Graduate Assistant Surveyor (Cost Management)

Gardiner and Theobald LLP; City Of London; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading construction consultancy in London seeks an Assistant Surveyor to support cost management processes in construction projects. You will work towards RICS Chartered membership, gaining valuable experience in budgeting, measuring, and contract documentation. The ideal candidate is proactive, disciplined, and has a genuine interest in construction. This permanent full-time position offers exposure to real-world projects and collaboration with experienced professionals.

Qualifications

• BSc with 2.1 or above required.
• Must demonstrate excellent IT system knowledge.
• Must have reliable teamwork and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Assist Line Manager with project work.
• Measure drawings and produce cost plans.
• Compile contract documents for tenders.

Skills

2.1 or above in your degree

Excellent communication skills

Proactive and flexible approach

Ability to work as part of a team

Trustworthy and reliable

Tools

CostX

Job description

Overview

Application Deadline: 31 January 2026

Department: QS

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: G&T London

Description

Summary: The role of a cost manager is to manage the cost and legal processes of a construction project. Your responsibility, as a cost manager, is to ensure that the project is delivered within the client’s budget. This includes preparing reports for the client and forecasts, cash flow projections and cost reports as well as contract documents for the project. An integral part of cost management is communication and great attention to detail; it is the cost manager’s responsibility to keep the client informed of project finances and to effectively manage any risks associated with this.

Role Overview

As an Assistant Surveyor, you will spend 2-2.5 years working towards Chartered membership of RICS while also gaining valuable work experience. You will be working towards becoming a professional with expert knowledge of construction costs and contracts.

The role will be varied, and the actual experience gained will be dependent on the team and sector you are working in. You will join the G&T Chartership Programme: Graduate pathway to ensure you can relate the theoretical aspects of your studies to actual work experience.

Working within a team, you will be assisting your Line Manager with various aspects of daily project work. This role will be expected to work with a certain level of autonomy while also knowing when to discuss and ask questions to ensure the best outcome.

You will be building a solid knowledge base of your role, the firm and the industry, and how they all fit together.

General Responsibilities

Working with your Line Manager, the role will typically include the following:

• Measuring drawings from the Design team, either by hand or using measurement software such as CostX
• Combining the measurements and knowledge of the construction process to produce a cost plan for the client which will act as a budget for the project
• Compiling contract documents such as drawing registers, writing preliminaries and producing pricing documents for contractors to tender
• Receiving tender returns for works and compiling a tender return analysis document and clarification schedule for contractors to respond
• Comparing tender returns to provide a recommendation to the client on which contractor should be appointed for the works
• Projecting the cash forecast for the project for the client
• Attending site and carrying out a valuation of the works which have been carried out to date, producing relevant analysis following contract requirements to produce documents to allow payment
• Undertaking value engineering tasks on projects to see where money can be saved or used more efficiently
• Attending site meetings – depending on stage of project either design team meetings or progress meetings with the contractor and project team
• Communicating with relevant parties e.g. liaising with suppliers for a quote for works or speaking with the design team or the client and advising on cost or the contractor to discuss variations.

Skills Knowledge and Expertise

• 2.1 or above in your degree
• Excellent working knowledge of current IT systems
• Understand the importance of client care & building relationships
• Excellent communication skills
• Trustworthy and reliable
• Ability to prioritise work efficiently
• Ability to work to deadlines
• Ability to work as part of a team and on own initiative
• Proactive and flexible approach to different situations
• Dedication and commitment
• Desire to learn
• Genuine interest in construction and property

Please note the following when applying for this role:

We are unable to support/sponsor individuals who require a work permit to work in the UK for our early talent roles.

We recruit on a rolling basis and reserve the right to close applications for this role if all positions have been filled ahead of the date advertised.

Due to the large number of duplicate applications received for early talent roles at G&T, we are only able to screen one application per candidate each academic year. If more than one application is submitted by the same person we will only be able to respond to the first one received.