About us

National Grid is hiring an Estimator for our NY Electric Portfolio & Project Management department. This position will be based in Syracuse, NY.

Every day we deliver safe and secure energy to homes, communities, and businesses. We are there when people need us the most. We connect people to the energy they need for the lives they live. The pace of change in society and our industry is accelerating and our expertise and track record puts us in an unparalleled position to shape the sustainable future of our industry.

To be successful we must anticipate the needs of our customers, reducing the cost of energy delivery today and pioneering the flexible energy systems of tomorrow. This requires us to deliver on our promises and always look for new opportunities to grow, both ourselves and our business.

Job Purpose

Project Estimating plays a critical role in shaping National Grid’s short and long term capital budgets for the core lines of businesses within the US.  By working closely with numerous other departments including Engineering, Project Management, and Construction, our highly collaborative team develops detailed, defensible estimates using nationally recognized estimating techniques. Our unique position within the business allows us to participate as core project team members in challenging and interesting capital projects. We are constantly seeking ways to improve our own performance through team-developed department initiatives as well as analysis of actual spend to our estimates upon project completion.

The Estimator will prepare accurate and timely construction estimates for large scale complex construction projects.  Estimates include all aspects of a project including materials, engineering, permitting, environmental compliance, construction, labor and equipment. 

Key Accountabilities

• Create, test and maintain assemblies and models in Sage Estimating Software.
• Prepare accurate and timely construction estimates based on engineering designs, drawings, site visits, contractual agreements, materials, permitting, environmental, construction labor, and equipment.  Incorporate solid understanding of the utility construction process into complex estimates.
• Analyze key themes and trends to ensure all factors are properly considered, priced and included in the project estimate.  
• Determine understanding of risk associated with large capital projects and the application of contingency.  This would include application and development of risk registers, Quantitative Risk Assessments, and/or Monte Carlo Simulations.
• Revise and update the estimating system software to support storage and retrieval of estimating information and enhance efficiency and operability of the system.
• Monitor year-on-year accuracy of estimated costs and challenge business processes in order to ensure National Grid is compliant with applicable regulations and deliver projects on budget. Perform planned versus actual evaluations upon project completions for costs and schedule.  Document findings and develop improvement plans based on the analysis.   
• Work independently to manage schedule and workload in order to meet need dates.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Construction Management or closely related field; OR 
• Associate Degree with 6+ years of relevant work experience or in lieu of a degree. 10+ years of relevant work experience and training may be considered. 
• Proficient MS Office computer skills (Access, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, etc.).
• Strong problem solving and analytical skills.
• Proven interpersonal and written communication skills/ability to work and interact with engineers and operations during all phases of projects.
• Knowledge of planning, design, and construction process.
• Able to work and interact with various team members during all phases of projects.
• Must have a valid driver's license with safe driving history

Preferred Qualifications:

• Utility Project Management, Risk Management and/or Estimating experience.
• Professional Estimator Certification in AACE International, ICEAA, or ASPE.
• 6+ years of estimating or relevant work experience.
• Knowledge of construction means and methods, costs and engineering principles.
• Experience managing the unit cost libraries of professional estimating software programs.
• Knowledge of SAGE or other estimating software applications.
• Significant portfolio of completed construction estimates with documented success in actual results achieved.
• Experience working on Electric Utility construction projects.