Construction · Project managers
Construction project manager recruiters
We recruit the project managers who run your jobs and protect your margin, for general contractors, specialty subs and industrial builders.
The role
Your margin lives with your project managers
A project manager owns the budget, the schedule, the subs and the client from preconstruction to closeout. A strong one protects the margin on every job they run. A weak one can give it away before it shows up on the WIP report.
So we treat the PM seat like an executive search. We recruit project managers and senior project managers, and we look past the resume to how they actually run a job.
Why it's hard
Why good project managers are hard to hire
The best PMs are already running jobs, and their companies know what they're worth. They don't answer job posts.
- They're mid-project. A strong PM won't walk off a half-built job, so timing and a real reason to move both matter.
- Titles don't travel. At one contractor the PM runs the whole job; at another they support a senior PM. The title tells you very little.
- Fit with the field decides it. If your superintendents won't work with them, the resume stops mattering.
- A miss is slow to show. Fade on a job often surfaces months after the damage is done.
What we look for
What a strong project manager looks like
We test for four things, in interviews and in references from people who've worked alongside them.
- They've run jobs like yours: the same delivery method, contract type and size of project.
- They know their numbers and can walk you through a cost report, a change order log and a schedule update without notes.
- They manage subs firmly and fairly, so the good ones want to work with them again.
- They tell the owner bad news early.
How it works
How the search runs
The Bullseye Meeting
We sit down with your operations leaders and agree on the jobs this person will run, the team around them, the pay, and who makes the final call.
Mapped search
We approach project managers who are running jobs well right now. Most aren't looking, so we give them a real reason to talk.
Mutual-fit assessment
We vet each candidate's track record, numbers and character, and check fit with your superintendents. You meet two to four people, all vetted.
Onboard & follow through
We handle references, the offer and any counteroffer, and stay in touch through their first 90 days.
Questions
Project manager search: common questions
Both. Much of our work is the level below the C-suite, including project managers, senior project managers, superintendents and estimators. The test is the cost of getting the hire wrong, and on a big job that cost is high.
Typically one to three weeks to calibrate, candidate recommendations from around week four to week eight, and an offer to your top candidate between weeks eight and twelve for a leadership role or twelve and sixteen for an executive role. Searches finish faster when you're ready to move as soon as the right person surfaces.
You pay a deposit to launch the search, nothing more until you hire, a payment at hire, and a final payment thirty days after your new leader starts. Fees depend on the role, and we quote them plainly in the first conversation.
Every FireSeeds search carries a guarantee. If the placement doesn't work out within the agreed period, we re-run the search. The specifics are set out in the engagement letter before we start.
Hiring a project manager?
Tell us about the seat you need to fill. We'll tell you honestly whether we're the right team to fill it.