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Estimator 

Summary

The Estimator is responsible for analyzing blueprints, specifications, proposals, and other documentation to prepare time, cost, and labor estimates for multiple large-scale woodworking projects.

The responsibility of this position is managing specialized work efficiently, with confidence and competence. The position requires above-average attention to detail, concern for the exact correctness of work, and a strong commitment to tasks completed on time. The person in this position will take work seriously, have a strong sense of duty, and is disciplined. A somewhat faster-than-average pace will be the norm for this position. Detailed, specialized work is the major focus. The person in this position will require clearly defined work, responsibilities, and reporting relationships, ongoing and thorough training opportunities to develop expertise and increase confidence, and frequently expressed appreciation of the person's competence, conscientiousness, and loyalty. The position will provide security in a stable work environment, allowing the person to plan for, focus on and complete the tasks on hand. when changes in the nature of the work occur, the person in this position will need direction, training, and support. the position will generally be task-oriented, requiring someone with a conservative, careful and cautious approach to work.        

Job Characteristics

  • Unambiguous work direction

  • Completing tasks from start to finish

  • Concern for getting work done on time and correctly

  • Extremely task-oriented

  • High standards of quality and accuracy

  • Adhering to established guidelines and procedures

  • Requires a high degree of information gathering before making decisions

  • Must be comfortable in making decisions in the area of specialty or expertise

  • Reserved, factual, formal, and sincere communication

  • Look to management for direction in areas outside of expertise 

  • Strong follow-through on delegated tasks and assignments

  • Following established policies and procedures, and expects others to do the same

  • Leads by example is the technical expert in the area and does the work required of subordinate

Job Duties & Responsibilities

  • Performs project take-offs and reviews drawings and other project information to determine the scope, material, and labor requirements and prepare itemized lists.   

  • Requests vendor and subcontractor quotes, interpret and process RFI's, and generate quotes lists by project item and save them to the project folder. ​

  • Consults with clients, vendors, and designers to request additional information and clarification on project requirements, scope, and value engineering potential.

  • Organizes project folders in project directory using all information obtained during estimating and hand-off.

  • Prepares & submits proposal, scope of work, bid form, and other required bid documentation, including price breakouts and value engineering. 

  • Attend scope review meetings with customers

  • Prepares awarded projects for hand-off presentation to project team. 

  • Develop and maintain relationships with vendors and customers

  • Supports Project Managers by identifying and quantifying changes in scope and costs, calculating and preparing change orders, vendor quotes, budget updates, and other tasks as needed.

  • Identifies project general condition costs such as travel, field costs, overtime, and others to ensure complete project costs are identified prior to bid submission. 

  • Identifies project insurance, permit, license, and tax requirements and coordinates with the accounting team to quantify these costs in the estimate. 

  • Interfaces with the other departments such as project management, engineering, production, and installation to obtain support and commitment to the cost estimates. 

  • Computes cost factors and prepares estimates used for management purposes such as planning, organizing, and scheduling work.

  • Provides improvement recommendations to cost estimating procedures to reduce future variances between estimated and actual costs. 

  • Identifies cost trends to assist management in cost reduction and process improvement efforts.  

Education

  • Two-year degree or higher from a technical school, college, or university is required

  • Relevant experience can be considered as equivalent to a degree

Experience

  • Five or more years experience within the woodworking, manufacturing, or construction industry is preferred

  • Extensive prior experience in and strong business knowledge of the construction and woodworking industry required.

Computor Requirements

  • Five or more years experience within the woodworking, manufacturing, or construction industry is preferred

  • Extensive prior experience in and strong business knowledge of the construction and woodworking industry required.

Language & Mathematical Skills

  • Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, employees, customers, and vendors.

  • Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, and technical procedures.

  • Strong ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide into all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals; mentally, hand-and-paper, and calculator.

  • Strong ability to compute rates, ratios, percentages, variances, margins, and markups.

  • Strong knowledge and application of geometry.  

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