Trades and construction · Mid level · UK conventions

Site supervisor (residential construction): resume example, explained

This fictional example shows a site supervisor on a residential development, four years on from the trade she came through, applying to a principal contractor for a site supervisor role with a route to assistant site manager. Safety training is named by scheme and dated because that is what the pre-start paperwork asks for, coordination is shown as counts of gangs and operatives, and programme adherence is stated honestly, including the handover date that slipped. Each decision is explained, three weak bullets are rewritten from the evidence behind them, and the editable download lets you replace every detail with your own. Nothing here describes a real person.

Illustrative example. An illustrative, invented site supervisor who worked as a bricklayer and then a working foreman before moving into supervision with a fictional housebuilder in 2022. She holds SSSTS and SMSTS and a Level 3 NVQ in occupational work supervision, and is applying to a principal contractor for a site supervisor post. Every employer, date and figure is fictional.

Editable version of this example (.docx)

Danielle Marsh-Adeyemi

Site Supervisor · SMSTS and SSSTS · CSCS Gold Card (supervisory) · Level 3 NVQ Occupational Work Supervision

Derby, Derbyshire · 07700 900 274 · danielle.marsh-adeyemi@example.com

Profile

Site supervisor with four years supervising residential new-build and twelve years in the brickwork trade before that. Runs day-to-day operations on a 46-home development: RAMS review, briefings, scaffold and stage inspections, the two-week lookahead and coordination of around eight subcontract gangs. Holds SMSTS, SSSTS, First Aid at Work and a Level 3 NVQ in occupational work supervision. Seeking a site supervisor role with a principal contractor and a route to assistant site manager.

Experience

Site Supervisor — Fictional Meadowbank Homes (regional housebuilder)

June 2022 – present · 46-home development of houses and bungalows; around eight subcontract gangs and up to 35 operatives on site at peak.

Coordinate around eight subcontract gangs (groundworks, brickwork, roofing, carpentry, M&E) and up to 35 operatives on a 46-home development, sequencing trades plot by plot through the two-week lookahead programme.
Review every subcontractor RAMS before work starts (60 this year, 14 returned for revision) and record weekly toolbox talks and daily briefings, with attendance, in the site diary.
Carry out weekly scaffold inspections and ITP stage checks (foundations, DPC, wall plate, pre-plaster, decoration), raising snagging lists with the trades before building control and warranty inspections.
Kept the plot handover sequence on programme for 11 of 12 dates in the last release phase, agreeing a one-week recovery plan with the site manager when a roofing gang was moved off site.
Investigate near misses and minor incidents, completing the accident book and the company reporting system; no RIDDOR-reportable incidents on the site in the last 20 months.

Working Foreman (Bricklaying) — Fictional Trent Masonry Contractors (brickwork subcontractor)

April 2016 – June 2022 · Brickwork subcontractor on housing sites; gang of six bricklayers and two labourers. Bricklayer with the same firm from 2010.

Led a gang of six bricklayers and two labourers across three housing sites, setting out from drawings, checking gauge and plumb, and liaising daily with the main contractor's supervisor.
Completed SSSTS in 2021 and took on the gang's RAMS briefings and point-of-work assessments before moving into a supervisory role with the housebuilder in 2022.
Trained two apprentice bricklayers through their Level 2 NVQ, both of whom completed on time.

Education

Level 3 NVQ Diploma in Occupational Work Supervision (Construction), 2023
SMSTS (Site Management Safety Training Scheme), CITB Site Safety Plus, 2024
SSSTS (Site Supervisors' Safety Training Scheme), CITB Site Safety Plus, 2021
Level 2 NVQ Diploma in Trowel Occupations (Construction), 2012

Cards and training

CSCS Gold Card (supervisory), current
CITB Health, Safety and Environment test (supervisors), 2024
First Aid at Work (three-day), renewed 2025
Scaffold inspection (competent person) course, 2023
Temporary works supervisor (TWS) course, 2024
Asbestos awareness, 2025
Full UK driving licence

Skills

RAMS review and point-of-work briefing · Two-week lookahead programming and trade sequencing · ITP stage inspections, snagging and plot handover · Scaffold inspection and register · Incident investigation and reporting (accident book, near-miss system, RIDDOR awareness) · Reading construction drawings and setting out · Subcontractor coordination and daily site diary

Why it is written this way

Safety training is named by scheme and dated, because the pre-start paperwork asks for exactly that

A principal contractor's onboarding checks for a current SMSTS or SSSTS certificate and a CSCS card at the right grade before a site supervisor sets foot on site. The resume gives the course name, the scheme and the year for each one, because the certificates expire and 'SMSTS' with no date prompts the first question back. Nothing is listed that she has only booked.

Coordination is shown as gangs, trades and operatives, not as 'strong leadership'

Site supervision is judged by what you kept moving. The first bullet counts the gangs, names the trades and gives the peak headcount on the 46-home development, then says how the sequencing was done (the two-week lookahead). A reader can picture the construction site and its scale; 'managed a large team' would leave them guessing whether it was four people or forty.

Programme adherence is stated honestly, including the miss

Eleven of twelve handover dates met reads as a real record because the twelfth is explained: a roofing gang was moved off site and a one-week recovery plan was agreed with the site manager. A supervisor who can account for a slip is more credible to a construction employer than one who claims a perfect record, and the detail shows she escalated rather than hid it.

The trade years stay on the resume, compressed

The bricklaying and working foreman years are kept because they are why gangs listen to her: she can check gauge and plumb herself and knows what a realistic day's output is. They are compressed to three bullets so the supervisor role carries the evidence, and the transition (SSSTS in 2021, supervision in 2022) is dated so four years of supervising are not mistaken for twelve.

