Trade Manager

Burns Group is a family-owned business, established in 1977 serving the civil construction and aggregates industry in the Southeast. Our portfolio includes heavy civil, logistics, and recycling divisions. Our core values and dedication to our people guide every aspect of our company. We invite you to contact us and see what it means to be #burns built.

The Trade Manageris a key field leadership role responsible for planning, coordinating, and elevating discipline-specific crews across Burns Dirt projects. This role ensures crews are properly staffed, productive, trained, and supported while maintaining Burns’ standards for safety, quality, and performance.

Trade Managers serve as thelink between Operations leadership and field execution, supporting Crew Leaders with technical guidance, manpower planning, and productivity oversight. While this role will eventually specialize in scopes such asmass earthwork, utilities, or concrete, Trade Managers will initially operate asgeneralistsacross Burns Dirt projects.

Success in this role is measured bycrew utilization, productivity, quality, and workforce development.

• Oversee discipline-specific crews across multiple active jobsites.
• Allocate manpower based on project priorities, schedules, and production needs.
• Support Foremen with technical guidance, sequencing, and execution planning.
• Ensure work is performed safely, efficiently, and in accordance with plans and specifications.
• Identify and resolve field constraints impacting productivity or safety.

• Track and analyze crew productivity (earned hours vs. actual hours).
• Monitor crew utilization and recommend staffing adjustments.
• Identify rework, inefficiencies, or training gaps and implement corrective actions.
• Partner with Operations and Project Management to align field execution with budgets and schedules.

• Reinforce Burns Dirt safety standards and stop-work authority.
• Ensure consistent execution of weekly safety toolbox talks.
• Identify safety trends and participate in corrective planning.
• Support quality control by reducing rework and ensuring scope compliance.

• Identify training needs for operators, laborers, and foremen.
• Support certification tracking and skills development.
• Mentor Foremen and emerging leaders within the trades.
• Contribute to workforce planning and trade-specific capability building.

• Participate in weekly resource planning and operations meetings.
• Provide field-level insight during backlog planning and strategic reviews.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives across projects and trades.

• Weekly Safety Toolbox Talks (Monday):
  
  Ensure consistent safety engagement across crews.
• Weekly Operations & Resource Planning (Wednesday):
  
  Crew allocation, productivity review, and manpower planning with Operations.
• Quarterly Strategic Operations Reviews:
  
  Backlog forecasting, financial and safety trend analysis, workforce planning.
• Annual Closeout & Lessons Learned Summit:
  
  Year-end performance review and goal setting.

• Productivity:
  
  Earned Hours vs. Actual Hours
• Rework Hours as % of Total Hours
• Training & Certifications Completed

• 5+ years of experience in heavy civil construction or a related field.
• Strong understanding of earthwork, utilities, and/or concrete operations.
• Proficiency ingrading, excavation, utilities, concrete, and infrastructure construction.
• Proven experience leading or supporting field crews.
• Ability to analyze productivity data and make field-driven decisions.
• Commitment to safety, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Experience with construction management software(e.g.,HCSS, Project Sight).
• Excellent leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Valid driver's license and ability to travel as needed within a 150-mile radius of Columbus, MS.

• Experience in a supervisory or trade leadership role.
• Proven ability to manage large-scale projects ($20M+ preferred).
• Experience supporting multiple crews or projects simultaneously.
• Background in mentoring or developing field leadership.
• OSHA 30 certification

• Crews are fully utilized and properly staffed.
• Productivity consistently meets or exceeds benchmarks.
• Rework and safety incidents are minimized.
• Foremen are supported, confident, and effective.
• Trades are developing stronger skills, leadership depth, and consistency.

Burns Dirt is a growing heavy civil contractor built on accountability, craftsmanship, and long-term thinking. We invest in our people, promote from within, and believe strong field leadership drives strong results. This role offers real influence, career growth, and the opportunity to shape how work gets done.