Estimator / Senior Estimator in Manchester

Mott MacDonald is a global engineering, management, and development consultancy with over 20,000 employees across more than 50 countries and 140+ offices. We work across incredible global industries, delivering exciting work that is defining our future and making an important societal impact in the communities we serve.

About the business unit

Mott MacDonald’s Advisory and Programme Delivery (APD) unit delivers both project, programme & commercial management (PPCM) services and advisory solutions across the built environment, defence, energy, water, environmental, transportation, health and care sectors. We deliver tailored solutions that directly address our clients’ key challenges, combining our world‑leading project expertise with unrivalled programme delivery capabilities and advisory services.

Overview of the role

Do you wish to take on a role with excellent opportunities for long term career progression? If so, please read on… Mott MacDonald is a £2bn employee‑owned engineering, development and management consultancy, with projects worldwide. We plan, design, deliver and care for the infrastructure that society depends on – transport, energy, defence, water, environment, and buildings. We apply digital innovation and technical excellence to improve outcomes for our clients, society and the environment.

Key responsibilities and duties include:

• Hold responsibility for cost estimate development through all stages of project and programme lifecycles, from concept stage through to delivery and handover.
• Undertake estimates using various techniques including first principal bottom‑up, and parametric top‑down methods.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to identify, capture, and record the scope of the estimating activities.
• Establish Work Breakdown and Cost Breakdown Structures ensuring all scope elements captured and recorded using industry standard methods of measurement such as CESMM4, NRM, RMM, HWMM.
• Ensure all elements of the ‘cost stack’ including, escalation, land and property, administration, direct costs, indirect costs, and temporary works are considered in the estimate.
• Support the identification of risk and opportunities and produce estimates for pre‑mitigation and post‑mitigation cost impacts.
• Develop and support the calculation of contingency, as a holistic view of risk, opportunity and estimating uncertainty within a project team environment.
• Challenge sustainability and consider embodied and operational carbon within the proposed solution.
• Produce basis of estimate reports to effectively communicate all estimating assumptions, dependencies, and exclusions to stakeholders and end users.
• Implement estimating best practice to ensure quality and governance is maintained and deliver estimating outputs to an exceptional level of technical competence within agreed timescales.
• Ensure that leadership review, assurance and sign‑off is completed for all estimates.
• Have a clear understanding of project finances and provide support to the project team in developing project financial models.

Qualifications:

• HNC / HND or degree qualified in an Engineering, Construction Management, or Quantity Surveying discipline or relevant industry experience.
• Professional accreditation with AcostE / RICS / CIOB or working towards.
• Familiarity with the application of estimating packages such as CANDY, CONQUEST, CAUSEWAY, COST OS, COST X etc.
• Working knowledge and demonstrable experience in the use and application of the Microsoft Office Suite including Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.
• Extensive experience of working in infrastructure projects, with the ability to establish and maintain good working relationships with clients and colleagues.
• Knowledge of the HMT Five Case Business Model, and experience in producing estimates from Strategic Outline Case through to Full Business Case for project and programme appraisals.
• Working knowledge of carbon estimating including embodied, operational, and whole life carbon.
• Understanding of how TOTEX (Total Expenditure) is calculated, using Development Expenditure, Capital Expenditure, Operational Expenditure, End of Life / Decommissioning Expenditure, to provide Whole Life Cost solutions to our clients.

At Mott MacDonald, we believe it makes business sense for you and your manager to choose how you can work most effectively to meet your client, team, and personal commitments. We offer a hybrid working policy that embraces your well‑being, flexibility, and trust.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion

We put equality, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of our business, seeking to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they can contribute.

Accessibility

We want you to perform your best at every stage in the recruitment process. If you are disabled or need any support to enable you to apply or attend an interview, please contact us at reasonable.adjustments@mottmac.com and we will talk to you about how we can support you.

We offer some fantastic benefits including:

• Financial wellbeing: We match employee pension contributions between 4.5% and 7%. Life assurance equal up to 4 x your basic salary, with an option to increase the level of cover to 6 x your salary.
• Employee Ownership: Our employee ownership model means no external investors, just us, creating a culture of shared success.
• Health and wellbeing: Private medical insurance for all UK colleagues. Health cash plan to support you with everyday health costs and treatments.
• Lifestyle: A minimum of 33–35 days holiday each year, inclusive of public holidays and dependent on level, with the ability to buy or sell leave through our flexible benefits programme.
• Enhanced family and carers leave: Enhanced family leave policies, including 26 weeks paid maternity and adoption leave, and two weeks paid paternity/partner leave.
• Learning and development: Primary annual professional institution subscription. A broad range of opportunities to enhance both technical and soft skills through mentoring, formal training, and self‑development options.