    • Safety Procedures
    • Oversight
    • OSHA
    • Logistics
    • Project Management
    • Continuous Improvement
    • ISO
    • Human Resources
    • Site Management
    • PowerPoint
    • Client Satisfaction
    • Financial Reports
    • Quality Standards
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Manage all aspects of LTE upgrade procedure.
    • Manage incoming work through Ricoh project software and through e-mail.
    • Manage incoming and outgoing faxes, mail, and FedEx packages.
    • Identify and manage all work require to complete and acquire NTP.
    • Manage day-to-day processing of account receivables and payables using QuickBooks and Xero, producing reports as requested.
    • Monitor KPI's and manage them so that weak areas can be addressed and future performance can be improve.
    More site manager duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in your site manager job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A site manager can vary based on:

    • Location. For example, site managers' average salary in north dakota is 59% less than in california.
    • Seniority. Entry-level site managers 71% less than senior-level site managers.
    • Certifications. A site manager with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
    • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a site manager's salary.

    Average site manager salary

    $59,192yearly

    $28.46 hourly rate

    Entry-level site manager salary
    $32,000 yearly salary
    Updated December 19, 2025

    Average site manager salary by state

    RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
    1California$103,050$50
    2Oregon$73,716$35
    3New York$73,114$35
    4Arizona$72,460$35
    5Washington$70,283$34
    6Massachusetts$64,696$31
    7Pennsylvania$63,051$30
    8Texas$62,426$30
    9Virginia$62,059$30
    10Florida$53,901$26
    11District of Columbia$53,192$26
    12Colorado$52,997$25
    13Michigan$52,282$25
    14Ohio$51,456$25
    15Missouri$50,255$24
    16North Carolina$48,390$23
    17Illinois$47,526$23
    18Indiana$46,927$23
    19Tennessee$46,654$22
    20Georgia$46,117$22

    Average site manager salary by company

    RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rateJob openings
    1Meta$175,426$84.34174
    2NVIDIA$171,492$82.454
    3Google$164,413$79.049
    4Genentech$164,205$78.944
    5Chevron$157,092$75.5313
    6Koch Industries$154,694$74.37
    7Novo Nordisk$153,961$74.02
    8Pinterest$149,531$71.891
    9Microsoft$148,696$71.4913
    10LinkedIn$146,830$70.592
    11Morgan Stanley$137,195$65.96
    12Bristol-Myers Squibb$136,215$65.495
    13Rivian$124,498$59.85
    14EMCOR Group$124,222$59.7245
    15Solenis$119,789$57.59
    16Northrop Grumman$119,020$57.2210
    17QC HOLDINGS$118,515$56.98
    18Lone Star Circle of Care$113,036$54.34
    19Arkema$112,567$54.123
    20Baker Hughes$111,657$53.683
  4. Writing a site manager job description

    A site manager job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a site manager job description:

    Site manager job description example

    About the Role

    In this role, you'll manage a 5-10k sq ft distribution center, the local warehouse operating team, and be responsible for ensuring we maintain high quality for our customers.

    You're excited about this opportunity because you will
    • Lead: Recruit, lead, coach & retain a high-performing team of Shift Leads (3+) and Operations Associates (6+). Set your team up for success to work safely and productively. As a leader, you will be responsible for building a strong, positive culture and will be accountable for driving strong employee satisfaction scores. You'll partner with your Shift Leads to effectively delegate daily tasks and ensure high performance from your team.
    • Own: You will own the day-to-day operations of one of our DashMart warehouses, ensuring the site processes run smoothly, efficiently and safely. You'll own scheduling and be responsible for managing a labor budget. You will be responsible for ensuring your warehouse meets site-level metric goals.
    • Delight customers: Lead your team in providing our customers with the best possible experience on each and every order. You will be responsible for maintaining key quality metrics including order accuracy and fulfillment speed. Work cross-functionally with central teams including our inventory and training teams to provide your team with the tools and resources to achieve this goal.
    • Strategize: Use data to identify pain-points or areas of inefficiency within our warehouse and current processes. Design, build and execute process improvement projects to improve our warehouse operations, quality metrics, and the employee experience.
    We're excited about you because
    • You're a proven leader. You have managed high-performance teams of 10+ employees
    • You act like an owner. You do what it takes to support a 24/7 business across multiple shifts. You're excited to have ownership over a new and rapidly growing business.
    • You solve problems from first principles. You're excited to solve problems in innovative ways, and you resist "this is how it's always been done" thinking
    • You're unafraid of ambiguity. Rapid change and learning is exciting to you, and you thrive in ambiguous, startup environments
    • You're analytical. You let data win arguments. You are a data-first problem solver and you have experience using Excel or Google Sheets to analyze data, including using basic formulas and creating pivot tables.
    • You have 3+ years' experience: In Operations, Warehouse Logistics, Retail Management, Fulfillment, or related field
    • You have 1+ years of experience managing a team
    • You have a college degree, or relevant professional work experience
    • You have flexibility in your schedule. As the leader of the site, you will need to ensure your team and the site is fully supported, requiring some late night and weekend availability.

    Base Pay Range: CAD 80000 - 85000 / year + equity

    About DoorDash

    At DoorDash, our mission to empower local economies shapes how our team members move quickly, learn, and reiterate in order to make impactful decisions that display empathy for our range of users-from Dashers to merchant partners to consumers. We are a technology and logistics company that started with door-to-door delivery, and we are looking for team members who can help us go from a company that is known for delivering food to a company that people turn to for any and all goods.

    DoorDash is growing rapidly and changing constantly, which gives our team members the opportunity to share their unique perspectives, solve new challenges, and own their careers. We're committed to supporting employees' happiness, healthiness, and overall well-being by providing comprehensive benefits and perks including premium healthcare, wellness expense reimbursement, paid parental leave and more.

    Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

    We're committed to growing and empowering a more inclusive community within our company, industry, and cities. That's why we hire and cultivate diverse teams of people from all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. We believe that true innovation happens when everyone has room at the table and the tools, resources, and opportunity to excel.

    If you need any accommodations, please inform your recruiting contact upon initial connection.

  5. Post your job

    There are various strategies that you can use to find the right site manager for your business:

    • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
    • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
    • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
    • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.
    Post your job online:
    • Post your site manager job on Zippia to find and recruit site manager candidates who meet your exact specifications.
    • Use field-specific websites.
    • Post a job on free websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    Your first interview with site manager candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

    It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

    The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

  7. Send a job offer and onboard your new site manager

    Once you've found the site manager candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

    It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

    To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

  8. Go through the hiring process checklist

    • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
    • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
    • Define job responsibilities and requirements
    • Establish budget and timeline
    • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
    • Write job description
    • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
    • Promote the job internally
    • Process applications through applicant tracking system
    • Review resumes and cover letters
    • Shortlist candidates for screening
    • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
    • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
    • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
    • Conduct background checks on top candidates
    • Check references of top candidates
    • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
    • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
    • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
    • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
    • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
    • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
    Sign up to download full list

How much does it cost to hire a site manager?

Hiring a site manager comes with both the one-time cost per hire and ongoing costs. The cost of recruiting site managers involves promoting the job and spending time conducting interviews. Ongoing costs include employee salary, training, benefits, insurance, and equipment. It is essential to consider the cost of site manager recruiting as well the ongoing costs of maintaining the new employee.

You can expect to pay around $59,192 per year for a site manager, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for site managers in the US typically range between $15 and $52 an hour.

Find better site managers in less time
Post a job on Zippia and hire the best from over 7 million monthly job seekers.

Hiring site managers FAQs

Search for site manager jobs

Ready to start hiring?

Browse executive management jobs