Senior Cost Planner in London

Primarily involved with estimating for external bids from inception at feasibility stage, inputting into and/or developing conversion strategies, to presentation to the Leadership Team or the appropriate Limits of Authority at Commitment Review, including reviews and sign off in compliance for approval on the internal Bovis systems. The Senior Cost Planner will be required to lead on a bid, or work as part of a wider commercial team, depending on the bid stage, scale and complexity. You will be responsible for coordinating all aspects of the bid including prelims book, cost plan, cost plan commentary, fees and value engineering in coordination with the Bovis bid/project team. They will work closely with the Cost Planning & Estimating Director in developing cost planning and delivery strategies and ensuring these are appropriately resourced and managed to successful outcomes, as well as mentoring and supporting other members within the Estimating/Cost Planning team, supporting them with their projects, goals and personal objectives. You will be required to challenge the design teams to design efficient buildings within the cost plan parameters. Continual analysis of the design metrics against the cost plan and best practice benchmark examples. Support the development of best practices/standards, knowledge base, sector expertise including industry trends, yardsticks, or benchmarks etc. Ensure knowledge sharing and skills transfer to train, develop, and upskill the wider cost planning team.

Key Responsibilities

• Totally accountable for all of your work, possess the right attitude, show interest, work to the best of your ability and display initiative within and beyond your roles and responsibilities.
• Accountable for all financial inputs into the project cost plan. Review and analyse all inputs received from other members of the project team and assess their appropriateness.
• Have experience of working on large scale, multi-phase developments with an excellent knowledge of costing, pricing and benchmarking within the Construction and Development industries, with particular experience in the Commercial and Public sector.
• Utilise company preferred Cost Planning software and Cost Planning tools. Prior experience of CostX is desirable but not essential.

Bidding and Strategy

• A champion of transparency must seek to understand the broader development/project context and seek to bring design and build solutions that help to achieve successful outcomes for Bovis.
• Responsible for setting and establishing the cost planning strategy and timeframes and assessing resource requirements for agreement by Management.
• Ensure that other disciplines such as Project Management, Procurement, Design Management, Planning, Legal, Insurance, Construction and Commercial Management are providing the appropriate input into the cost planning process.
• Ensure cost plan compliance with the brief/authority/financiers/customer requirements during the conversion stage.

Governance

• Ensure all required peer and manager reviews are completed prior to Bovis governance gateways. Attain cost plan endorsement by Cost Planning Director.
• Responsible for all inputs into the cost sections of the relevant governance review documentation.
• Ensure internal governance process is robust with independent input on cost management.
• Production of documents for Management reviews at required milestones in accordance with Bovis Governance.
• Present cost plans at Commitment/Business Unit Reviews.

Cost Planning

• Able to accurately quantify and price cost plans from Development Briefs/Feasibility stage through to Contract Price with preferred contractor.
• In collaboration with the commercial team, secure market prices for trade packages and analyse same against cost plan allowances.
• Ability to price on a Labour, Plant and Materials basis from first principles is desirable but not essential.
• Accurate forecasting of current trade rates.
• Preparation, review and analysis of Preliminaries for first and second stage bids including producing standard preliminaries in accordance with the proposed bid strategy.
• Incorporate implications of programming requirements, methodology, phasing, logistics etc. into cost plans/prelims.
• Take off quantities using information ranging from RIBA Stage 0/1 to RIBA Stage 4.
• Management of external consultants (EQ Bill of Quants Consultancy), including initial engagement, appointment, issue of information, quality control, and ensuring submission and return in line with the programme.
• Negotiate with sub-contractors/assess sub-contractor proposals.
• Ensure that the scope, assumptions, and price are clearly documented throughout the cost planning stages and that a submission document is produced at significant gateways and design milestones.

Data / Analytics

• Be skilled in data analysis and interpolation, analysis of design metrics and have a thorough understanding of construction processes, technologies, methodologies and principles.
• Capture and analyse cost data from projects for benchmarking. Populate and maintain benchmarking database.
• Produce a written narrative of the key insights that you have derived from your analysis of the cost and benchmarking and articulate why the cost plan is correct within that context.
• Capturing and analysis of cost data from projects for benchmarking.
• Manage and input into the developing design in accordance with the cost plan.
• Responsible for proactively participating in design workshops to develop the concept through particular design challenges or value engineering to ensure there is consistent appreciation for the priorities of needs vs wants and challenging the status quo.
• Support project teams with change control and major variations (during conversion and delivery). Maintain a “Running Sheet” of changes to inform cost shifts between design milestones.
• “Design to Cost” - Challenge the project and design teams to design efficiently and within the cost plan.
• Continually analyse the design against the cost plan assumptions, design brief/target design metrics and benchmark projects.
• Assess design options and provide guidance on their viability to the project team.
• Create, participate and evaluate value engineering solutions and value management strategies.
• Act early in identifying opportunities to optimise the design to minimise abortive design work.
• Support project teams in the evaluation of commercial risks.
• Make an assessment of the risk and opportunity within the design to allow you to include an appropriate allowance for contingency.

Design and Cost Control

• Manage and input into the developing design in accordance with the cost plan.
• Responsible for proactively participating in design workshops to develop the concept through particular design challenges or value engineering to ensure there is consistent appreciation for the priorities of needs vs wants and challenging the status quo.
• Support project teams with change control and major variations (during conversion and delivery). Maintain a “Running Sheet” of changes to inform cost shifts between design milestones.
• “Design to Cost” - Challenge the project and design teams to design efficiently and within the cost plan.
• Continually analyse the design against the cost plan assumptions, design brief/target design metrics and benchmark projects.
• Assess design options and provide guidance on their viability to the project team.
• Create, participate and evaluate value engineering solutions and value management strategies.
• Act early in identifying opportunities to optimise the design to minimise abortive design work.
• Support project teams in the evaluation of commercial risks.
• Make an assessment of the risk and opportunity within the design to allow you to include an appropriate allowance for contingency.
• Take into account the contract conditions together with their impact, i.e. warranties, insurance, bonding, design and construction implications etc.
• Actively contribute to the team’s delivery to the Bovis Global Minimum Requirements (GMRs) of safety during conversion including active contributions to the Risk & Opportunity at Design (ROAD) and Principal Designer process to eliminate hazard and risk in development, construction, and operation.
• Stay up to date with the current inflation forecasts and apply these to your project using the inflation calculation templates. Maintain an awareness of the market conditions and published reports affecting inflation to be able to justify the inflation amount included within your cost plan.

Risk and Opportunity Management

• Create, participate and evaluate value engineering solutions and value management strategies.
• Act early in identifying opportunities to optimise the design to minimise abortive design work.
• Support project teams in the evaluation of commercial risks.
• Make an assessment of the risk and opportunity within the design to allow you to include an appropriate allowance for contingency.
• Take into account the contract conditions together with their impact, i.e. warranties, insurance, bonding, design and construction implications etc.
• Actively contribute to the team’s delivery to the Bovis Global Minimum Requirements (GMRs) of safety during conversion including active contributions to the Risk & Opportunity at Design (ROAD) and Principal Designer process to eliminate hazard and risk in development, construction, and operation.
• Stay up to date with the current inflation forecasts and apply these to your project using the inflation calculation templates. Maintain an awareness of the market conditions and published reports affecting inflation to be able to justify the inflation amount included within your cost plan.

Credentials

• Maintain CSCS card for the role.
• Professional Construction Qualifications relevant to the role or qualified by appropriate level of experience.
• Have a related Chartership such as MRICS/MCIOB.

Essential Skills, Knowledge, Experience and Behaviours

Skills

• Able to prepare contract documentation for external parties ready for engrossment.
• Advanced Data and Analytics including use of Power BI.
• Advanced word-processing, Excel spreadsheet packages and cost management software.
• Build and hold relationships with key stakeholders.
• Strong Commercial acumen.
• Tendering subcontract works packages of medium to high value.
• Time management and prioritising tasks in order to meet deadlines.
• Value engineering.
• Written and verbal communication to influence and build relationships with various stakeholders.

Knowledge

• Ability to contribute to value engineering as part of the design process.
• Allocation of scope to trade packages.
• Be able to produce detailed prelim forecasts.
• Understand and apply cost planning & financial procedures and reporting tools.
• Understanding of various procurement routes, including the RIBA design processes.
• Fully understand benchmark databases and the data held within them.
• Good understanding of building technology/construction methods.
• Key design metrics and KPI’s.
• Market Rates & Cost Trends.
• Measurement rules.
• Strong understanding of various procurement routes, including the RIBA design processes.
• Subcontractor market.
• Understand consultant and clients requirements within tender documentation.
• Understand various contract pricing mechanisms.

Experience

• Extensive experience in construction, including a sound knowledge of Construction methodology, process and sequence.
• Being able to peer review work produced by other members of the cost planning and commercial team.
• Being able to work on bids alone depending on scale/complexity, or working as part of a team on large scale projects.
• Coordinating/Leading all aspects of the commercial offer on bids/tenders.
• Managing external consultants.
• Mentoring and Training junior staff members.
• Presenting to senior stakeholders.
• Proven track record of working on bids/projects across multiple sectors.
• Proven track record of working on various bid stages included Stage 1 (initial tender) and Stage 2 (Conversion into contract/PCSA).
• Reviewing subcontractor tender offers and subcontractor tender analysis produced by the commercial team to ensure a robust cost position.
• Understanding, building, and using benchmarking data for use at reviews, and for use externally with clients/consultants.

Behaviours

• Ability to join up a wide range of complex issues and understand how they relate to each other.
• Takes accountability and ownership of all areas of their work.
• Attention to detail, ability to flex to meet business plans and drive to meet key dates.
• Collaborates across the organisation and external teams.
• Communicates the strategy and maximises outcomes for all parties.
• Drives a culture of safety and quality and embeds best practice to set the standard in the organisation and the industry.
• Provided evidence based outcomes for all the work they produce.
• Flexibility and openness of approach and willingness to work as a team player.
• Provides guidance, leadership, mentoring, technical coaching and sets an example for junior members of the team.
• Levelling existing knowledge to continuously improve processes to achieve efficiency.
• Uncompromising discipline and rigorous approach to follow the process and close bids/tasks out.

We will provide:

• Car allowance.
• Flexible and hybrid work options.
• Up to 10% employer pension contribution.
• Private medical health benefit.
• Life assurance.
• 25 days annual leave with the option to buy or sell additional days.
• 3 days wellbeing leave in addition to annual leave.
• Health and wellbeing support and initiatives.
• 24/7 confidential Employee Assistance Programme including direct access to Talking Therapies and Coaching services.
• Discounted gym membership to over 2,500 gyms nationwide.
• Industry leading parental leave.