Construction & Installation Estimator

Wright Engineering are recruiting for a Construction & Installation Estimator to join their team in Worksop. They will bring practical construction knowledge, buildability and lifting expertise into the bid process.

About Wright Engineering Wright Engineering designs, manufactures and installs complex bulk materials handling and industrial engineering systems. Our projects increasingly bring together mechanical handling, structural steelwork, civils, electrical and control systems, specialist subcontractors and demanding live-site installation requirements. As the scale and complexity of our opportunities grows, the quality of our bid development, engineering solution, construction planning and commercial risk control becomes ever more important. We are strengthening the team so that our major opportunities receive the focus they require while maintaining a responsive service on smaller installation enquiries.

Location: Woksop, with regular travel to client sites.

Salary: Up to £52.5k DOE plus EV or allowance at £495 per month.

Role purpose To strengthen the construction and installation content of Wright Engineering's proposals. The role will support major bids by developing practical methodologies, labour and plant allowances, programmes, logistics and lifting strategies, while also taking ownership of smaller installation-led enquiries. The successful candidate will combine hands-on site understanding with the discipline needed to turn an incomplete enquiry into a clearly defined, costed and deliverable scope.

Key responsibilities

• Site investigation: Attend client sites, surveys and tender meetings to understand access, interfaces, existing plant, operational restrictions, welfare, lifting constraints, shutdown windows and other conditions affecting delivery.

• Construction methodology: Develop clear installation, removal and replacement methodologies covering sequence, temporary conditions, access, isolation assumptions, cranage, scaffolding, MEWPs, temporary works and reinstatement.
• Estimating: Build labour, supervision, plant, access, consumables, travel, accommodation, preliminaries, testing and contingency allowances using practical productivity assumptions and a clear estimate basis.

• Smaller tenders: Take ownership of lower-value and less complex installation enquiries from scope review and site survey through costing, proposal, clarification and handover.
• Major-bid support: Work alongside the lead Bid Manager and preconstruction resource on larger opportunities, owning the construction workstream and providing evidence-based challenge to programme, resourcing and site cost assumptions.

• Lifting strategy: Develop outline lifting studies and obtain appropriate crane and specialist input during tendering. Where suitably qualified, competent and formally appointed, prepare or approve lift plans in line with company procedures.

• Subcontract packages: Prepare and issue clear enquiries for craneage, scaffolding, insulation, civils, temporary works, specialist installation and other construction packages; compare returns on a like-for-like basis.

• Programme development: Prepare installation programmes and resource histograms that reflect sequencing, access, shift patterns, shutdowns, interfaces, productivity, testing and commissioning requirements.

• Buildability review: Review drawings, layouts and proposed equipment with design and project teams to identify access, maintenance, assembly, transport, erection and future replacement issues before the design is fixed.

• Risk and scope: Identify construction risks, missing information, client dependencies and scope boundaries, ensuring that assumptions, exclusions, qualifications and risk allowances are clearly captured.

• Tender documentation: Produce concise construction narratives, preliminaries, delivery plans, programme notes and supporting information suitable for inclusion in client-facing proposals.

• Handover and feedback: Provide a clear handover to delivery teams and gather feedback on actual labour, plant, methods and constraints so that future estimates become more accurate.

Experience and capability

Essential:

• Strong practical experience of industrial construction, mechanical installation, heavy engineering, plant replacement, shutdown work or a comparable site environment.
• The ability to read engineering drawings, understand installation interfaces and develop a safe, logical construction sequence.
• Experience estimating site labour, supervision, plant, craneage, access, temporary works, travel and construction preliminaries.
• A sound understanding of site productivity, industrial access constraints and the difference between an achievable method and a desktop assumption.
• Confidence attending site surveys, challenging incomplete scopes and communicating with clients, designers, suppliers, subcontractors and site teams.
• Strong written, numerical and organisational skills, including competent use of Excel, Word and planning software.
• A proactive approach to risk, with the discipline to record assumptions and obtain missing information before commitments are made.

Strongly desirable:

• Current Appointed Person qualification for lifting operations, such as CPCS A61 or an equivalent recognised qualification, supported by relevant lift-planning experience.
• Experience preparing crane studies, lift plans and lifting accessories or rigging schedules for industrial equipment and structural steelwork.
• Relevant site-management or safety qualifications, such as SMSTS, IOSH, CSCS or recognised equivalents.
• Temporary Works Coordinator or Supervisor knowledge or qualification.
• Background in conveyors, crushers, screens, process equipment, structural steelwork, pipework or industrial mechanical handling systems.
• Previous experience as a construction manager, site manager, installation manager, mechanical supervisor, planner or estimator in a project-led business.

Personal qualities

• Practical, methodical and comfortable working from incomplete early-stage information.
• Credible with site teams while able to present information clearly in a commercial bid environment.
• Prepared to question optimistic durations, labour allowances and unsafe or impractical installation concepts.
• Collaborative and willing to support larger bids while taking full ownership of smaller opportunities.
• Detail-focused, responsive and committed to leaving a clear record of how the estimate was developed.

Measures of success

• Installation estimates include complete, transparent and realistic labour, plant, access and preliminaries allowances.
• Major bids contain credible construction methodologies, programmes, lifting strategies and buildability input.
• Smaller installation tenders are progressed promptly without diverting disproportionate resource from strategic major bids.
• Construction risks, interfaces, assumptions and client dependencies are identified before submission rather than during delivery.
• Delivery teams receive a clear construction handover and actual site performance is fed back into future estimating.
• The role improves bid quality and delivery confidence, not simply the number of quotations issued.

Our approach Wright Engineering values practical experience, sound judgement and the ability to work collaboratively across disciplines. We welcome applications from people with different career routes where they can demonstrate the capability required for the role