About this role
Position Summary
A Construction Manager plans, directs, and oversees field construction of telecommunications and utility infrastructure, including fiber optic, coaxial, and copper outside plant. This is a leadership position responsible for crew production, quality, safety, permitting, schedule, and stakeholder coordination. The Construction Manager leads field supervisors and crews, manages daily and weekly production, resolves construction issues, and ensures work is completed to company, customer, and code standards.
Key Responsibilities
- Plan, schedule, and direct construction activities for fiber optic, coaxial, copper, and related utility infrastructure projects from mobilization through closeout.
- Lead field supervisors, drill crews, splicing crews, and installation teams to meet production, quality, safety, and schedule goals.
- Oversee aerial, underground, and directional drill operations, including bore paths, utility locates, restoration, and as-built documentation.
- Identify construction, permitting, ROW, and utility conflict issues in the field and drive resolution with cities, utilities, inspectors, and customer representatives.
- Review daily production reports, QA/QC results, and test documentation to confirm work meets company, manufacturer, and customer specifications.
- Ensure aerial and underground construction, drops, and restoration are completed in a neat, code-compliant manner consistent with company and municipal standards.
- Enforce bonding, grounding, traffic control, restoration, and weatherproofing requirements in accordance with NEC, NESC, OSHA, company standards, and local codes.
- Coordinate permitting, inspections, insurance requirements, and closeout packages so work can proceed and be accepted without delay.
- Communicate project status, constraints, and recovery plans to internal leadership, customer project managers, and municipal stakeholders.
- Ensure work orders, as-builts, photos, redlines, and closeout documentation are accurate, complete, and submitted on time.
- Represent the company professionally with residents, businesses, inspectors, and customer representatives while work is performed in occupied areas and public ROW.
- Coordinate with dispatch, warehouse, network operations, splicing, engineering, and other field teams to keep crews productive and escalate plant or schedule issues.
- Establish and enforce construction checklists, safety briefings, and quality hold points. Correct out-of-scope or deficient work and escalate issues that require engineering or customer decision.
- Manage assigned vehicles, tools, equipment, and material inventory so crews remain stocked, safe, and ready to work. Control cost, overtime, and production against the project plan.
- Performs other related duties as assigned to ensure efficient and effective processes, completion of projects and smooth operation of department.
Qualifications
Qualifications
- High school diploma or GED required; associate or bachelors degree in construction management, engineering, or a related field preferred.
- Five or more years of telecommunications, utility, or similar infrastructure construction experience required, including at least two years in a supervisory or management role. Equivalent combination of training and experience accepted. Proven ability to lead crews on fiber, coaxial, copper, and directional drill work is required
Skills & Abilities
- Working knowledge of coaxial, copper, ADSL/DSL, and fiber optic outside-plant construction methods, tools, materials, and quality standards.
- Ability to work safely on active construction sites, including work aloft, in ROW, and around heavy equipment and directional drill operations.
- Thorough understanding of NEC, NESC, OSHA, MUTCD/traffic control, company safety rules, and applicable local codes for outside-plant and customer-premises construction.
- Strong leadership, customer service, and communication skills for work with crews, inspectors, municipalities, and occupied homes and businesses.
- Ability to work independently, manage multiple crews and daily production routes, and complete projects with limited supervision.
- Ability to interpret construction prints, bore logs, locate tickets, permit conditions, and basic test results. Familiarity with OTDR and other advanced test equipment is preferred but not required to operate the equipment personally.
- Ability to enforce test and acceptance procedures, confirm completed plant and services meet specifications, and escalate faults that cannot be cleared in the field.
- Valid drivers license and insurable driving record required. OSHA 30 preferred. First Aid/CPR, traffic control, and telecom or fiber certifications are a plus.
Work Environment & Physical Requirements
May work inside or outside. Possible exposure to hot and cold temperatures, in all-weather elements such as rain, heat, cold and snow. This position also requires work at extreme heights, in areas that are under construction, or in restricted areas such as a switchgear room, manhole, utility tunnel, crawl space, or attic, in confined spaces, and on slippery or uneven surfaces; works on ladders, scaffolds, aerial lifts, catwalks, in ditches and excavations; works in and around single and multi-story buildings with all exposures typical of a heavy construction site, including portable sanitary facilities; and in occupied homes, businesses, and public ROW with limited disruption to customers and the public.
- Must be able to bend, stoop, squat, crawl, climb, kneel, balance, push, pull and reach overhead.
- Lift 51 pounds, routinely. Constantly move about on the feet.
- Climb ladders of all types.
- Complete full day assignments involving overhead work.
- Must be able to make transition from employee parking area or street into construction work areas and to access all levels of the building, even if the only means of access is by O.S.H.A. approved site construction ladder or stairs still under construction, but acceptable for use.
- Must be capable of securing tools and materials from storage areas to complete assigned tasks.
- Possess good vision, normal or corrected. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision to discern color coded wires, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.
- Possess good hearing, normal or corrected.
- Must be able to wear personal protective equipment (hard hat, safety glasses, safety vest) at all times.
- Must be able to work 8 hours a day, 40 hours per week, and overtime as required and night shifts, as needed. This position requires flexible work hours. In order to get a project completed on time, this position is often required to work overtime, weekends, and night shifts.
- Must be able to work in the presence of customers and their representatives with little or no interference or disruption to the customer while maintaining a professional and courteous image.
CEC Companies is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to attracting and retaining the best-qualified individuals, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply.