A leading international EPC contractor delivering major engineering and construction projects across the UAE and beyond is seeking an experienced Chief Estimator (Civil & Structural) to join its team in the UAE.
Position: Chief Estimator (Civil & Structural)
Location: Dubai, UAE
Type of Employment: Permanent / Direct Hire
Working Hours: 10 hours a day / 5 days per week
Duration: Long Term
Chief Estimator (Civil & Structural) – EPC Tenders (Oil & Gas)
Job Roles:
- Lead, allocate and review the work of the civil & structural estimating team across several tenders running at the same time; set priorities and internal deadlines.
- Review and sign off quantities, unit rates, productivity norms, subcontract prices and the basis-of-estimate before submission.
- Set the estimating strategy for each tender with Construction and Planning – self-perform vs. subcontract, prefabrication / modularisation and construction methodology.
- Oversee estimates for:
- Site preparation, earthworks, grading, dewatering and soil improvement
- Piling and foundations for equipment, pipe racks, tanks and buildings
- Reinforced concrete – cast-in-situ and precast
- Structural steel – pipe racks, shelters, platforms and pipe supports
- Buildings – substations, control rooms, warehouses and workshops
- Underground works, roads, paving, fencing and pipeline civil works
- Marine and jetty structures, where in scope
- Own the civil & structural cost database, productivity norms and benchmarks; set estimating standards and templates for the team.
- Validate estimates against benchmarks, ratios and awarded-project data; challenge quantity and rate assumptions.
- Lead the civil & structural input to risk & opportunity, contingency, escalation and value-engineering alternatives.
- Present and defend estimates at tender review and management approval meetings; support negotiations and post-bid client clarifications.
- Develop strategic relationships with piling, precast, steel fabrication and building subcontractors across the GCC.
Mentor and train estimators, assess performance and support recruitment; capture lessons learned from awarded projects.
Criteria:
- Senior – minimum 10 to 15 years of civil & structural estimating experience with EPC contractors in the oil & gas sector, including at least 5 years in a lead or chief estimator role .
- Bachelor’s degree in Civil or Structural Engineering (mandatory).
Knowledge & Skills:
- Expert reading of civil, structural and architectural drawings, specifications and geotechnical reports at FEED and detailed-design stages.
- Expert knowledge of quantity take-off, BOQ preparation, methods of measurement (POMI, CESMM, client-specific) and first-principles rate build-up.
- Estimate classification, contingency and escalation (e.g. AACE classes) and risk assessment.
- Commercial understanding of lump-sum, unit-rate, reimbursable and LTA / call-off contracts.
- In-depth knowledge of the Middle East construction market, material pricing and subcontractor base.
Nice-to-have
- Quantity extraction from 3D models (Navisworks, Tekla, E3D / S3D review) and quantitative risk tools (e.g. @Risk).
Awareness of mechanical, piping and E&I interfaces with the civil scope.
