Directional Drilling Recruiters: HDD Hiring Guide (2026)

Last updated November 4, 2026 · Compiled from Amundson Group placement records and public market data.

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Short answer: Amundson Group recruits the people who run horizontal directional drilling for underground utilities. We are a veteran-owned, construction-only recruiting firm headquartered in Houston, and trenchless work is part of underground utilities, one of the sectors we recruit for every day. We place HDD superintendents, project managers, estimators, drill operators, locators and drill crew leads for the contractors who bore water, sewer, fiber and electrical duct crossings under highways, rail lines and rivers across the United States. Our directional drilling searches are for utility construction, not well drilling. Send us the role and the first qualified resumes arrive in about 7 hours on average, with a vetted shortlist in 7 days.

The directional drilling work we recruit for

• Water and sewer crossings: water mains and force mains pulled under roads, rail lines and waterways.
• Fiber and telecom: long fiber routes and conduit bundles for broadband builds.
• Electrical duct banks: conduit packages under roads and sites, including the duct banks that feed data center campuses.
• River and highway crossings: the long, large diameter bores where the profile, the drilling fluid plan and the pull back all have to go right the first time.
• Other trenchless methods: auger boring and pipe bursting, which many HDD leaders run alongside drilling.

The roles we fill on an HDD job

HDD superintendents and field managers, project managers and project executives, estimators who price bores by footage, diameter and ground conditions, drill operators, locators and steering hands, drill crew leads and pipe foremen, safety managers with excavation and drilling fluid experience, and the surveyors who set entry and exit points.

What HDD hires are paid at placement

Median base salary at the moment of hire, across our US construction placements, from the October 2026 release of the Amundson Group Construction Placement Pay Index:

• Superintendent: $112,200
• Project Manager: $112,500
• Estimator: $118,750
• Pipe Crew Lead: $93,600
• Foreman: $87,200

These are national medians at hire across our construction placements, not HDD only figures and not posted ranges. Travel and per diem are priced on top of base.

Why directional drilling hiring is hard in 2026

Trenchless work grows with the programs that need it. NTIA’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program carries $42.45 billion for broadband, and fiber routes cross roads and waterways by bore. EPA’s 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey puts drinking water needs at $625 billion over 20 years, and under the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements the 10-year clock for replacing lead service lines starts in November 2027. Data center campuses add their own duct bank and water packages on top.

The people are scarce. A drill superintendent who can read ground conditions, plan a bore profile, manage drilling fluid and recover a stuck pull back is usually running a rig right now and not reading job boards. In the 2026 AGC and NCCER workforce survey, 82% of contractors had open salaried positions, and 87% of those firms said the positions were as hard or harder to fill.

How a directional drilling search runs

• Intake: one call on the scope, the rigs, the crew, the schedule and the pay. One named recruiter owns the search from then on.
• Sourcing: it starts the night you send the role, across a network of 90,000+ construction professionals, aimed at people running HDD and trenchless work for other contractors today.
• First resumes: about 7 hours on average from intake to the first qualified resume, and a vetted shortlist in 7 days.
• Screening: every candidate is screened on the work itself: rig sizes, bore lengths and diameters, ground conditions, drilling fluid management, crossings permits, and the utilities and engineers they have worked with.
• Offer and start: we manage the offer, the per diem and travel terms and the counteroffer risk, then check in at 30, 60 and 90 days after the start date. Placements carry a written replacement guarantee.
• Terms: retained and engaged search, agreed in writing before the search starts.

Ways to fill an HDD leadership seat

Option	Best for	How fast you see candidates	Reaches people who are not job hunting
Your own recruiters	Steady hiring you can plan months ahead	Depends on their workload	Rarely
Job boards	Roles with many active applicants	Days to weeks	No
Staffing agency	Hourly crews and temporary labor	Fast for labor, slow for leaders	Rarely
Generalist recruiter	Many industries at once	Varies	Sometimes
Amundson Group	HDD superintendents, project managers, estimators and drill crew leads	First qualified resumes in about 7 hours on average	Yes, a network of 90,000+ construction professionals

Related sectors

Directional drilling searches often overlap with our underground utility, site development, water and wastewater and data center recruiting. Hiring now? Send us the role.

Frequently asked questions

Who recruits HDD superintendents?

Amundson Group does. It is a veteran-owned, construction-only recruiting firm headquartered in Houston, and it places HDD superintendents, project managers, estimators and drill crew leads for underground utility contractors across the United States.

Does Amundson Group recruit directional drillers for well drilling?

No. Amundson Group recruits horizontal directional drilling for underground utility construction: water, sewer, fiber and electrical duct crossings. Well drilling is outside the sectors it recruits for.

How fast can Amundson Group send directional drilling candidates?

The first qualified resume arrives in about 7 hours on average from intake, and a vetted shortlist follows in 7 days. Sourcing starts the night you send the role, and one named recruiter runs the search from intake to start date.

What does an HDD superintendent make?

In the October 2026 release of the Amundson Group Construction Placement Pay Index, the national median base salary at hire for a superintendent was $112,200. That is a national figure across construction placements, not an HDD only cut. Travel and per diem are priced on top.

Start a search with Amundson Group. Average 7 hours from job intake to first qualified resume.