Lead Carpenter & Field Foreman - Residential Framing

Horst Construction; Santa Barbara (CA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Horst Construction in Santa Barbara is seeking a highly skilled lead carpenter with extensive hands-on residential wood-framing experience to lead our field crew.

This working foreman role requires the ability to read plans, lay out framing, solve field problems, and work efficiently with minimal supervision while maintaining quality, safety, and productivity on demolition, framing, and carpentry tasks.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional residential wood-framing experience.
• Ability to read architectural and structural plans without constant supervision.
• Experience leading carpenters or small construction crews.
• Strong understanding of framing techniques, materials, building codes, and jobsite safety.
• Ability to accurately measure, lay out, cut, and assemble framing components.
• Comfortable using smartphone apps for time tracking, daily reports, and progress photos.

Responsibilities

• Independently lay out and frame residential walls, floors, ceilings, and roof structures.
• Perform structural modifications, including beams, headers, posts, and engineered framing components.
• Read and interpret architectural and structural plans, specifications, and construction details.
• Lead a small field crew while actively performing carpentry work.
• Perform selective demolition while protecting existing structures and finishes.
• Install windows, exterior doors, and interior doors.
• Perform finish carpentry and miscellaneous construction tasks as needed.
• Coordinate daily field activities with subcontractors and the project manager.
• Identify construction conflicts and communicate solutions before they delay work.
• Maintain clean, safe, and organized jobsites.
• Track labor hours, complete daily logs, and upload progress photos in our construction management software.
• Own the quality of the work, crew productivity, and efficient use of materials.

Skills

Wood framing

Reading plans

Lead small crew

Time tracking apps

Jobsite safety

Education

OSHA 10/OSHA 30 certification

Tools

JobTread

Buildertrend

Job description

Horst Construction in Santa Barbara is seeking a highly skilled lead carpenter with extensive hands-on residential wood-framing experience to lead our field crew.

This working foreman role requires the ability to read plans, lay out framing, solve field problems, and work efficiently with minimal supervision while maintaining quality, safety, and productivity on demolition, framing, and carpentry tasks.