Residential Construction Estimator

About Alvarez Construction

Alvarez Construction is a production homebuilder in the Baton Rouge area, building in communities including Dawson Bluff, Silverside Cove, Juban Gardens and Afton Oaks, with an expansion underway in Youngsville and Lafayette. We run on Newstar homebuilder ERP, and we expect our numbers to be right before a house starts, not after it closes.

Summary

We are hiring a Residential Construction Estimator to own the numbers behind every plan and lot we build. You will do takeoffs from plans, build and maintain plan and lot budgets in Newstar, keep vendor pricing and bids current, price options, and review variance POs to find out why costs moved. You will work every day with our construction project managers and Purchasing to make sure what we budget is what we pay.

This is the first hire in a restructured purchasing and estimating group. The right person will take ownership quickly, ask hard questions about cost, and help us build a cleaner, more disciplined process as we grow into new markets.

What You Will Do

Takeoffs and Budgets

- Perform quantity takeoffs from architectural and structural plans for new plans, plan revisions and new communities, and build them into Newstar (often the most time-consuming part of the job).

- - Build and maintain plan and lot budgets (estimates) in Newstar so every lot starts with an accurate, complete budget.

- - Update budgets when plans, specifications, elevations or vendor pricing change, and document what changed and why.

- - Set up budgets for new communities and the Youngsville/Lafayette expansion, including market-specific pricing.

- Vendor Pricing and Bids

- - Keep vendor and trade pricing current in Newstar, including price increases, new agreements and effective dates.

- - Prepare bid packages, request bids, and compare them line by line against scope, plans and quantities.

- - Source and onboard new trade partners and suppliers: find and vet vendors (insurance and W-9), build vendor depth for the Youngsville/Lafayette expansion, keep at least one backup vendor for each trade, and bring them into the bid process. Set up Master Service Agreements and payment terms with new vendors.

- - Flag exclusions, gaps and pricing that does not match scope before it reaches a budget or a PO.

- - Support Purchasing in vendor negotiations with clear cost data and history.

- Option Pricing

- - Price structural and design options from takeoffs and current vendor costs.

- - Keep option pricing current and work with Sales and Purchasing so options are profitable and priced consistently across communities.

- Variance POs and Cost Control

- - Review variance POs (VPOs) daily, identify the root cause (budget error, scope gap, field change, vendor pricing) and correct the budget or process behind it.

- - Track patterns by community, plan, vendor and cost code, and bring recommendations to prevent repeat variances.

- - Hold the line on unnecessary cost and push back when a variance is not justified.

- Monthly Job Scrub and Cost to Complete

- - Support the monthly job scrub by reviewing estimated cost to complete (ECC) for open jobs against budgets, POs and actual costs.

- - Research over-budget jobs and subdivisions and recommend budget revisions where they are warranted.

- - Prepare lot budget revisions for upload into Newstar and confirm they posted correctly.

- Working With the Team

- - Work closely with construction project managers on scope, field conditions, plan changes and cost questions.

- - Partner with Purchasing day to day on pricing, POs and vendor issues.

- - Work with Accounting on month-end cost reporting when needed.

- - Communicate clearly and early when numbers do not line up.

- What You Bring

- - 3+ years of estimating experience with a residential or production homebuilder.

- - Proven ability to do accurate takeoffs from residential plans using takeoff software (for example AutoCAD, Bluebeam, PlanSwift, On-Screen Takeoff or similar).

- - Strong Excel skills: lookups, pivot tables and building clean, checkable workbooks.

- - Working knowledge of residential construction sequence, trades, materials and how a house is built, and willingness to get out in the field to see how trades use materials and fix issues at the root.

- - Experience with a homebuilder ERP such as Newstar, BuildPro or Hyphen is a strong plus.

- - Experience with variance POs, purchasing or job cost reporting is a plus.

- - Degree in construction management, engineering, finance or a related field preferred, or equivalent experience.

- Skills That Matter Here

- - Accuracy. You check your own work and you know when a number looks wrong.

- - Ownership. You follow an issue through to the fix, not just the report.

- - Analytical judgment. You can find the pattern behind the variances and explain it simply.

- - Clear communication with field staff, vendors and leadership.

- - Organization. You can manage multiple communities, plans and deadlines at once.

- - Curiosity about cost. You ask why, and you look for better ways to build and buy.

- Reporting Line

- Reports to: Purchasing Supervisor

- Benefits

- Benefits: Medical, dental and vision insurance after 90 days of employment; 10 days of prorated vacation after 90 days; other paid time off per the Alvarez Employee Manual.

- Location

- Baton Rouge, Louisiana area. Regular visits to communities in the Baton Rouge area, with occasional travel to Youngsville/Lafayette.