Job Title: Junior Estimator
Department: Pre-Construction
Reports To: Director of Preconstruction or Designated Interim Preconstruction Leader
FLSA Status: Exempt
Travel Required: up to 25%
Company Summary:
BlueTeam is a national provider of commercial restoration, reconstruction, capital-improvement, and roofing services. Operating through an integrated family of companies under a unified brand, BlueTeam serves commercial property owners and operators across senior living, healthcare, hospitality, multifamily, institutional, municipal, office, and retail markets.
BlueTeam’s Preconstruction Department is an enterprise function supporting opportunities across Restoration, Reconstruction, Capital Expenditures, and Roofing. The department brings discipline and consistency to estimating, scope development, constructability, risk identification, trade-partner engagement, procurement planning, scheduling, and operational turnover before project commitment.
SUMMARY:
The Junior Estimator is the entry point into BlueTeam's Estimating and Preconstruction career track. Working under the guidance of an Estimator, Senior Estimator, or Preconstruction Manager, you'll support quantity takeoffs, scope development, cost research, trade-partner solicitation, quote leveling, proposal documentation, and constructability reviews — building real ownership of work packages as you grow. Initial assignments focus on commercial renovation and CapEx work, with exposure to Reconstruction, Roofing, Restoration, and claims-based estimating as you develop.
This role is a great fit for early-career candidates or professionals transitioning from field supervision, project coordination, procurement, roofing, a construction trade, or design. We hire for aptitude, judgment, and growth potential — not pedigree or years of experience.
Scope Interpretation and Quantity Takeoff
- Review and organize available project information, including drawings, specifications, scope narratives, photographs, reports, sketches, field notes, virtual walkthroughs, and reality-capture data.
- Perform supported quantity takeoffs for assigned trades, systems, areas, or work packages.
- Develop an understanding of construction assemblies, trade boundaries, sequencing, and material, labor, and equipment relationships.
- Break project requirements into logical scope components and help identify the information needed to complete each component.
- Identify inconsistencies, omissions, ambiguities, or conflicts and elevate them to the appropriate estimator or project leader.
- Clearly distinguish known scope from assumptions, allowances, alternates, contingencies, exclusions, and unresolved conditions.
- Maintain traceability between source documents, measured quantities, assumptions, and resulting estimate items.
Cost Modeling and Estimate Development
- Support estimate development using one or more approved methodologies, including trade-partner and supplier pricing, internal historical costs, published cost data, claims-estimating platforms, and specialty roofing or envelope tools.
- Enter and validate quantities, unit costs, labor, material, equipment, productivity, escalation, location, tax, freight, logistics, and other applicable cost components under appropriate supervision.
- Assist with building estimates that reflect realistic construction means and methods rather than software output alone.
- Cross-check calculations, units of measure, scope coverage, and cost extensions for completeness and consistency.
- Help reconcile differences between historical cost, published cost data, platform pricing, and current market quotes.
- Learn how overhead, profit, risk, contingency, and client-specific pricing requirements affect the completed proposal.
- Produce estimate backup that is organized, reproducible, and understandable to someone who did not prepare the original work.
Trade-Partner Solicitation and Pre-Award Pricing
- Assist with developing bidder lists and identifying appropriate trade partners, vendors, manufacturers, suppliers, and service providers.
- Prepare and distribute invitation-to-bid packages, scope sheets, drawings, specifications, addenda, and other pricing information under the direction of senior Preconstruction staff.
- Follow up professionally and persistently to obtain adequate market participation and timely pricing.
- Respond to routine bidder questions or coordinate responses with the appropriate technical or operational resource.
- Review incoming quotations for completeness, exclusions, qualifications, alternates, schedule assumptions, and scope gaps.
- Prepare bid-leveling comparisons that allow quotations to be evaluated on an equivalent basis.
- Participate in scope clarification and pre-award pricing negotiations under established parameters and supervision.
- Document significant communications, pricing revisions, commitments proposed by others, and unresolved qualifications.
- Support post-award buyout and procurement turnover by organizing final quotations, scope clarifications, long-lead information, and estimating assumptions.
- Do not make contractual commitments, authorize purchases, promise awards, or otherwise bind BlueTeam unless expressly authorized.
Proposal and Document Control
- Assist with drafting clear scope narratives, inclusions, exclusions, clarifications, alternates, allowances, and proposal qualifications.
