Senior Estimator - Kiewit Bridge & Marine

Requisition ID: 182203

Job Level: Mid Level

Home District/Group: Kiewit Bridge Marine District

Department: Estimating

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

Estimating Leadership

• 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.

• Manage estimating resources across multiple concurrent pursuits.

• 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.

• Proven estimating experience on bridge, marine, transportation, highway, transit, ports, rail, or large civil 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:

• Regular, reliable attendance

• 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.

Company: Kiewit