Project Estimator/ Quantity Surveyor

About Archstone Builders

Archstone Builders is a leading New York City-based General Contracting and Construction Management firm with more than a decade of experience delivering high-quality projects across a diverse range of industries and property types. Since its founding in 2011, Archstone has built a strong reputation for excellence, integrity, and client-focused service, completing hundreds of projects ranging from ground-up construction and major repositioning projects to complex renovations and high-end interior fit-outs.

The firm brings together experienced construction professionals, project managers, architects, engineers, and design partners to deliver projects on time, within budget, and to the highest standards of quality and craftsmanship. With a commitment to collaboration, safety, sustainability, and transparency, Archstone takes a hands-on approach to every project and prides itself on building lasting relationships with its clients and partners.

As the company continues to grow, Archstone Builders is seeking talented professionals who thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment and want to play a meaningful role in the continued success of a respected and growing New York City construction firm

The Role

Archstone Builders is hiring an Estimator for our New York City office. You will produce takeoffs, pricing and trade packages on ground-up projects across the New York metropolitan area, working alongside our senior estimating team from conceptual budget through buyout.

Our work is typically ground-up commercial / residential / mixed-use construction in the five boroughs and surrounding metro area. This is a hands-on estimating seat with real ownership of your trades. You stay on your projects through construction and close-out — we do not hand off to a project manager at buyout — so you see what your numbers were actually worth.

Responsibilities

Estimating and takeoff

• Analyze drawings, specifications and geotechnical reports and prepare quantity takeoffs for your assigned trades.

• Apply unit pricing for material, labor and equipment to establish a value for the work.

• Support conceptual, SD, DD and CD budgets under the direction of the senior estimating team, through open-book conversion to a stipulated sum.

• Reconcile each estimate against the previous issue and be able to explain the movement.

• Draft the qualifications, assumptions and exclusions that define the basis of your numbers.

Subcontractor management and buyout

• Run subcontractor solicitation — issue bid packages, chase returns and drive coverage on your trades.

• Dig for bidders rather than waiting on the standard bid list. Finding a building's existing BMS or fire alarm vendor and asking which electricians have been to them for pricing, then going to those subs directly, is normal practice here.

• Chase the subcontractors who are pricing our competitors too — same job, and we want their number.

• Prepare bid levelling and scope comparison sheets; flag gaps and overlaps between trade packages before they become change orders.

• Draft trade scopes of work and support buyout through to subcontract award.

• Review subcontractor change order claims against the base contract scope awarded and the drawings — establish whether it is genuinely a change or something already bought.

• Test the labor and material charges and rates in a claim for reasonableness before anything is passed on.

• This is a review role, not a pass-through. We are not looking for someone to collate a subcontractor's change order behind a cover page and forward it to the client.

Through construction and close-out

• Stay on your projects after award. We do not hand the job to a project manager at buyout — the estimator carries it through construction to close-out.

• Review and process change orders as the work proceeds — claim against scope awarded first, then rates.

• Track allowance expenditure against what was carried, and reconcile unused allowance back to the client.

• Handle RFIs, ticket pricing and subcontract execution on your packages.

• On cost-plus work — which we rarely do — support cash flow, billing and subcontractor payments.

Team and process

• Understand the full scope of the project through document review and by asking the right questions of the design team and owner.

• Contribute value engineering options and flag risk and long-lead exposure to the project team.

• Communicate clearly with estimators, project managers, subcontractors and the design team.

Qualifications

• 3–6 years of estimating or preconstruction experience with a general contractor, construction manager or specialty subcontractor.

• New York City construction experience, ideally on ground-up work.

• Confident quantity takeoff ability across multiple trades.

• Willingness to own your packages through construction and close-out, not just through buyout.

• Resourcefulness on the phone. A good part of a competitive bid is hunting down coverage in trades nobody has priced yet.

• Working knowledge of NYC DOB filings, controlled and special inspections, and site logistics on constrained lots (hoisting, sidewalk sheds, protection).

• Strong takeoff and estimating software skills — Bluebeam, advanced Excel and Procore.

• Bachelor's degree in construction management, cost management, quantity surveying, engineering or a related field — or equivalent industry experience.

• Clear written and verbal communication, and the organization to keep a bid package on track.

Not required but an advantage to have

• Exposure to open-book pricing and conversion to a stipulated sum contract.

• Experience staying on a job after award rather than handing it to a PM.

• Below-grade experience — excavation support, dewatering, contaminated soils, vibration and optical monitoring.

• Familiarity with both union and open-shop labor markets in New York.

• AACE (CCP), ASPE, RICS or LEED credentials, or working toward one.

• Field or trade background.

Compensation and Benefits

Salary range: $140,000 – $175,000 per year, plus an annual performance-based bonus.

To the extent this position is performed in New York City, the annual base salary range for this role is $140,000 – $175,000. This is the compensation Archstone Builders LLC believes in good faith it would pay for this role at the time of posting. Actual compensation within the range is determined by experience and qualifications.

Benefits — medical, dental and vision, 401(k) and employer match and paid time off.

How to Apply

Email careers@archsb.com Please include a resume and a short note on the projects you have estimated and which trades you have owned.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Archstone Builders LLC is an equal opportunity employer.