Project Manager
Sports Facilities Construction | Dublin, Ohio
Field Source builds athletic fields across Ohio. We’re hiring a Project Manager to run those projects end to end — buyout through closeout, with the budget and the schedule in your name.
It’s a narrower market than commercial sitework, and a more technical one. Tolerances get checked with a laser across five acres, the surface has to drain and play right for a decade, and the athletes and communities who use these fields notice immediately when it doesn’t.
Who We Are
Field Source is a sports-facility design-build, construction, and renovation firm based in central Ohio. We build and rebuild the places people play — natural grass and synthetic turf fields, and everything underneath them: earthwork, drainage, irrigation, lighting, and spectator amenities.
Our clients are school districts, parks and recreation agencies, universities, and sports organizations. We deliver as a design-builder, general contractor, construction manager, or specialty contractor with self-performing crews — whichever gets the client the best outcome. We hold the turfgrass expertise most contractors have to hire out for, and we hold the construction capability most consultants don’t have at all.
Our culture is hands-on, collaborative, and low-ego. We’re known in this region for being detail-oriented, responsive, and willing to get out on the field to make sure the work is done the right way.
The Role
You own the project. Budget, schedule, quality, safety, and the client relationship — from the estimating handoff through closeout and warranty.
That means you buy out the work, hold the number, drive the schedule, administer the contract, and hold subcontractors to it. You have line authority over the Superintendents and Foremen on your jobs, and explicit stop-work authority on any operation that isn’t safe. You report to the Principal.
This is a construction delivery role, not an advisory one. If you like being the person the client calls and the person the field team looks to, this is that seat.
You will not be managing one job at arm’s length. You’ll run several concurrently, in different delivery models, on a seasonal clock that doesn’t negotiate — the athletic calendar sets the finish date, and grow-in windows don’t move because a submittal was late.
What Makes This Different
- You’ll actually learn the product. Most construction PMs move dirt without ever understanding why the drainage layer matters or what a GMAX number means. Here, subgrade tolerance and infill depth are the job. We’ll teach you the agronomy if you bring the construction.
- The work is visible and it lasts. You drive past your projects on Friday nights. There aren’t many construction careers where the finished product has a crowd in it.
- You have room to shape the company. We’re building the systems now — cost reporting, buyout process, QA/QC standards, closeout templates. You’ll help write them, not inherit somebody else’s binder.
- The bench is real. In-house design, survey, and GPS/machine control staff, plus self-perform crews. You’re not brokering every scope to a sub and hoping.
- Small firm, direct line. You report to the Principal. Decisions take a conversation, not a committee.
The Game Plan / Prepare To Play™ Standard
“Game Plan / Prepare To Play” is how we deliver. It’s the thing we’ll hold you to, and the thing we’ll back you on. Five commitments:
- 1. Nothing starts without a plan. Scope, budget, schedule, logistics, and risks are worked out before mobilization — not discovered in week three. Buyout is complete before crews roll.
- 2. The number is the number. We tell clients and each other the truth about cost and schedule, early, including when it’s bad news. A budget problem raised in May is a decision. The same problem raised in August is an excuse.
- 3. No surprises. The client hears it from us before they hear it from anyone else — especially when an athletic season or facility access is affected.
- 4. The standard is set by the athletes and communities who use the fields, not the spec book. Passing an inspection is the floor. The standard is a surface that’s safe, plays right, drains right, and holds up for its full service life — judged by the people on it, not the punch list.
- 5. We finish the last 5%. Punch list, as-builts, O&M manuals, warranties, owner training, and final reconciliation get the same energy as the groundbreaking. Most contractors disappear at 95%. That’s where we earn the next project.
What You’ll Own
Preconstruction & Buyout
- Take the handoff from estimating — validate quantities, assumptions, and the margin set at award, and document any variance before work begins.
- Build the project execution plan: delivery method, phasing, site logistics, procurement strategy, and self-perform versus subcontract decisions.
- Solicit, level, and award subcontracts and purchase orders; close scope gaps before award, not after.
- Release long-lead procurement — turf systems, drainage, irrigation, lighting, and site furnishings — in time to protect the schedule.
Budget, Cost & Cash
- Hold the cost-loaded budget from buyout through completion.
- Track committed cost, cost-to-complete, and projected final margin monthly; catch erosion early and act on it.
- Produce work-in-progress and forecast-at-completion reporting for the Principal.
- Prepare pay applications with lien waivers and certified payroll; approve subcontractor and supplier invoices against work in place.
Schedule
- Build and own the baseline schedule at award and maintain it through closeout.
- Run the three-week look-ahead process with your Superintendents and Foremen.
- Sequence earthwork, base, surfacing, and grow-in around Ohio weather and athletic calendars.
- Document delay and impact contemporaneously; pursue time extensions where warranted.
Contract, Risk & Safety
- Administer the prime contract — AIA and owner-form agreements, general conditions, submittals, and RFIs.
- Identify, price, and submit changes promptly; secure written authorization before performing extra work.
- Manage insurance and bonding: subcontractor COIs and additional-insured endorsements, builder’s risk, and payment and performance bonds.
- Comply with Ohio lien and notice law and public procurement obligations, including prevailing wage and certified payroll.
- Own project-specific safety planning and hold subcontractors to their programs — with the authority and the obligation to stop work when a condition isn’t safe.
