Design- Build Electrical Estimator

Intex Electrical Contractors, Inc.; Forney (TX); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Intex Electrical Contractors, Inc. is seeking a Design-Build Electrical Estimator to lead pricing and preliminary design for large-scale industrial projects.

You will transform architectural narratives and drawings into a complete electrical scope and construction-ready estimate. Ideal candidates have 5+ years in electrical estimating within design-build or design-assist, strong NEC knowledge, and experience with warehouse or manufacturing facilities.

Qualifications

• 5+ years electrical estimating in design-build or design-assist.
• Ability to develop concept budgets from architectural narratives.
• Experience with large industrial/warehouse projects.

Responsibilities

• Develop design concept from owner narrative and drawings.
• Produce complete electrical scope and price from concept to construction-ready estimate.
• Coordinate with design team, owner, and GC for scope and assumptions.
• Lead value engineering discussions and provide clear documentation.

Skills

Electrical estimating

Design-build experience

NEC knowledge

Communication

Excel proficiency

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or Construction Management

Tools

Accubid

Trimble Accubid Classic

Takeoff tools (Bluebeam Revu/PlanSwift)

AutoCAD / Revit

Job description

We are a full-service electrical contractor with an established design-build division, and we are hiring a Design-Build Electrical Estimator to lead the pricing and preliminary design of large-scale industrial projects.This is not a plan-and-spec, count-the-symbols estimating job. Our design-build work typically starts with an architectural background and an owner’s narrative describing what they want to accomplish — and very little else.

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Develop the Design Concept

• Take an architectural drawing set and an owner’s narrative or basis-of-design and develop a complete electrical scope, from conceptual budget through construction-ready estimate.
• Lay out interior and exterior lighting — high-bay warehouse, office and support areas, dock and canopy, site and parking — including photometric calculations to hit target light levels and lighting-control strategies that satisfy the applicable energy code (IECC / ASHRAE 90.1).
• Perform load calculations and size the electrical service and distribution system: service entrance, switchgear and switchboards, transformers, panelboards, feeders, and branch circuitry.
• Coordinate with the serving utility on available capacity, transformer and primary routing, metering, and service timeline.
• Identify what the design will require even when it isn’t drawn yet, and document those assumptions clearly.

Gather and Coordinate the Full Scope

• Chase down the information needed from every other trade and from the owner: HVAC and rooftop units, make-up air and dehumidification, plumbing and water heating, sewage ejectors, fire pump and jockey pump, compressed air, dock levelers and restraints, overhead doors, conveyors and material handling, process and production equipment, racking, and EV charging.
• Build and maintain an equipment/connected-load schedule and drive the open items to closure with the owner, GC, and design team.
• Account for site electrical scope — duct bank, trenching, site lighting and pole bases, gate and signage power, temporary power, and utility coordination.

Apply the Codes

• NEC — load calculations (Art. 220), grounding and bonding (Art. 250), feeder and branch-circuit sizing, motors (Art. 430), transformers (Art. 450), fire pumps (Art. 695), emergency and standby systems (Arts. 700 / 701 / 702), optional standby and generators (Art. 445), classified/hazardous locations (Art. 500 series) where the process requires it, and PV/energy storage (Arts. 690 / 706) where applicable.
• Life safety and building codes — IBC, NFPA 101, NFPA 72, and NFPA 110, including the electrical scope for fire alarm and mass notification, egress and emergency lighting, exit signage, elevator recall and shunt trip, and generator/ATS arrangements.
• Smoke control and smoke evacuation — recognize when a project triggers a smoke control or smoke evacuation system and carry the associated electrical scope: fan and damper power and control wiring, firefighter’s smoke control station, standby power source, control interfaces to the fire alarm and HVAC systems, and any required special inspection or integrated testing support.
• Energy and local requirements — IECC / ASHRAE 90.1 lighting and control compliance, plus state and local amendments, AHJ preferences, and utility rebate programs.

Build the Estimate

• Produce complete quantity takeoffs — gear, feeders, branch wiring and raceway, devices, fixtures, and site work — at whatever level of detail the stage of the project supports.
• Solicit, level, and negotiate quotes for switchgear, transformers, lighting packages, generators, lightning protection, controls, and other quoted items; track lead times and material escalation and reflect them in both price and schedule.
• Apply and adjust labor units for the realities of the work — building height and tilt-wall construction methods, work at height, weather exposure, schedule compression, multi-shift work, and prevailing wage where it applies.
• Carry the low-voltage and systems scope where it is ours: telecom/data pathways and cabling, security and access control, CCTV, paging, and wireless/DAS infrastructure.
• Deliver conceptual/budget estimates ($/SF and order-of-magnitude) early and progressively refine them into GMP or firm design-build proposals.
• Write clear, specific scope letters — inclusions, exclusions, clarifications, and assumptions — so there is no ambiguity about what we priced.

