Senior Estimator & Cost Advisor

AtkinsRéalis; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Training and development

Competitive salaries

Job summary

AtkinsRéalis in Greater London is seeking a Senior Estimator & Cost Advisor to support complex infrastructure projects across the UK and overseas. You will lead estimating, assurance and advisory work, developing costs from feasibility to delivery.

You will guide bid activities, mentor staff, and contribute to a high-performing team, using benchmarking data and market insights to produce robust should/could/will cost analyses and clear client messaging.

Qualifications

• Strong cost estimation and forecasting across infrastructure projects.
• Experience with major project business cases and assurance reviews.
• Familiarity with cost breakdown structures and contingency application.
• Chartered status or working towards professional bodies (RICS/ICE/ACostE/ACostE).

Responsibilities

• Lead estimating, assurance and advisory service delivery for major projects.
• Develop and review capital cost estimates across UK and international work.
• Support win-work activities including bids and proposals to grow pipeline.
• Provide technical leadership and deliverables such as data analyses and dashboards.
• Mentor junior team members and ensure high-quality client outputs.

Skills

Cost estimating

Cost analysis

Stakeholder engagement

Bid / win-work support

Team leadership

Education

Chartered status / working towards RICS

Job description

Overview

Become a vital member of our Complex Projects, Delivery Partner team, proudly taking on some of the world's most exciting and prestigious projects. Join us, and you'll be part of our genuinely collaborative environment, where everyone is supported to make the most of their talents. It’s about recognising everyone’s contributions equally while delivering excellence together. When you join our practice team, you will share our vision to be the industry's foremost capability in Estimating & Cost Advisory and always do what’s right.

Enjoy a diverse and exciting workload surrounded by talented colleagues ready to lend a hand. You’ll support multi‑disciplinary and specialist project teams on high‑profile schemes across a range of sectors, delivering high‑impact estimating services to key clients. You will also have the opportunity to grow your career and develop our internal capabilities.

We are looking to hire a Senior Estimator & Cost Advisor to support our growing business in complex infrastructure across three major markets:

• Infrastructure – Water, Defence, Aviation, etc.
• Transport – Rail, Highways, Local Authorities, etc.
• Energy – Nuclear, Renewable Energy, Power, etc.

Your Role

• Lead elements of estimating, assurance and advisory service delivery, focusing on developing costs for and reviewing major projects and niche projects across the UK and internationally, with a particular focus on capital costs.
• Work flexibly across estimates and assurance reviews of various types, focusing on cost and project deliverability across the project lifecycle from early‑stage feasibility design to detailed design, contract award, live delivery and project close‑out.
• Take a leading role in supporting the leadership team in win‑work activities (bids, proposals, etc.) to grow our portfolio and provide input to continuously improve the quality of our client deliverables.
• Contribute to the development of a high‑performing team based in your local office and/or a national location.
• Take technical leadership of delivery of high‑quality client deliverables, ranging from data analysis models to reports and informative dashboards or presentations.
• Lead technically on the use of client benchmarking data, in‑house data and market data to independently develop robust analysis of ‘should cost’, ‘could cost’, ‘will cost’ and ‘forecast cost to go / cost at completion’.
• Make a significant contribution to the highly effective communication of key findings and recommendations to senior clients and wider stakeholders. Support project leadership to communicate complex issues so that they are made easy to understand and help produce messaging which is astute.
• Provide peer review of outputs of other team members to support continuous improvement where necessary.
• Consult subject‑matter experts within our wider team to incorporate the best knowledge and information possible into our client deliverables.
• Stay connected with the wider team and leadership in our Estimating & Cost Advisory practice and contribute to internal review and quality assurance processes for client deliverables.

About You

• Strong understanding of typical client approaches to developing robust cost estimates, indirect costs, key sector cross drivers, applying contingency and awareness of global thought leadership in cost estimating, cost forecasting and setting up projects (or resetting projects) for success.
• Some direct or indirect experience of input to or reviewing major project business cases, especially as part of assurance reviews feeding into stage‑gate decision points.
• Strong technical expertise in project development and delivery, with a specialism and demonstrable background in managing and understanding costs.
• Wider understanding of commercial and contractual requirements and their impact on estimating or forecasting costs.
• Strong knowledge of indirect costs, cost breakdown structures and techniques to analyse and assess project deliverability.
• Stakeholder engagement skills including the ability to work seamlessly with designers, engineers, project managers and clients.
• Chartership with or demonstrable working towards RICS, ICE, AACE, ACostE or similar.
• Clear understanding of the role of consultancy organisations on projects, adaptability to work across multiple sectors and disciplines, and a drive to learn new skills.

Rewards & Benefits

Explore the rewards and benefits that help you thrive – at every stage of your life and career. Enjoy competitive salaries, employee rewards and a brilliant range of benefits you can tailor to suit your health, wellbeing, financial and lifestyle choices. Make the most of numerous opportunities for training and professional development to grow your skills and expertise. Combine our hybrid working culture and flexible holiday allowances to balance a great job and a fulfilling personal life.

Security Clearance

This role may require security clearance. Offers of employment will be dependent on obtaining the relevant level of clearance. If necessary, this will be discussed at interview. The vetting process is delivered by United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) and may require candidates to provide proof of residency in the UK of five years or longer. If applying to this role, please do not mention or include details of any current or previously held security clearance in your application or CV.

Equal Opportunity

We are committed to creating a culture where everyone feels that they belong – a place where we can all be ourselves, thrive and develop to be the best we can be. We offer a range of family‑friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements and employee resource groups to support all employees. As an Equal Opportunities Employer, we value applications from all backgrounds, cultures and abilities.