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Residential Construction Estimator

Custom Luxury Residential Construction

Location: Monmouth County, NJ | Office & Field-Based

Compensation: $90,000 - $120,000 base salary, commensurate with experience, plus commission opportunity

Own the Number. Protect the Margin. Help Turn Exceptional Homes Into Reality.

A reputable and growing custom luxury home builder in Monmouth County, New Jersey is seeking an experienced Residential Construction Estimator to take ownership of estimating for high-end custom homes, additions, and major renovations.

The company manages the construction process from pre-construction planning and design coordination through construction and long-term homeowner care. Its clients are building highly customized homes and expect accurate numbers, thoughtful guidance, transparent pricing, and exceptional attention to detail.

This is not a back-office takeoff role.

The Residential Construction Estimator will own the numbers behind each project, developing accurate estimates, working directly with homeowners, architects, designers, subcontractors, suppliers, and company leadership, and helping clients move confidently from initial planning to signed construction agreement.

You will be responsible for more than calculating quantities. You will understand the full project scope, identify gaps before they become problems, verify subcontractor pricing, explain costs clearly to clients, develop smart alternatives when budgets need adjustment, and help ensure that what is sold can be built profitably.

Key Responsibilities

Prepare complete estimates for custom homes, additions, major renovations, and other complex residential projects.
Review architectural drawings, structural plans, specifications, selections, engineering documents, and site conditions.
Perform detailed quantity takeoffs and build project budgets by trade using established cost codes.
Solicit pricing from subcontractors, suppliers, and vendors and ensure sufficient bid coverage.
Review and compare proposals to identify scope gaps, exclusions, inconsistencies, duplicated costs, and pricing risks.
Maintain accurate internal pricing for labor, materials, subcontractors, and suppliers.
Improve estimating templates, workflows, historical cost data, and processes to increase consistency and accuracy.
Develop allowances, alternates, assumptions, qualifications, and exclusions that clearly define each estimate.
Identify value-engineering opportunities that help clients manage budgets without unnecessarily compromising quality or design intent.
Compare estimated costs with actual project costs and use completed-project data to improve future estimates.
Meet with homeowners, architects, and designers to understand project scope, priorities, and budget expectations.
Present estimates clearly and confidently, explaining inclusions, exclusions, allowances, assumptions, and pricing.
Answer client questions and help them understand the cost implications of different design, material, and scope decisions.
Work through budget concerns constructively and develop alternatives when required.
Follow up on active proposals and help move qualified clients from estimating through contract execution.
Work with company ownership on contract pricing, allowances, exclusions, payment schedules, and commercial terms.
Ensure the final construction agreement accurately reflects the estimate, approved scope, assumptions, and pricing.
Prepare a thorough handoff for the Project Manager once a project is sold.
Price client-requested changes, upgrades, design revisions, allowance overages, and unforeseen conditions during construction.
Obtain updated subcontractor and supplier pricing when scope changes.
Develop accurate change-order pricing that reflects materials, labor, subcontractor costs, overhead, and appropriate margin.
Support Project Managers with budget reviews, cost-to-complete analysis, and pricing decisions.
Protect profitability by ensuring legitimate additional work is identified, priced, approved, and billed.
Continually improve estimating accuracy, speed, organization, presentation, and profitability.

Tools You Will Use

Buildertrend for estimates, proposals, change orders, and project budgets.
Square Takeoff or comparable software for quantity takeoffs and plan review.
Google Workspace, including Gmail, Calendar, Docs, and Sheets.

Experience with these exact systems is preferred, but strong estimating fundamentals and the ability to learn new technology quickly are more important.

Qualifications

7+ years of residential construction estimating experience, preferably involving custom homes, luxury residential construction, or major renovations.
Demonstrated experience independently developing complete estimates from plans and specifications.
Strong working knowledge of residential construction methods, materials, sequencing, and trade scopes.
Strong ability to read and interpret architectural drawings, structural plans, specifications, and engineering documents.
Experience performing detailed takeoffs and developing project budgets.
Experience soliciting, reviewing, leveling, and negotiating subcontractor and supplier proposals.
Strong understanding of trade scope and the ability to identify missing or unclear work before a project is sold.
Experience presenting estimates directly to homeowners or clients.
Comfortable explaining costs, allowances, alternates, exclusions, and budget considerations.
Experience helping convert estimates and proposals into signed contracts.
Comfortable negotiating with clients, subcontractors, suppliers, and vendors.
Strong commercial understanding of margins, markups, contingencies, and project profitability.
Experience preparing construction change-order pricing.
Proficiency with estimating or takeoff software.
Square Takeoff experience is a plus.
Buildertrend experience is strongly preferred.
Strong Excel or Google Sheets skills.
Working knowledge of New Jersey residential construction practices and permitting is preferred.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Strong attention to detail and the discipline to verify your own work.
Ability to manage multiple estimates, deadlines, revisions, and competing priorities.
Comfortable working both in the office and visiting project sites when required.

