Senior Civil Estimator

About John Holland
At John Holland, our purpose is simple – we transform lives with everything we do.

We've always known that infrastructure is about people — our customers, our employees, and the communities in which we work every day.

That's our difference. Deep experience and capability with a genuine care about creating better lives for people along the way.

Be part of the team that's up for the challenge of transforming lives for good.

About the Role OR Are you up for the challenge?

As a Senior Civil Estimator, you will play a critical role in shaping the success of major infrastructure projects by delivering accurate and timely cost estimates that inform strategic decisions and tender submissions.

This position requires a deep understanding of construction methodologies, market trends, and risk management to ensure competitive and compliant estimates. You will lead the preparation of complex tenders, collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, and engage with subcontractors and suppliers to secure precise pricing.

Acting as a key technical advisor, you will provide insights on design reviews, contractual compliance, and cost optimization opportunities, while maintaining rigorous adherence to John Holland's governance, policies, and industry standards. Your expertise will directly influence project viability and profitability, making this role pivotal to achieving operational and commercial excellence.

Responsibilities of the role include

• Prepare accurate and comprehensive estimates of project quantities and costs for major tenders, ensuring delivery within required timeframes and technical standards.
• Monitor and analyse current competitive pricing, emerging techniques, and cost trends to maintain market awareness and inform estimating strategies.
• Establish cost codes and work breakdown structures, ensuring compliance with contractual, commercial, and legislative requirements.
• Assist in allocating the Bill of Quantities for costing purposes and perform productivity and benchmarking analysis to improve accuracy and efficiency.
• Develop detailed estimates using first-principles pricing for both direct and indirect job costs, ensuring transparency and reliability.
• Review client designs to identify opportunities for cost savings and omissions that may impact project delivery.
• Support site managers in preparing variation and extension of time (EOT) claims, providing accurate cost data and analysis.
• Interpret specifications and standards, assessing their impact on project costs and compliance obligations.
• Maintain a thorough understanding of legislation and regulatory requirements that could influence project costs and tender outcomes.
• Liaise with subcontractors and suppliers to obtain accurate pricing, evaluate quotes, and ensure competitive and compliant submissions.
• Conduct tender risk assessments and prepare comprehensive Risks and Opportunities schedules to inform decision-making.
• Manage and present tenders, including multi-discipline and joint venture submissions, to senior business leaders for approval.
• Lead detailed line-by-line tender reviews, ensuring accuracy and alignment with project objectives and client requirements.
• Prepare high-quality presentation materials for final tender evaluations and leadership reviews.
• Provide feedback on tender deviations and exceptions, collating and reporting findings to relevant stakeholders.
• Manage stakeholder relationships across internal teams and external partners to facilitate smooth tender processes and collaboration.
• Provide technical input and leadership to ensure timely completion of estimates, guiding team members and promoting best practices.
• Perform all duties in accordance with John Holland policies, processes, systems, and procedures, maintaining compliance and governance standards.

To be successful in this key role we are looking for

Qualifications
Tertiary or trade qualifications in Construction, Engineering, Science, Quantity Surveying, and/or Project/Construction Management.

Experience

• 7–10 years' experience in construction cost planning, tendering, or project delivery.
• Minimum 10 years' construction experience with a strong background in civil and structural estimating for large-scale infrastructure projects.
• Proven experience in multi-disciplinary estimating across diverse contract types, including Construct Only, Design & Construct, Managing Contract, Alliance, Joint Ventures, and PPP models.
• Strong financial management skills and ability to perform detailed risk assessments for safety, environment, and quality.
• Demonstrated capability to interpret specifications, standards, and legislation impacting project costs.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills, with experience managing subcontractor and supplier pricing processes.

As part of the team, you can help us transform lives.

Your success is reflected in ours, so we're committed to being an employer of choice. We pride ourselves on having a diverse and inclusive workplace, as we understand that different perspectives and ideas are critical to our long-term success.

We want you to be with us for the long term, so providing you with rich career experiences and ongoing development is our priority.

What's in it for you

We're about connecting your sense of purpose to ours. We understand that your career is one of the biggest ways to have an impact on the world. We also believe in supporting you as a whole person, not just an employee.

We reward and support our people in so many ways. This starts with being flexible about how different people like to work. From generous leave policies to wellbeing and relationship support, your needs sit at the heart of our employee benefits.

We Offer
Competitive remuneration
with salary continuance, and salary sacrifice options.

Great leave benefits
including 18 weeks paid parental leave with super and up to an extra 18 weeks of super paid on further periods of unpaid parental leave, multicultural leave exchange and two extra days to prioritise your wellbeing.

Career progression
underpinned by our exciting pipeline of work means you'll have the opportunity to work on iconic projects that are shaping cities and communities.

Learning and development opportunities
where you'll have access to emerging talent programs, building your career through clear career pathways, plus technical and leadership training and development opportunities.

Inclusion, diversity and equity
is part of how we work. We want everyone at John Holland to feel that they belong – that's why we're working hard every day to foster a more inclusive culture, backed by a business-wide inclusion strategy to bring about meaningful change. We've also got active employee resource groups that support our commitments including those around gender equality and reconciliation.

Flexibility
means different things to different people. Whether it's flexi-hours, flexi-parenting, flexi-leave, flexi-shifts or flexi-work, we're committed to helping our people work flexibly.