Senior Estimator / Head of

North London

Up to £100K + Benefits

Do you have Senior Estimating experience working for a Social Housing Contractor?

We are working with one of the UK’s, leading Tier 1 Main Contractors who are hiring for a Senior Estimator / Head of department.

You will take ownership of developing robust, compliant and commercially competitive bids across a wide range of workstreams, including Repairs & Maintenance (such as M&E and Planned Works), Central Government housing and support services, Decarbonisation and Net Zero programmes. You will shape the commercial strategy behind each opportunity, building cost models from first principles, driving value engineering, and ensuring risks and assumptions are clearly understood. Working closely with Business Development, Operations and Legal teams, you will influence strategic bid decisions and ensure our proposals support sustainable growth and margin protection. Your leadership will set the standard for commercial governance, pricing excellence and the continuous improvement of our estimating function.

Essential Experience

Extensive experience in social housing estimating, including expert knowledge of NHF Schedule of Rates.

Proven ability to develop pricing strategies and deliver value engineering solutions.

Strong track record in post‑tender negotiations and contract award processes.

End‑to‑end tender lifecycle experience, from pricing to mobilisation.

Strong working knowledge of standard forms of contract

Experience presenting commercial proposals at senior leadership level.

Ability to manage multiple bids under demanding deadlines.

Demonstrable leadership experience in building high‑performing teams.

Desirable

Experience at Head of / Senior Manager level within a large contracting or housing services organisation

Familiarity with sector‑standard estimating systems and analytical tools

Professional qualification in Quantity Surveying or Construction Management 

Key Skills & Attributes

Strategic commercial thinker with strong influencing capability

Excellent communicator, able to simplify complex commercial reasoning

High numerical accuracy and attention to detail

Proactive problem solver committed to continuous improvement

Collaborative leader with a passion for developing people