Coordinate with the Client’s Preconstruction Team

• Serve as the primary technical point of contact for the client’s preconstruction team — general contractor estimators and project executives, developer representatives, and the architect and engineering consultants.
• Run and participate in scope review, budget review, and coordination calls; track open items and drive them to resolution rather than waiting on someone else to raise them.
• Explain the reasoning behind the number in terms a non-electrical audience understands, and back it up with documentation.
• Lead value engineering discussions — bring real, code-compliant alternatives with the cost, schedule, and operational trade-offs laid out honestly.
• Defend the estimate under scrutiny and stand behind the assumptions, while staying open to better information.
• Attend pre-bid walks, site visits, and design coordination meetings as needed.
• Hand the project off cleanly to project management and the field, support buyout, and stay available for scope and change-order questions during construction.
• Contribute to our historical cost database and benchmarking so each estimate makes the next one sharper.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

• 5+ years of electrical estimating experience, with meaningful time on design-build or design-assist work.
• Hands-on technical background in electrical construction — field, engineering, or project management experience that supports the estimating work.
• Demonstrated experience estimating large commercial or industrial projects — warehouse/distribution, tilt-wall, manufacturing, or similar. Comfort with projects in the hundreds of thousands to millions of square feet.
• Working command of the NEC and the ability to determine which systems a project requires, not just how to price the ones already drawn.
• Ability to develop a lighting layout and size an electrical service from an architectural background and a written narrative.
• Ability to read and interpret architectural, structural, mechanical, plumbing, and fire protection drawings and extract the electrical implications from each.
• Proven ability to produce a complete, accurate takeoff and a well-documented estimate.
• Strong written and verbal communication — you will be coordinating directly with client preconstruction teams and design consultants.
• Proficiency with the standard Microsoft Office suite, including Excel, Word, and Outlook. Advanced Excel skills are strongly preferred.
• Organized and self-directed, with the judgment to know when an assumption is safe and when it needs an answer.

Preferred

• Professional Engineer (PE) license or EIT — valued but not required; we have an in-house engineer and third-party engineering partners.
• AutoCAD and/or Revit proficiency for developing and marking up concept layouts.
• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Construction Management, or a related field — or equivalent field and estimating experience.
• Journeyman or Master Electrician license and field experience.
• Experience with utility coordination on large service installations.
• Familiarity with smoke control, hazardous locations, cold storage, or process/manufacturing power distribution.

Software and Tools

• Estimating (Accubid preferred): Experience with Accubid (Trimble Accubid Classic) is preferred. Candidates who are strong estimators on another platform — ConEst IntelliBid, McCormick, or similar — will be considered and can be trained on our system.
• Microsoft Office (required): Excel, Word, and Outlook. Comfort building and maintaining estimate and equipment-schedule workbooks in Excel is expected.
• Takeoff and markup: Bluebeam Revu, Trimble LiveCount, PlanSwift, or similar.
• Design: AutoCAD and/or Revit; photometric software such as AGi32, Visual, or DIALux.
• Analysis (a plus): SKM PowerTools, EasyPower, or ETAP for load flow, coordination, and arc flash scope.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Personal weight and tools cannot exceed weight limit of ladders (Class 1-250lbs, Class 2-300lbs).
• Must be able to bend, stoop, squat, crawl, climb, kneel, balance, push, pull and reach over head.
• Constantly move about on the feet.
• Climb ladders of all types.
• Complete full day assignments.
• Must be able to make transition from employee parking area or street into construction work areas and to access all levels of the building, even if the only means of access is by O.S.H.A. approved site construction ladder or stairs still under construction, but acceptable for use.
• Possess good vision, normal or corrected.
• Possess good hearing, normal or corrected.
• Must be able to positively identify different colors.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

May work inside or outside while wearing required personal protective equipment at all times; possible exposure to hot and cold temperatures, weather elements, dust, toxic materials, in restricted or confined spaces, and on slippery or uneven surfaces; works on ladders, scaffolds, aerial lifts, catwalks, in ditches and excavations; works in and around single and multi-story buildings with all exposures typical of a heavy construction site, including portable sanitary facilities.

Equal Opportunity Employer, including disabled and veterans.