Senior Estimator

BAE Systems - UK; Preston; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading defense contractor is looking for a skilled Senior Estimator to join the team in Preston. In this role, you will analyze business requirements, oversee cost activities, and lead negotiations. Essential skills include cost analysis, advanced proficiency in Excel and MS Dynamics, and strong communication abilities. This position offers a competitive salary and an extensive range of flexible benefits, including health plans and employee shares, with opportunities for professional development.

Benefits

Competitive pension scheme

Employee share plans

Flexible health and lifestyle benefits

Qualifications

• Proven experience in cost analysis, planning, forecasting, or business modelling.
• Excellent analytical skills with a keen investigative approach and strong numeracy.
• Ability to effectively influence management information and present it succinctly.

Responsibilities

• Analyse business requirements and develop tailored cost analysis and pricing strategies.
• Oversee cost and pricing activities across the organization.
• Lead or support price negotiations and customer audits.

Skills

Cost analysis

Advanced proficiency in MS tools

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Leadership skills

Data analysis tools

Education

Degree in Maths, Statistics, Business, Engineering

Tools

Excel

Microsoft Dynamics

Power BI

Tableau

Job description

Job title: Senior Estimator

Location: Warton – On-site

Salary: £49,400+ (Depending on skills and experience)

What you’ll be doing:

• Analyse business requirements and develop tailored cost analysis and pricing strategies, including reviewing historical costs, programme performance, and technical data to generate accurate cost estimates and pricing models that drive informed business decisions
• Oversee cost and pricing activities across the organization, ensuring comprehensive coverage of program elements and associated risks
• Create and implement best‑in‑class analysis and modelling tools, selecting the most effective techniques for each context
• Conduct “What if” and “should cost” scenario modelling to assess financial impacts
• Lead or support price negotiations and customer audits to ensure alignment with business objectives
• Managing and developing a direct report, providing guidance, mentorship, and professional development opportunities
• Flexibility to potentially travel across the UK and internationally as required to support business needs

Your skills and experiences:

Essential:

• Proven experience in cost analysis, planning, forecasting, or business modelling/analysis within an operational or business environment
• Advanced proficiency in MS tools, including Excel and Microsoft Dynamics, for effective modelling and analysis to identify business challenges and propose actionable solutions
• Strong innovative mindset with the ability to think creatively and drive improvements
• Excellent analytical skills with a keen investigative approach and strong numeracy
• Clear and concise written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to effectively influence management information and present it in a succinct and compelling manner
• Experience with data analysis and visualisation tools, such as Power BI and Tableau
• Demonstrate leadership skills and the ability to inspire and manage teams

Desirable:

• Ideally educated to a degree standard e.g. Maths, Statistics, Business, Engineering

Benefits:

As well as a competitive pension scheme, BAE Systems also offers employee share plans, an extensive range of flexible discounted health, wellbeing and lifestyle benefits, including a green car scheme, private health plans and shopping discounts – you may also be eligible for an annual incentive.

The ESS System Design Team:

You’ll join the ESS System Design Team, responsible for designing and supporting the Engineering Support System (ESS) for the Typhoon aircraft. ESS is a mission‑critical maintenance tool that enables the safe, effective operation of Typhoon, and the team plays a key role in delivering future engineering support through the Typhoon FESS programme. This is a highly collaborative team working on systems that directly impact front‑line aircraft availability and performance.

Why BAE Systems?

This is a place where you’ll be able to make a real difference. You’ll be part of an inclusive culture that values diversity of thought, rewards integrity, and merit, and where you’ll be empowered to fulfil your potential. We welcome people from all backgrounds and want to make sure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you have a disability or health condition (for example dyslexia, autism, an anxiety disorder etc.) that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.

Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export control restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All applicants must as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where applicants must typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending on the vetting level required for the role, to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.

Closing Date: 30th January 2026

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

#LI-MH1

#LI-Onsite