Lead Estimator
Arcadis
Date: 6 hours ago
City: Calgary, Alberta
Contract type: Full time
Arcadis is the world's leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets.
We are more than 36,000 people, in over 70 countries, dedicated to improving quality of life. Everyone has an important role to play. With the power of many curious minds, together we can solve the world’s most complex challenges and deliver more impact together.
Role description:
Arcadis is seeking a Lead Estimator to oversee and manage the development of cost estimates across project lifecycles, ensuring alignment with industry standards and classifications. This role involves guiding the estimation process, implementing risk and contingency strategies, and ensuring the accuracy and quality of technical outputs. The Lead Estimator will also drive cost systems optimization, lead strategic proposal development, and maintain strong client and stakeholder relationships. Additionally, they will manage a multidisciplinary team, fostering continuous development and collaboration with cross-functional teams to align cost forecasting with project objectives. This position demands strategic oversight in pricing, leveraging market intelligence and cost modeling to support competitive and informed business decisions.
Role accountabilities:
In this role, you will be responsible for the strategic oversight of estimation and pricing strategies, including managing cost estimates across the project lifecycle to ensure compliance with appropriate classifications and CIQS Rules of Measurement. You will prepare estimates for materials, labor, and equipment based on contract specifications while implementing risk, escalation, and contingency strategies to align estimates with project maturity. Quality and accuracy will be maintained through technical reviews, standardized protocols, and adherence to professional standards such as CIQS and AACE. Additionally, you will integrate market intelligence, historical data, and cost modeling into pricing strategies to develop competitive estimates and guide critical business decisions.
You will also focus on cost systems and process optimization by enhancing estimating systems, databases, and tools for accuracy and efficiency across all project stages. This involves ensuring the integrity of cost data to support benchmarking, trend analysis, and informed decision-making for project planning. By driving innovation through digital tools, standardized templates, and streamlined workflows, you will enable teams to deliver precise estimates faster, improving overall project delivery and empowering strategic adjustments based on reliable data.
In this role, you will oversee cost planning and controlling to ensure projects align with financial objectives and budgetary constraints. You will prepare and validate budgets at each design stage, making high-level recommendations for cost-saving measures, design alternatives, and commercial opportunities to enhance project delivery. By balancing budgets with strategic approaches, you will ensure projects meet technical requirements while delivering value-driven solutions that support client success.
You will play a key role in proposal and bid strategies by ensuring cost estimates align with project goals and objectives. Collaborating with bid managers and commercial leads, you will ensure accuracy while reviewing final bid pricing and risk assessments to confirm feasibility. Representing the estimating team in executive meetings and client presentations, you will strengthen trust and credibility in pricing strategies, ensuring bids align with client needs and organizational objectives.
In this role, you will lead client and stakeholder relationship management by delivering reliable cost advice across all project stages. Through transparent communication with clients, consultants, and construction partners, you will build long-term relationships by aligning cost control with design-to-budget strategies and procurement planning. You will influence early project decisions through cost planning and risk analysis, ensuring budget-conscious execution and fostering trust and collaboration with stakeholders.
Finally, you will manage and develop a multidisciplinary estimating team by setting clear expectations, optimizing resources, and ensuring the timely delivery of high-quality estimates. You will mentor staff through training and performance reviews, fostering technical excellence and collaboration. By working with cross-functional teams, you will ensure alignment between cost forecasting and project execution, enabling consistent delivery of impactful estimates that drive project success.
Qualifications & Experience:
We can only achieve our goals when everyone is empowered to be their best. We believe everyone's contribution matters. It’s why we are pioneering a skills-based approach, where you can harness your unique experience and expertise to carve your career path and maximize the impact we can make together.
You’ll do meaningful work, and no matter what role, you’ll be helping to deliver sustainable solutions for a more prosperous planet. Make your mark, on your career, your colleagues, your clients, your life and the world around you.
Together, we can create a lasting legacy.
Join Arcadis. Create a Legacy.
Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
We want you to be able to bring your best self to work every day which is why we take equality and inclusion seriously and hold ourselves to account for our actions. Our ambition is to be an employer of choice and provide a great place to work for all our people. We are an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. Women, minorities, people with disabilities and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. We are dedicated to a policy of non-discrimination in employment on any basis including race, creed, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, disability, veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by law.
The salary range for this position is $95,900 - $178,100. The base salary represents Arcadis’ hiring range for this position. Actual salaries will vary and will be based on various factors, such as location, skills, experience, and qualification for the role.
We are more than 36,000 people, in over 70 countries, dedicated to improving quality of life. Everyone has an important role to play. With the power of many curious minds, together we can solve the world’s most complex challenges and deliver more impact together.