Who Thrives in This Role

You understand that estimating is not about producing the lowest number. It is about producing the right number.

You would rather give a homeowner an accurate price up front than explain an avoidable overrun later.

You question incomplete information. If something on the plans is unclear, a subcontractor has excluded scope, or an allowance looks unrealistic, you investigate it.

You check your own work because you understand that a missed line item directly affects project profitability.

You are comfortable holding firm when pricing is justified, while also helping clients find intelligent alternatives when budgets need to come down.

You can discuss money confidently and explain why something costs what it costs without creating unnecessary friction.

You enjoy being accountable for measurable results, including estimate accuracy, project margins, proposal conversion, and change-order turnaround.

Most importantly, you take ownership. When you put a number in front of a client, you want to know it has been carefully considered, properly supported, and based on a realistic understanding of what it will take to deliver the project.

Pay & Benefits

Full-Time, salaried employment.
Base salary: $90,000 - $120,000 per year, commensurate with experience.
Commission opportunity on signed construction contracts.
Additional benefits to be discussed during the interview process.
Opportunity to play a major role in distinctive, high-end custom residential projects.
Direct interaction with company ownership and meaningful influence over estimating systems and pricing strategy.
Professional growth opportunity within a reputable and expanding custom residential construction company.

Why This Opportunity?

This is an opportunity for an experienced estimator who wants greater ownership than a traditional takeoff position provides.

You will not simply receive plans, produce a spreadsheet, and hand it off.

You will be involved in understanding the project, developing the estimate, communicating with clients, working through budget decisions, supporting contract negotiations, handing projects into construction, and ensuring that changes are priced properly once work begins.

Your judgment, attention to detail, and ability to identify missing scope will directly affect both the homeowner experience and project profitability.

If you take pride in producing accurate estimates, understanding the details behind the numbers, communicating confidently with clients, and helping turn ambitious custom-home designs into financially sound construction projects, this position offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact.

The company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.

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Position Overview

\n\n

Role

Residential Construction Estimator — responsible for developing, validating, and owning cost estimates for custom luxury homes, additions, and major renovations. The role translates drawings, specifications, site conditions, and stakeholder requirements into defensible budgets, allowances, alternates, and change-order pricing; ensures that proposals can be built profitably; and delivers clear commercial guidance to internal teams and external clients.

This document is a formal internal summary focused on objectives, measurable results, accountability, and the problems the position is expected to solve. It is not a recruitment advertisement.

\n\n

Primary Objectives (OKRs)

Objective 1 — Estimate Accuracy and Margin Protection: Deliver complete detailed estimates that enable projects to be executed within forecasted budgets while protecting target margins.\n
- Key Results: (KR1) Maintain average variance between estimated and final project cost within ±7% for closed projects over a 12‑month rolling period. (KR2) Achieve target gross margin on sold projects as defined by ownership (e.g., within 2 percentage points of target margin) in 80%+ of projects.
\n
Objective 2 — Timely Commercial Decision Support: Provide estimates, alternatives, and change-order pricing that enable timely contract decisions and maintain momentum of the sales/contracting process.\n
- Key Results: (KR1) Complete initial estimate and client presentation within agreed bid timeline (e.g., X business days from receipt of complete documentation) for 90% of opportunities. (KR2) Produce change-order pricing within Y business days of scope change request in 95% of cases.
\n
Objective 3 — Risk Identification and Scope Clarity: Proactively identify missing or ambiguous scope, vendor exclusions, and pricing risks before contract execution.\n
- Key Results: (KR1) Identify and document scope gaps or major exclusions for 100% of estimates. (KR2) Reduce number of post-contract scope disputes attributable to estimating omissions by Z% year over year.
\n
Objective 4 — Continuous Improvement and Knowledge Management: Improve estimating systems, historical databases, and processes to increase consistency and speed.\n
- Key Results: (KR1) Update and validate cost database quarterly. (KR2) Implement at least two process or template improvements per year that reduce estimate cycle time or error rate.
\n

\n\n

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Estimate-to-Actual Variance (%) — average across closed projects over rolling 12 months.
Project Gross Margin Realization — percentage of projects meeting target margin.
Estimate Cycle Time — average elapsed time from receipt of bid package to finalized estimate delivered to client/internal approver.
Proposal Conversion Rate — percentage of estimates that convert to signed contracts (measured monthly/quarterly).
Change-Order Turnaround Time — average time to price and produce change-order documentation.
Number of Post-Contract Scope Issues — count attributable to estimating omissions or errors per period.
Subcontractor Bid Coverage Rate — percentage of trades with at least two competitive bids or verified pricing sources.
Accuracy of Cost Database — percentage of line-item prices reconciled against closed-project actuals each quarter.

