Chief Estimator-Heavy Civil

Kimmel & Associates • Moreno Valley, CA

10d • $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 in support of a public works portfolio targeting more than $20 million in annual recognized revenue. The role calls for substantial heavy civil estimating experience, strong commercial judgment, and the ability to develop a team and build lasting relationships with public agencies, school districts, general contractors, and industry partners.

The Chief Estimator will lead estimates for public works projects generally ranging from $1 million to $15 million, including grading, excavation, demolition, clearing, paving, site concrete, hauling, recompaction, and underground utilities. The position requires a strong office presence in Murrieta and travel throughout Southern California as needed. The company is a Southern California heavy civil contractor specializing in earthwork, grading, excavation, demolition, and site development, delivering public and private-sector projects through self-performed services and coordinated subcontracted scopes.

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.
• Strong understanding of California public bidding requirements.
• 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 customer relationship management platforms.
• 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 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, education owners, prevailing wage projects, prequalification, and bonding processes.
• Familiarity with AGTEK, Bluebeam, or equivalent takeoff and plan-review tools.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted tools such as ChatGPT or Claude.

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 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 the company's market presence.
• Develop a qualified opportunity pipeline to support annual revenue objectives, targeting 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 ensure 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.
• Present bid recommendations to executive leadership and contribute to project selection, bidding strategy, and public works market expansion.

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; details provided during the interview process.

What This Job Offers

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