Senior Estimator – Civil / Road Infrastructure
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Our client is an Australian business supplying road safety barriers — for roadsides, car parks, schools and other sites — to councils, contractors and construction clients across Australia. The business is led by its General Manager and Operations Manager, who this role reports to directly.
PRIMARY PURPOSE
To independently run the day-to-day estimating and quoting workflow — checking plans against the schedule, taking off quantities, sourcing supplier pricing and working out margins — and to build the kind of trust with management, through accurate work, honest communication and a focus on keeping the client happy, that lets the role take on more of the client-facing side over time.
ABOUT THE ROLE
-
A senior, full-time Estimator role at the centre of the quoting process — reviewing customer enquiries, checking supplied plans against the job schedule, and turning that into an accurate, priced quote using the company's own templates and rates.
-
Internally, one person currently runs estimating end to end, from enquiry through to submitting the quote to the client. Remotely, this role owns the estimating and quoting engine room — checking plans, sourcing supplier pricing, working out margins and building the quote — while management keeps final client sign-off and quote submission in-house at the start.
-
As trust builds over the first few months, there is scope for this role to take on more direct client contact. This is not a sales role, and no commercial decision is made without management's sign-off.
-
Trusted to work independently on the estimating and quoting workflow and exercise judgement on scope and pricing questions within agreed rates — but genuinely understanding an instruction, plan or piece of feedback, and asking a clarifying question rather than guessing or agreeing by default, matters more in this role than in most.
-
Keeping the client happy sits behind every part of this role — even while quote submission stays with management at the start, the accuracy, turnaround and professionalism of the work behind the scenes is what keeps the client relationship strong.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
▸ Enquiries & Plan Review
-
Review new customer enquiries and the plans or drawings supplied for the job
-
Check the supplied plans against the job schedule to confirm they match, and flag any differences before quoting rather than assuming
-
Request missing photos, information or clarification from management rather than guessing
▸ Takeoffs & Quote Preparation
-
Perform takeoffs from civil/road design drawings using Adobe for markup and measurement
-
Record and tally quantities in Excel, and build the quote using the company's templates, pricing structure and rates
-
Own quote accuracy and turnaround time on the estimating side, with minimal supervision
▸ Pricing & Supplier Coordination
-
Source and compare pricing from a couple of different suppliers for each job
-
Chase, confirm and follow up outstanding supplier pricing
-
Work out margins and the final cost to the business before the quote goes to management
▸ Client Communication (Phased)
-
In the early months, prepare the quote for management to review and issue to the client directly — client-facing communication and quote submission stay in-house at the start
-
Communicate with suppliers directly as required, using the company's official email
-
Flag anything a client mentions that could be a new opportunity back to management, even though this is not a sales role
-
Over time, and only as agreed with management, take on more direct client contact — by email first, and potentially by phone later
▸ Communication & Judgement
-
Ask a clarifying question rather than guessing or agreeing to an instruction, plan or piece of feedback that isn't fully understood — the single most important trait for this role
-
Communicate clearly and accurately in written and spoken English wi