\n\n

Problems This Role Solves

Internal customers (ownership, project managers, procurement): Provides a reliable baseline budget and defensible pricing to support award decisions, contract formation, procurement planning, and cost control during execution.
External customers (homeowners, architects, designers, subcontractors): Delivers transparent, explainable pricing and alternatives so clients can make informed design and budget choices; reduces surprises and limits disputes during construction.
Organizational risk exposure: Identifies latent scope, unrealistic allowances, or vendor exclusions that would otherwise lead to cost overruns, margin erosion, or contentious client conversations.
Operational handoff: Produces a complete handoff package (scope, assumptions, allowances, pricing basis) that enables project teams to execute to the sold scope with minimal rework.

\n\n

Primary Duties and Accountabilities

Produce complete, trade‑level estimates and quantity takeoffs from architectural, structural, and engineering documents; document assumptions, exclusions, and allowances.
Solicit, review, level, and verify subcontractor and supplier pricing; identify and resolve scope inconsistencies and exclusions.
Present and explain estimates to homeowners, architects, and designers; develop value-engineering alternatives when budgets require adjustment.
Work with ownership to set commercial terms, allowances, payment schedules, and final contract pricing; ensure final contract reflects approved estimate and assumptions.
Price client-requested changes, upgrades, and unforeseen conditions during construction; produce accurate change-order documentation that preserves margin and cash collection.
Maintain and improve estimating templates, cost codes, pricing databases, and workflows; reconcile estimate line items with actual costs after project closeout and feed learnings back into future estimates.
Provide timely estimate deliverables to meet bid schedules; support conversion of qualified estimates into signed construction agreements and complete a thorough project handoff to the project manager.
Support project managers with budget reviews, cost-to-complete analysis, and pricing decisions as projects progress.

\n\n

Key Skills, Abilities and Knowledge Required

Estimating Fundamentals: Strong competency in quantity takeoff methodology, unit-rate development, trade‑level budgeting, markups, contingencies, and margin calculation.
Construction Technical Knowledge: Deep understanding of residential construction methods, sequencing, trade scopes, materials, and systems—particularly in custom/luxury home contexts.
Document and Drawing Literacy: Ability to read and interpret architectural drawings, structural plans, specifications, and engineering documents accurately.
Commercial Judgment: Demonstrated ability to set defensible pricing, reason about risk, and recommend commercial terms that protect profitability while maintaining competitiveness.
Stakeholder Communication: Capability to present technical cost information clearly to non-technical clients, negotiate with subcontractors and suppliers, and collaborate with leadership and project teams.
Analytical and Detail Orientation: Rigorous attention to detail, disciplined self-review processes, and use of historical data to calibrate estimates.
Software Proficiency: Experience with estimating and takeoff software (e.g., Square Takeoff or equivalent) and project/estimating platforms (e.g., Buildertrend or comparable). Strong spreadsheet skills (Excel or Google Sheets).
Project and Time Management: Ability to manage multiple estimates, deadlines, and revisions while maintaining responsiveness to sales and operations needs.
Local Regulatory/Practice Knowledge: Working knowledge of local construction practices, permitting, and typical cost profiles (preferred for region of operation).
Continuous Improvement Mindset: Willingness to maintain and enhance cost databases, adopt process improvements, and participate in post‑project reviews.

\n\n

Experience, Behaviors and Development Needs

Typical successful profile: established estimator with multi-year experience in residential construction estimating (preferably in custom and luxury homes), proven track record of producing end-to-end estimates, offering and negotiating with subcontractors, presenting to clients, and protecting project margins. Expected behaviors include ownership of deliverables, proactive identification of scope risk, disciplined verification of quantities and pricing, and collaborative problem solving with sales and project teams.

Development priorities for success: deepen commercial negotiation skills, strengthen knowledge of local permitting/fees if applicable, expand historical cost reconciliation discipline, and increase proficiency with estimating and project-management software used by the organization. Ongoing mentoring and access to closed-project cost records are recommended to accelerate calibration of unit rates and margin forecasting.

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Residential Construction Estimator

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