Senior Estimator - Kiewit Bridge & Marine

Kiewit; Federal Way (WA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 149,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits package withTop

Retirement plans with matching

Generous paid time off

Job summary

Kiewit is seeking a Senior Estimator / Lead Estimator for the Federal Way area to drive cost development for large-scale bridge, marine, and heavy civil projects. The role requires ownership of scope, schedule, cost, risk, and stakeholder alignment across pursuit teams.

The ideal candidate has extensive estimating leadership experience, strong business judgment, and the ability to influence project execution decisions within a major district.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering or related field required; equivalent industry experience considered.
• 10+ years of construction experience with heavy civil/infrastructure projects; strong estimating background.
• Experience leading major pursuits valued from tens of millions to multi-billion-dollar projects.
• Strong leadership, communication, presentation, and team-building skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead all aspects of complex pursuits from early strategy to bid closeout.
• Develop comprehensive cost estimates for bridge, marine, transportation, and heavy civil projects.
• Establish estimating strategies, staffing plans, schedules, and deliverables for major pursuits.
• Drive estimate reviews and challenge project assumptions to ensure competitive pricing.
• Lead indirect cost estimating including project overhead, temporary works, logistics, and construction support costs.
• Analyze contract docs to identify risks and opportunities; support various delivery methods.

Skills

Estimating

Leadership

Civil Engineering

Project Management

Communication

Risk Management

Team Building

Education

Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering

Tools

Estimating software

Cost databases

Job description

Select how often (in days) to receive an alert:

Select how often (in days) to receive an alert:

Location:

Federal Way, WA, US Seattle, WA, US

Requisition ID:182203

Job Level:Mid Level

Home District/Group:Kiewit Bridge Marine District

Market:Transportation

Employment Type:Full Time

Position Overview

Kiewit's Bridge & Marine District is seeking a Senior Estimator / Lead Estimator to lead the development of estimates for some of North America's most complex bridge, marine, transportation, and heavy civil infrastructure projects. This individual will serve as a key leader within the estimating organization, driving pursuit strategy, cost development, risk evaluation, and bid execution for major infrastructure opportunities.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned estimating professional with significant experience on large-scale infrastructure projects and demonstrated leadership capabilities. Beyond technical estimating expertise, this individual will bring project manager-level ownership of scope, schedule, cost, risk, and stakeholder alignment, along with senior operations manager traits such as strategic business judgment, operational discipline, cross-functional leadership, and the ability to influence project execution decisions. This role is well suited for someone with the business acumen, mentorship skills, and long-range leadership mindset.

District Overview

Kiewit's Bridge & Marine District delivers large, complex transportation and marine infrastructure projects throughout North America. The district specializes in major bridges, marine structures, heavy civil construction, transportation infrastructure, and related design-build work. Success in this environment requires strong technical expertise, collaborative leadership, and a commitment to excellence in pursuit execution.

Location

This position will be based in Kiewit's Federal Way area office on a full-time basis.

Responsibilities

• Lead all aspects of complex pursuits from early strategy development through bid closeout.
• Develop comprehensive cost estimates for complex bridge, marine, transportation, and heavy civil infrastructure projects.
• Establish estimating strategies, staffing plans, schedules, and deliverables for major pursuits.
• Drive estimate reviews and challenge project assumptions to ensure competitive and accurate pricing.
• Lead indirect cost estimating, including project overhead, temporary works, logistics, marine operations, and construction support costs.
• Analyze contract documents, specifications, drawings, and owner requirements to identify risks and opportunities.
• Support design-build, progressive design-build, design bid-build, CM/GC, and other alternative delivery pursuits.

Team Leadership & Strategic Responsibilities

• Mentor, train, and develop estimators across multiple experience levels.
• Lead estimating teams and coordinate discipline specialists throughout the pursuit process.
• Assist team with reconcile historical job costs for benchmark comparisons.
• Foster consistency in estimating practices, tools, and procedures.
• Participate in the development and continuous improvement of estimating standards and procedures across the district.
• Build organizational capability by sharing lessons learned and industry best practices.
• Assist in identifying and implementing process improvements to increase estimate quality and efficiency.
• Provide leadership during bid reviews and maintain full accountability for bid closeout activities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Construction Management, or a related field. Equivalent industry experience will be considered.
• 10+ years of construction experience, with significant experience on estimating heavy civil and infrastructure projects.
• Experience leading major pursuits valued from tens of millions to multi-billion-dollar project values.
• Strong understanding of construction means and methods, project execution planning, scheduling, and risk management.
• Experience developing estimates for self-perform work and subcontracted scopes.
• Proficiency with industry-standard estimating software and cost databases.
• Strong leadership, communication, presentation, and team-building skills.
• Demonstrated success mentoring estimators and leading cross-functional pursuit teams.
• Ability to influence decisions and build relationships with operations leadership, project sponsors, and executive stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams through complex decisions involving scope, schedule, budget, risk, trade-offs, and client commitments.

Other Requirements:

• Work productively and meet deadlines timely
• Communicate and interact effectively and professionally with supervisors, employees, and others individually or in a team environment
• Perform work safely and effectively. Understand and follow oral and written instructions, including warning signs, equipment use, and other policies.
• Work during normal operating hours to organize and complete work within given deadlines. Work overtime and weekends as required.

Base Compensation:$120,000/yr -$149,000/yr

• Actual compensation is subject to variation due to such factors as education, experience, skillset, and/or location
• We offer our fulltime staff employees a comprehensive benefits package that’s among the best in our industry, including top-tier medical, dental and vision plans covering eligible employees and dependents, voluntary wellness and employee assistance programs, life insurance, disability, retirement plans with matching, and generous paid time off.
• Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status.

There’s no limit to what you’ll do at Kiewit. Whether you’re building or supporting projects that provide communities with dependable energy, safe transportation, clean water, or access to health care, the work you do will positively impact people’s lives for generations to come.

Here you’ll have endless opportunities to expand your expertise through on-the-job experience and internal and external training and development opportunities.

We offer our full-time staff employees a comprehensive benefits package that’s among the best in our industry.From top-tier health care programs to employee assistance programs and retirement planning, we aim to provide you with the tools you need to be successful in the areas of life that matter most to you.

Kiewit is an equal-opportunity employer, and we believe a diverse workforce is vital to the success of our business. We continue our efforts to attract, develop and retain employees from all backgrounds who are passionate about our industry.

We are committed to veteran and military hiring and will consider relevant military experience as equivalent to qualification requirements.

Nearest Major Market: Seattle
Nearest Secondary Market: Bellevue
Job Segment: Risk Management, Civil Engineer, Estimator, Engineer, Finance, Engineering