Bullet rewrites, and the evidence behind them

Each rewrite was produced by asking an evidence question and using only the (fictional) answer. No number appears in a rewrite that is not in its evidence.

Before
Responsible for health and safety on site.
Evidence question
What do you do each day and each week that a visiting auditor could see in the records?
Evidence (fictional)
Reviews every subcontractor RAMS before work starts: 60 this year, 14 returned for revision. Weekly toolbox talks and daily briefings recorded in the site diary with attendance.
After
Review every subcontractor RAMS before work starts (60 this year, 14 returned for revision) and record weekly toolbox talks and daily briefings, with attendance, in the site diary.
Before
Managed subcontractors.
Evidence question
How many trades and people, on what kind of site, and what did coordinating them involve?
Evidence (fictional)
A 46-home development; around eight subcontract gangs covering groundworks, brickwork, roofing, carpentry and M&E; up to 35 operatives at peak; trades sequenced plot by plot through the two-week lookahead.
After
Coordinate around eight subcontract gangs and up to 35 operatives on a 46-home development, sequencing trades plot by plot through the two-week lookahead programme.
Before
Kept the project on schedule.
Evidence question
Which dates, how many were met, and what happened when one slipped?
Evidence (fictional)
Plot handover sequence in the last release phase: 11 of 12 handover dates met. The twelfth slipped by a week when a roofing gang was moved to another site; a recovery plan was agreed with the site manager and the plot was handed over the following week.
After
Kept the plot handover sequence on programme for 11 of 12 dates in the last release phase, agreeing a one-week recovery plan with the site manager when a roofing gang was moved off site.

Try it on your own bullets with the bullet workbench, which asks the same questions and never adds a figure you did not supply.

Transferable skills in this example

Sequencing several teams through a shared space
Evidence: Runs the two-week lookahead for around eight gangs on one development, re-sequencing when a trade is pulled.
Where it helps: Production supervision, warehouse and logistics shift leadership, events build, facilities projects.
Briefing people and keeping a record of it
Evidence: Weekly toolbox talks and daily briefings with attendance in the site diary; RAMS briefings at the point of work.
Where it helps: Any regulated workplace where instructions must be given and evidenced: manufacturing, utilities, rail, training delivery.
Checking work against drawings and a plan
Evidence: ITP stage inspections and snagging before third-party inspections; setting out and checking gauge and plumb as a foreman.
Where it helps: Quality inspection, clerk of works and site quality roles, estimating and surveying support.
Investigating incidents and writing them up factually
Evidence: Near-miss and minor-incident investigations recorded in the accident book and the company system.
Where it helps: Health and safety adviser roles, quality and compliance posts, insurance claims handling.

Occupation notes

Hard requirements

Principal contractors commonly require a current CITB Site Safety Plus certificate for supervisory staff: SSSTS for supervisors and SMSTS for site managers, each valid for five years and renewed through a refresher course. Give the course and the year on the resume; the pre-start paperwork will ask for the certificate itself.
CDM 2015 requires that anyone working on a construction site has, or is obtaining, the skills, knowledge, training and experience for their tasks; it does not name a particular card or course. Your resume is the evidence of those four things, so describe what you did on site, not only which courses you sat.
A CSCS card at the right grade, with a current CITB Health, Safety and Environment test behind it, is the usual site-access condition; give the card type and expiry year, never the card number.

Vocabulary that belongs on the page

RAMS (risk assessments and method statements), point-of-work risk assessment, permit to work
Toolbox talk, daily briefing, site induction, site diary
Two-week lookahead, programme, float, release phase, plot handover
ITP (inspection and test plan), benchmark, snagging and de-snagging, handover
Scaffold register and tag, weekly scaffold inspection, working at height
Temporary works coordinator (TWC) and temporary works supervisor (TWS)
RIDDOR, near miss, accident book, dangerous occurrence
Principal contractor, subcontractor, M&E (mechanical and electrical), groundworks, DPC (damp proof course), wall plate

Pitfalls specific to this occupation

Listing 'SMSTS' with no date: the certificate lasts five years and the first question back is when you took it.
Calling yourself the site manager when the job was supervising. Site manager, assistant site manager and site supervisor are different grades on a construction site, and the overstatement is found at reference.
Describing safety as an attitude ('safety first, always') instead of as RAMS reviews, briefings, inspections and incident reports with numbers attached.
Dropping the trade years because they look junior. The trade is why a site supervisor is believed by the gangs; keep them short, but keep them.

UK and US differences

UK: CITB Site Safety Plus courses are used across the UK. Card schemes differ by occupation (for example CPCS or NPORS for plant operators), so list only the cards you actually hold, each with its grade.
UK: Housebuilders also ask which inspection stages you have taken plots through (building control and warranty provider inspections); name the stages rather than writing 'quality control'.

US: In the US the closest roles are construction foreman and superintendent, and the usual safety training is the OSHA 10-hour or 30-hour construction course; describe CITB courses by what they cover rather than by their initials.

Common questions

Should a site supervisor resume list SSSTS or SMSTS?

Whichever you hold, with the year. SSSTS is the supervisor course and SMSTS the manager course; holding SMSTS as a supervisor signals readiness for an assistant site manager role. Never list a course you have booked as one you have passed.

How do I show programme adherence without inventing figures?

Count what you can count: handover dates met, inspections passed first time, weeks of float used. If a date slipped, say what you did about it. A supervisor who can explain a slip is more credible than one who claims there were none.

Sources

CITB (Construction Industry Training Board): Site Safety Plus courses and the Health, Safety and Environment testCITB · UK · checked 3 November 2026
HSE: Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015Health and Safety Executive · Great Britain · checked 3 November 2026

Published 6 November 2026 · Every person, employer and figure in this example is fictional. Drafted with AI assistance and checked against Luceria’s editorial standards.