Senior Cost Planner / Estimator

Bovis; Manchester; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Bovis is seeking a Senior Cost Planner to lead estimating and cost planning across development projects in the UK. You will work with the Cost Planning & Estimating Director and interfacing with external clients to ensure robust cost plans from inception through to contract price.

You will drive cost planning strategy, coordinate inputs from multiple disciplines, and manage preliminaries, pricing benchmarks, and inflation considerations, aiming for value and aligned with project goals.

Qualifications

• Experience in cost planning and bid/tender development.
• Ability to lead bids and manage external consultants.
• Strong analytical and data skills with cost forecasting.
• Knowledge of risk and value engineering.
• Understanding of procurement routes and contract pricing.

Responsibilities

• Set cost planning strategy and timelines with management.
• Coordinate input from disciplines into cost planning.
• Ensure cost plans comply with brief and financiers' requirements.
• Create cost plans from development briefs to contract price.
• Negotiate with sub-contractors and review proposals.
• Manage external consultants and governance documentation.

Skills

Power BI

Excel

Cost management

Stakeholder management

Tendering

Education

MRICS / MCIOB chartership

CSCS card

Job description

The Senior Cost Planner shall be responsible for Estimating and Cost Planning, working closely and directly with the Cost Planning & Estimating Director, and other members of the Cost Planning team, as well as interfacing with external clients, other disciplines, and teams from project inception, accountable and responsible for all estimating / cost planning aspects of the projects.

Key Responsibilities (Some not all)

Bidding and Strategy:

• A champion of transparency must seek to understand the broader development / project context and seek to bring design and build solutions that help to achieve successful outcomes for Bovis.
• Responsible for setting and establishing the cost planning strategy and timeframes and assessing resource requirements for agreement by Management.
• Ensure that other disciplines such as, Project Management, Procurement, Design Management, Planning, Legal, Insurance, Construction and Commercial Management are providing the appropriate input into the cost planning process.
• Ensure cost plan compliance with the brief / authority / financiers / customer requirements during the conversion stage.

Governance:

• Ensure all required peer and manager reviews are completed prior to Bovis governance gateways. Attain cost plan endorsement by Cost Planning Director.
• Responsible for all inputs into the cost sections of the relevant governance review documentation.
• Ensure internal governance process is robust with independent input on cost management.
• Production of documents for Management reviews at required milestones in accordance with Bovis Governance.
• Present cost plans at Commitment / Business Unit Reviews.

Cost Planning:

• Able to accurately quantify and price cost plans from Development Briefs / Feasibility stage through to Contract Price with preferred contractor.
• In collaboration with the commercial team, secure market prices for trade packages and analyse same against cost plan allowances. Ability to price on a Labour, Plant and Materials basis from first principles is desirable but not essential.
• Accurate forecasting of current trade rates.
• Preparation, review and analysis of Preliminaries for first and second stage bids including producing standard preliminaries in accordance with the proposed bid strategy. Incorporating implications of programming requirements, methodology, phasing, logistics etc.
• Incorporate implications of programming requirements, methodology, phasing etc into cost plans / prelims.
• Take off quantities using information ranging from RIBA Stage 0/1 to RIBA Stage 4.
• Management of external consultants (EQ Bill of Quants Consultancy), including initial engagement, appointment, issue of information, quality control, and ensuring submission and return in line with the programme.
• Negotiate with sub-contractors / assess sub-contractor proposals.

Design and Cost Control

• Manage and input into the developing design in accordance with the cost plan
• Responsible for proactively participating in design workshops to develop the concept through particular design challenges or value engineering to ensure there is consistent appreciation for the priorities of needs vs wants and challenging the status quo
• Support project teams with change control and major variations (during conversion and delivery). Maintain a "Running Sheet" of changes to inform cost shifts between design milestones
• "Design to Cost" - Challenge the project and design teams to design efficiently and within the cost plan.
• Continually analyse the design against the cost plan assumptions, design brief/target design metrics and benchmark projects
• Assess design options and provide guidance on their viability to the project team
• Act early in identifying opportunities to optimise the design to minimise abortive design work
• Support project teams in the evaluation of commercial risks
• Make an assessment of the risk and opportunity within the design to allow you to include an appropriate allowance for contingency
• Take into account the contract conditions together with their impact, i.e. warranties, insurance, bonding, design and construction implications etc
• Actively contribute to the team’s delivery to the Bovis Global Minimum Requirements (GMRs) of safety during conversion including active contributions to the Risk & Opportunity at Design (ROAD) and Principal Designer process to eliminate hazard and risk in development, construction, and operation
• Stay up to date with the current inflation forecasts and apply these to your project using the inflation calculation templates. Maintain an awareness of the market conditions and published reports effecting inflation to be able to justify the inflation amount included within your cost plan