Field, Quality & Closeout
- Verify installed work against plans, specs, and manufacturer requirements — subgrade and base tolerances, drainage, irrigation, and turf systems.
- Coordinate laser grade verification, planarity and permeability testing, compaction and proof-roll, and third-party inspection.
- Work with in-house survey and machine-control staff on layout, grades, and as-builts.
- Drive substantial and final completion, closeout documentation, owner training, warranty callbacks, and final margin reconciliation.
Clients
- Serve as the primary contact for district administrators, athletic directors, parks staff, facility managers, boards, and committees.
- Run preconstruction, progress, and closeout meetings; issue minutes and drive action items to resolution.
- Identify follow-on and capital planning opportunities within your client base, and support estimating and interview presentations.
What You Bring
Required
- 5+ years managing site, civil, or sports facility construction — budget and cost control, scheduling, contract and change management, subcontractor buyout, and field quality assurance.
- Ability to read and interpret civil site plans, grading and drainage plans, and technical specifications.
- Working knowledge of sitework fundamentals: earthwork, subgrade preparation, aggregate base, subsurface drainage, and irrigation.
- Working knowledge of construction insurance and bonding — COIs, additional-insured endorsements, builder’s risk, and payment and performance bonds.
- Working knowledge of public bidding, prevailing wage, and state and local procurement requirements.
- Proficiency with project management and scheduling software (MS Project, Smartsheet, Procore, or similar).
- Comfort presenting to clients, boards, and stakeholder groups.
- OSHA 30-Hour Construction — at hire, or completed within 90 days.
- Valid driver’s license and willingness to travel regionally to job sites.
- Bachelor’s in Construction Management, Civil Engineering, Landscape Architecture, Turfgrass Science, or related — or equivalent field experience in lieu of a degree.
Nice to Have
- Synthetic turf or natural grass sports field construction experience.
- Background in sitework, civil, landscape construction, golf course construction, or athletic field maintenance.
- Experience with school districts, parks and recreation agencies, universities, or sports organizations.
- Familiarity with sport governing-body field dimension and performance standards.
- Working knowledge of sports lighting, bleachers and grandstands, and athletic site furnishings.
- Familiarity with Ohio lien and notice practice, including notices of furnishing and public bond claims.
- CSFM, CCM, CPC, or PMP certification.
- AutoCAD or Civil 3D for plan review and markup; GPS/machine control or survey workflows (Topcon or similar).
- Design-build or CM-at-risk delivery experience.
Who Does Well Here
- Treats the project budget as if it were their own money.
- Sees margin risk before it shows up in the cost report — and says something.
- Credible with field superintendents and school superintendents alike.
- Keeps composure under schedule pressure and in front of a client when things go wrong.
- Holds a subcontractor accountable without blowing up the relationship.
- Would rather be on a jobsite than behind a desk.
Compensation & Benefits
- Base Salary: $105,000 – $130,000 per year, depending on experience and qualifications.
- Annual Bonus: Target of 8–15% of base, earned against a defined scorecard covering safety, schedule, cost performance, quality and closeout, and client satisfaction. You’ll see the scorecard during the interview process — no mystery about how you get paid.
- Paid Time Off: Two weeks of PTO starting on Day 1 — separate from the paid holidays and year-end shutdown below.
- Paid Holidays & Winter Shutdown: 8 paid holidays, plus a fully paid two-week shutdown at year-end — roughly four weeks of paid time off in total.
- Flexible Work From Home: Flexible work-from-home schedule during the winter months, coordinated with project demands and team needs.
- Health, Dental & Vision (ICHRA): Company-funded, tax-free monthly allowance toward the individual health, dental, and vision plan of your choice — $650 per month (self-only) to $1,300 per month (family), based on age band and family status.
- 401(k) with Company Match: Eligibility after six months, with a company match of 100% of contributions up to 4% of salary, then 50% from 4% to 6%.
- Company Vehicle: Company-provided pickup truck or SUV for travel from home to job sites and business use, including fuel card.
- Cell Phone Stipend: $400 per year.
- Continuing Education: Regional and national conferences focused on sports facilities construction, design, and management, plus support toward relevant certifications.
- Company Apparel Allowance: $500 startup allowance for branded gear.
- Field Gear: Company-provided safety equipment, measuring and testing tools, and site PPE.
- Tech Hardware: Choice of laptop, Surface/MacBook, or iPad.
The Working Reality
This job splits between an office and active construction sites. You’ll be outdoors in variable weather on uneven ground, walking sites around heavy equipment, open excavations, and moving vehicles. Occasional lifting up to 50 lbs. PPE required on every active site.
Peak season means early starts and long days. Winter is genuinely slower — that’s when the flexible schedule and the shutdown are real, and it’s when we do the planning that makes the summer survivable.
How to Apply
Send your resume, a project list with your role on each project, and a short note about the project you’re proudest of — or the one that taught you the most — to [email protected].
If you’re on the fence because you’ve never built a sports field, apply anyway. We’ve had better luck teaching turf to strong site builders than the other way around.
Field Source is an equal opportunity employer. [Confirm final EEO language with counsel before posting.]
Pay: $105,000.00 - $130,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Cell phone reimbursement
- Company truck
- Dental insurance
- Fuel card
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
