Chief Estimator-Heavy Civil

Kimmel & Associates • Riverside, CA

11d • $175,000 - $225,000 • Onsite

About The Position

The Chief Estimator will lead the estimating department and drive public works business development throughout Southern California. Reporting directly to the President, this hands-on leader will oversee estimating personnel, develop a qualified bid pipeline, and guide competitive pursuits supporting a public works portfolio targeting more than $20 million in annual recognized revenue. The role requires substantial heavy civil estimating experience, commercial judgment, and the ability to develop a team and build lasting relationships with public agencies, school districts, general contractors, and industry partners. It requires a consistent office presence in Murrieta and travel throughout Southern California as needed.

The employer is a Southern California heavy civil contractor specializing in earthwork, grading, excavation, demolition, and site development. It delivers public works and private-sector projects through self-performed construction services and coordinated subcontracted scopes. The organization emphasizes operational excellence, innovation, continuous improvement, strong client relationships, people development, quality results, empowerment, integrity, accountability, and excellence.

Requirements

• Significant heavy civil construction estimating experience, particularly in grading, excavation, site preparation, and related self-perform scopes.
• Demonstrated experience leading estimating efforts for public works projects and supervising or providing senior-level oversight to estimating personnel.
• Ability to develop production-based estimates using construction drawings, specifications, soils reports, site assessments, labor and equipment costs, subcontractor pricing, and material quantities.
• Working proficiency with B2W Estimate or a comparable estimating platform.
• Familiarity with AGTEK, Bluebeam, or equivalent takeoff and plan-review tools; customer relationship management platforms; and AI-assisted tools such as ChatGPT or Claude.
• Strong financial and commercial judgment, including evaluating project margins, contract risk, resource availability, and bid strategy.
• Ability to build client relationships, develop new business opportunities, and present bid recommendations to executive leadership.
• Excellent communication, organizational, and analytical skills, with strong attention to detail and follow-through.
• Collaborative, approachable leadership style and genuine commitment to mentoring, teaching, and developing team members.
• Alignment with the company's core values of empowerment, lean thinking, innovation, transformation, excellence, honesty, and integrity.
• Willingness to travel throughout Southern California as needed.
• Ability and willingness to maintain a consistent office presence in Murrieta.

Nice To Haves

• Understanding of California public bidding requirements, with experience involving school districts, education owners, prevailing wage projects, prequalification, and bonding processes preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop estimators and takeoff technicians, set priorities, balance workloads, review estimates, and maintain consistent estimating procedures.
• Direct competitive public works bids, generally ranging from $1 million to $15 million, across grading, excavation, demolition, clearing, paving, site concrete, hauling, recompaction, and underground utilities.
• Build and maintain relationships with public agencies, school districts, general contractors, and strategic partners to identify opportunities and strengthen market presence.
• Develop a qualified opportunity pipeline supporting annual revenue objectives and a balanced portfolio of school and education projects and other public works pursuits.
• Lead bid/no-bid evaluations considering project fit, resources, competition, contract terms, bonding requirements, cash flow, and anticipated profitability.
• Review plans, specifications, quantities, labor and equipment production rates, material pricing, subcontractor proposals, schedule requirements, and bid documentation to produce complete, competitive estimates.
• Identify and evaluate scope gaps, differing site conditions, utility conflicts, earthwork quantities and balances, hauling and disposal assumptions, schedule constraints, and unfavorable contract provisions.
• Coordinate with project managers, superintendents, and operations leadership to validate estimating assumptions and support smooth transitions from award to execution.
• Monitor bid volume, win rates, awarded backlog, estimated gross margins, revenue performance, estimate accuracy, and early project cost variances.
• Use bid results and project feedback to refine production assumptions, improve estimating processes, and strengthen departmental performance.
• Mentor estimators and takeoff technicians, share technical knowledge, and support onboarding and development of additional estimating resources.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation based on experience and qualifications: $175,000–$225,000.
• Leadership opportunity with direct access to the President and influence over company growth strategy.
• Opportunity to build and develop an estimating team and improve department processes.
• Ability to influence project selection, bidding strategy, and public works market expansion.
• Collaborative environment that values innovation, continuous improvement, professional development, and accountability.
• Company bonus and benefits programs, with details provided during the interview process.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Education Level: No Education Listed