Risk and Opportunity Management

• Create, participate and evaluate value engineering solutions and value management strategies
• Act early in identifying opportunities to optimise the design to minimise abortive design work
• Support project teams in the evaluation of commercial risks
• Make an assessment of the risk and opportunity within the design to allow you to include an appropriate allowance for contingency
• Take into account the contract conditions together with their impact, i.e. warranties, insurance, bonding, design and construction implications etc
• Actively contribute to the team’s delivery to the Bovis Global Minimum Requirements (GMRs) of safety during conversion including active contributions to the Risk & Opportunity at Design (ROAD) and Principal Designer process to eliminate hazard and risk in development, construction, and operation
• Stay up to date with the current inflation forecasts and apply these to your project using the inflation calculation templates. Maintain an awareness of the market conditions and published reports effecting inflation to be able to justify the inflation amount included within your cost plan

Credentials

• Maintain CSCS card for the role
• Professional Construction Qualifications relevant to the role or qualified by appropriate level of experience
• Have a related Chartership such as MRICS / MCIOB

Essential Skills, Knowledge, Experience and Behaviors

Skills

• Able to prepare contract documentation for external parties ready for engrossment.
• Advanced Data and Analytics including se of Power BI
• Advanced word-processing, Excel spreadsheet packages and cost management software
• Build and hold relationships with key stakeholders.
• Strong Commercial acumen
• Tendering subcontract works packages of medium to high value
• Time management and prioritising tasks in order to meet deadlines
• Written and verbal communication to influence and build relationships with various stakeholders

Knowledge

• Ability to contribute to value engineering as part of the design process
• Allocation of scope to trade packages
• Be able to produce detailed prelim forecasts.
• Understand and apply cost planning & financial procedures and reporting tools
• Understanding of various procurement routes, including the RIBA design processes.
• Fully understand benchmark databases and the data held within them.
• Good understanding of building technology / construction methods
• Key design metrics and KPI's
• Measurement rules
• Strong understanding of various procurement routes, including the RIBA design processes.
• Subcontractor market
• Understand consultant and clients requirements within tender documentation.
• Understand various contract pricing mechanisms

Experience

• Extensive experience in construction, including a sound knowledge of Construction methodology, process and sequence
• Being able to peer review work produced by other members of the cost planning and commercial team.
• Being able to work on bids alone depending on scale / complexity, or working as part of a team on large scale projects.
• Coordinating / Leading all aspects of the commercial offer on bids / tenders
• Managing external consultants
• Mentoring and Training junior staff members.
• Presenting to senior stakeholders
• Proven track record of working on bids / projects across multiple sectors
• Proven track record of working on various bid stages included Stage 1 (initial tender) and Stage 2 (Conversion into contract / PCSA).
• Reviewing subcontractor tender offers and subcontractor tender analysis produced by the commercial team to ensure a robust cost position.
• Understanding, building, and using benchmarking data for use at reviews, and for use externally with clients / consultants.

Behaviours

• Ability to join up a wide range of complex issues and understand how they relate to each other.
• Takes accountability and ownership of all areas of their work.
• Attention to detail, ability to flex to meet business plans and drive to meet key dates.
• Collaborates across the organisation and external teams. Communicates the strategy and maximises outcomes for all parties.
• Drives a culture of safety and quality and embeds best practice to set the standard in the organisation and the industry.
• Provided evidence based outcomes for all the work they produce.
• Flexibility and openness of approach and willingness to work as a team player
• Provides guidance