Senior Estimator

Weston Homes; Essex; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company vehicle or car allowance

Private healthcare

Pension (employer contribution up to 1

Life Insurance

Income Protection

Discretionary annual bonus

Gym facilities at head office

Training and development opportunities

Long service awards

Annual leave 22 days

Job summary

Weston Homes is seeking a hands-on Senior Estimator to drive cost planning, land appraisals and detailed tenders across high-profile residential developments. You will work at the intersection of Land, Design and Commercial teams, interrogating details, challenging designs and unlocking value on every scheme.

The role requires producing detailed cost plans, managing supply chain market testing and delivering robust tender submissions while maintaining strong relationships with subcontractors and

Qualifications

• Proven track record as an Estimator or Senior Estimator in residential housebuilding, contracting, or developer environments.
• Strong ability to produce detailed package build-ups, cost plans and BOQ
• Experience leading supply chain market testing and value engineering
• Excellent commercial awareness of residential construction methods and pricing
• Detail-oriented with the ability to identify risks and document pricing assumptions

Responsibilities

• Produce elemental cost plans, detailed bills of quantities, package build-ups and resource calculations for residential schemes.
• Support land appraisals with preliminaries, plant allowances, temporary works and inflation forecasts.
• Lead market testing, benchmark subcontractor pricing and track market trends.
• Review tender documents and specs, drive value engineering and deliver compliant bids on time.

Skills

Cost Planning

Bills of Quantities

Tendering

Market Testing

Risk Analysis

Stakeholder Communication

Job description

A little bit about the role...

Are you a hands‑on estimator who knows how to balance sharp commercial edge with evidence based accuracy? We are looking for a Senior Estimator to drive our cost planning, land appraisals and detailed tenders across high-profile residential developments and contracting bids.

Working at the vital intersection of Land, Design, and Commercial teams, you won't just count quantities you will interrogate the details, challenge the design, mitigate risk and unlock value on every scheme.

The successful candidate will be responsible for but not limited to the following:

• Detailed Cost Planning & Land Appraisals: Produce elemental cost plans, detailed bills of quantities, package build‑ups, and resource calculations for residential schemes. Calculate preliminaries, plant allowances, temporary works, design allowances, and inflation forecasts to support land appraisals and development viability reviews.
• Supply Chain Management & Market Testing: Build and maintain strong specialist subcontractor relationships. Lead market testing, challenge abnormal or uncompetitive quotes, benchmark supply chain pricing, and track emerging material, labour, and market trends.
• Bid Execution & Value Engineering: Review tender docs and specs to spot commercial risks and opportunities. Critically challenge design information to deliver value engineering options, build comprehensive risk registers with transparent pricing assumptions, and deliver fully compliant tender submissions on time.
• Project Collaboration & Analysis: Work daily with Land, Design, Commercial, and Construction teams to optimize delivery strategies. Maintain estimating databases/historical cost libraries, and conduct post-project outturn cost reviews to capture key lessons learned.

What we'd like in return...

• Proven Experience: Track record as an Estimator or Senior Estimator within residential housebuilding, contracting, or developer environments
• Technical Mastery: Strong proficiency in producing detailed package build‑ups, bills of quantities, cost plans, and leading supply chain market testing.
• Commercial Acumen: Solid understanding of residential construction methods, groundworks, build packages, and value engineering techniques.
• Detail‑Oriented & Analytical: High precision in identifying risks, establishing clear pricing assumptions, and reviewing contract documentation.
• Strong Communicator: Ability to engage effectively and build rapport with subcontractors, design consultants, and internal project teams.

What we will offer you...

As a valued employee you will be rewarded with the following:

• Highly competitive Annual Salary
• A company vehicle or car allowance and fully expensed fuel card for personal and professional milage
• Generous company pension (employer contribution up to 10%) increasing with length of service
• Private healthcare for employees, partner and children up to the age of 21
• 22 days holidays, plus English bank holidays, plus the Christmas shutdown (not deducted from your holiday allowance)
• Life Insurance - 4x salary
• Income Protection
• Discretionary Annual Bonus depending on company performance
• Fully equipped gym at head office - Health Checks, Gym Programmes, and Healthy Lifestyle Sessions
• Extensive training and development opportunities
• Enhanced Maternity, Paternity Pay
• In house Occupational Health Nurse
• Long Service Awards
• Vouchers to celebrate marriage, the birth / adoption of a child
• Comprehensive social calendar including but not limited to; Family Fun Day; Company Bowling, Christmas Party and various activities and sporting events throughout the year.

Finally, a little bit about us...

Weston Homes Plc are a residential developer prominent across Greater London, Essex and the surrounding areas within the South East of England. We call ourselves ‘opportunists’, we have everything in‑house, which puts us in the driver’s seat. Our developments are all bespoke from new build residential, regenerations, traditional build through to refurbishment projects.

We’re proud to say we’ve recently won 5 industry awards for the the second consecutive year, we are proud to have received the Gold award for 'Best Medium Housebuilder', plus Gold award for 'Best Sustainable Development' - Abbey Quay, Barking, Silver award for 'Best Starter Home' - Springfield Park, Maidstone.

Our people are our greatest asset, We not only build homes for life – we build careers for life.