- Maintain disciplined file organization, naming conventions, version control, and estimate-history records.
- Ensure current drawings, addenda, quotations, and assumptions are reflected in the active estimate.
- Help assemble complete and professional proposal packages in accordance with BlueTeam and client requirements.
- Maintain confidentiality and appropriate control of client, trade-partner, pricing, and company information.
- Support estimate reviews by providing clear backup and promptly addressing review comments.
Constructability, Planning, and Risk Awareness
- Participate in preconstruction reviews addressing scope, constructability, site conditions, logistics, sequencing, schedule, access, and operational constraints.
- Help identify cost and schedule implications associated with occupied facilities, phased work, restricted work hours, infection control, environmental containment, noise, dust, temporary protection, weather exposure, and client operations.
- Support development of preliminary milestone schedules, sequence assumptions, and long-lead procurement information.
- Consider permitting, licensing, tax, inspection, manufacturer, jurisdictional, and other compliance requirements when developing assigned work.
- Identify potential cost drivers and risk conditions early rather than merely recording them after pricing is complete.
- Assist with the evaluation of value-engineering alternatives that preserve safety, quality, functionality, and client intent.
- Recognize when additional field, technical, design, manufacturer, or trade-partner input is required.
Collaboration and Operational Turnover
- Work closely with Preconstruction, Project Management, Field Operations, Roofing, Restoration, Procurement, Finance, Business Development, and other internal resources.
- Participate in site visits, field walks, virtual surveys, scope meetings, and pre-proposal reviews as assigned.
- Seek execution input from Superintendents and Construction Managers to validate access, phasing, productivity, protection, and constructability assumptions.
- Participate in turnover meetings and clearly communicate estimate assumptions, qualifications, risks, vendor coverage, and outstanding decisions to the Project Delivery Team.
- Re-engage after award when needed to clarify estimate intent, support buyout, or resolve scope and pricing questions.
- Participate in estimate-to-actual reviews and use project results to improve future takeoffs, assumptions, assemblies, and cost judgment.
- Communicate openly when information is incomplete, an assignment is at risk, or additional support is required.
Safety, Quality, Schedule, and Financial Stewardship
- Incorporate appropriate safety, environmental, protection, quality-control, testing, and closeout requirements into the estimate.
- Do not treat safety or quality requirements as optional items that can be omitted solely to reduce price.
- Understand that estimate decisions directly affect execution, schedule, project margin, client trust, and the company’s reputation.
- Treat company and client resources with care and exercise disciplined cost awareness.
- Balance speed with accuracy, recognizing that an incomplete estimate delivered quickly is not a successful result.
Professional Development and Continuous Improvement
- Develop proficiency in BlueTeam’s selected estimating, takeoff, bid-management, scheduling, project-management, and reality-capture systems.
- Participate actively in training, mentorship, calibration sessions, proposal reviews, and lessons-learned activities.
- Seek feedback, apply corrections, and avoid repeating previously identified errors.
- Contribute to cost libraries, estimate templates, scope sheets, bidder lists, assemblies, checklists, and other departmental tools.
- Build exposure across multiple estimating methodologies and service lines as assignments permit.
- Perform other related duties and developmental assignments as directed.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Required:
- Basic construction math skills — comfortable working with quantities, dimensions, units of measure, and cost extensions
- Ability to read and interpret drawings, specifications, or comparable technical/scope documents
- Strong attention to detail, organization, and follow-through
- Clear written and verbal communication skills
- Basic digital fluency and willingness to learn estimating, takeoff, and document-management software
- Ability to travel and periodically visit active/occupied construction sites
Preferred (not required):
- Background in construction estimating, field supervision, project coordination/engineering, procurement, restoration, roofing, or a related trade
- Associate/bachelor's degree, apprenticeship, military technical training, or industry coursework — helpful but not a substitute for demonstrated aptitude
- Familiarity with tools like Bluebeam, On-Screen Takeoff, RSMeans, Xactimate, or Procore (equivalent experience accepted)
REASONING ABILITY:
Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete and abstract variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel. The employee is occasionally required to reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to climb or balance, stoop, kneel, crouch and/or crawl. The employee must also occasionally lift and/or move up to 75 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, and color vision.
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to frequently inspect the project and may be exposed to on going construction and various weather conditions. The noise level in the work environment may range from moderate to loud.