Role description:
Arcadis is seeking a Lead Estimator to oversee and manage the development of cost estimates across project lifecycles, ensuring alignment with industry standards and classifications. This role involves guiding the estimation process, implementing risk and contingency strategies, and ensuring the accuracy and quality of technical outputs. The Lead Estimator will also drive cost systems optimization, lead strategic proposal development, and maintain strong client and stakeholder relationships. Additionally, they will manage a multidisciplinary team, fostering continuous development and collaboration with cross-functional teams to align cost forecasting with project objectives. This position demands strategic oversight in pricing, leveraging market intelligence and cost modeling to support competitive and informed business decisions.
Role accountabilities:
In this role, you will be responsible for the strategic oversight of estimation and pricing strategies, including managing cost estimates across the project lifecycle to ensure compliance with appropriate classifications and CIQS Rules of Measurement. You will prepare estimates for materials, labor, and equipment based on contract specifications while implementing risk, escalation, and contingency strategies to align estimates with project maturity. Quality and accuracy will be maintained through technical reviews, standardized protocols, and adherence to professional standards such as CIQS and AACE. Additionally, you will integrate market intelligence, historical data, and cost modeling into pricing strategies to develop competitive estimates and guide critical business decisions.
You will also focus on cost systems and process optimization by enhancing estimating systems, databases, and tools for accuracy and efficiency across all project stages. This involves ensuring the integrity of cost data to support benchmarking, trend analysis, and informed decision-making for project planning. By driving innovation through digital tools, standardized templates, and streamlined workflows, you will enable teams to deliver precise estimates faster, improving overall project delivery and empowering strategic adjustments based on reliable data.
In this role, you will oversee cost planning and controlling to ensure projects align with financial objectives and budgetary constraints. You will prepare and validate budgets at each design stage, making high-level recommendations for cost-saving measures, design alternatives, and commercial opportunities to enhance project delivery. By balancing budgets with strategic approaches, you will ensure projects meet technical requirements while delivering value-driven solutions that support client success.
You will play a key role in proposal and bid strategies by ensuring cost estimates align with project goals and objectives. Collaborating with bid managers and commercial leads, you will ensure accuracy while reviewing final bid pricing and risk assessments to confirm feasibility. Representing the estimating team in executive meetings and client presentations, you will strengthen trust and credibility in pricing strategies, ensuring bids align with client needs and organizational objectives.
In this role, you will lead client and stakeholder relationship management by delivering reliable cost advice across all project stages. Through transparent communication with clients, consultants, and construction partners, you will build long-term relationships by aligning cost control with design-to-budget strategies and procurement planning. You will influence early project decisions through cost planning and risk analysis, ensuring budget-conscious execution and fostering trust and collaboration with stakeholders.
Finally, you will manage and develop a multidisciplinary estimating team by setting clear expectations, optimizing resources, and ensuring the timely delivery of high-quality estimates. You will mentor staff through training and performance reviews, fostering technical excellence and collaboration. By working with cross-functional teams, you will ensure alignment between cost forecasting and project execution, enabling consistent delivery of impactful estimates that drive project success.
Qualifications & Experience:
- Experience: 15+ years of cost estimating and planning experience within civil, transit, or infrastructure industries, including design-build and procurement methods; at least 2 years within a Tier 1 consultancy or contractor in Ontario/Canada.
- Education and Accreditation: A recognized University Degree in Quantity Surveying, Engineering, or a related field, with Chartered status in professional bodies such as CIQS, RICS, or AACE.
- Construction Knowledge: In-depth understanding of construction documents (drawings, specifications, contracts) and the Canadian construction market, including material costs, labor rates, and procurement practices.
- Leadership: Minimum 3 years of leadership experience managing a team of estimators and delivering accurate, efficient cost estimates.
- Technical Skills: Advanced proficiency in Cost X or similar estimating software, MS Office, and Primavera (P6).
- Communication: Strong interpersonal skills to engage clients and stakeholders at executive levels and make informed recommendations.
We can only achieve our goals when everyone is empowered to be their best. We believe everyone's contribution matters. It’s why we are pioneering a skills-based approach, where you can harness your unique experience and expertise to carve your career path and maximize the impact we can make together.
You’ll do meaningful work, and no matter what role, you’ll be helping to deliver sustainable solutions for a more prosperous planet. Make your mark, on your career, your colleagues, your clients, your life and the world around you.
Together, we can create a lasting legacy.
Join Arcadis. Create a Legacy.
Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
We want you to be able to bring your best self to work every day which is why we take equality and inclusion seriously and hold ourselves to account for our actions. Our ambition is to be an employer of choice and provide a great place to work for all our people. We are an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. Women, minorities, people with disabilities and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. We are dedicated to a policy of non-discrimination in employment on any basis including race, creed, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, disability, veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by law.
The salary range for this position is $95,900 - $178,100. The base salary represents Arcadis’ hiring range for this position. Actual salaries will vary and will be based on various factors, such as location, skills, experience, and qualification for the role.
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