Chief Estimator-Heavy Civil
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 in support of a public works portfolio targeting more than $20 million in annual recognized revenue. The role requires substantial heavy civil estimating experience, strong commercial judgment, and the ability to develop a team and build enduring relationships with public agencies, school districts, general contractors, and industry partners. The Chief Estimator will lead competitive bids for projects generally ranging from $1 million to $15 million across scopes such as grading, excavation, demolition, clearing, paving, site concrete, hauling, recompaction, and underground utilities. The position has a strong office presence in Murrieta and requires travel throughout Southern California as needed.
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 the ability to evaluate 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 a 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
- Experience involving school districts and education owners, prevailing wage projects, prequalification, and bonding processes.
Responsibilities
- Lead and develop estimators and takeoff technicians; establish priorities, balance workloads, review estimates, and maintain consistent estimating procedures.
- Direct competitive public works bids for projects generally ranging from $1 million to $15 million across relevant heavy civil scopes.
- Build and maintain relationships with public agencies, school districts, general contractors, and strategic partners to identify opportunities and strengthen market presence.
- Develop a qualified bid pipeline supporting annual revenue objectives, including a balanced portfolio of school and education projects and other public works pursuits.
- Lead bid/no-bid evaluations, considering project fit, available 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 develop 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 a smooth transition from award to project 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.
- Maintain a consistent office presence in Murrieta and travel throughout Southern California as needed.
Benefits
- Competitive compensation based on experience and qualifications, with a stated range of $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.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
