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Amazon
Chief Estimator, AMER Estimating and Cost Control
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Job Description
DescriptionAmazon Web Services (AWS) is the world's most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. Our Data Center Planning and Delivery (DCPD) organization builds and scales the infrastructure that powers AWS. We are seeking an experienced Manager, Construction Estimating (Chief Estimator equivalent) to lead the estimating function within the AMER Estimating and Cost Control (ECC) organization. This is a high-impact people management role. You will build and lead a team of Regional Estimating Managers aligned to AMER construction regions and Discipline Specific Technical Estimators (Electrical, Mechanical, and Civil/Structural/Architectural) — providing end-to-end construction estimating capability for a portfolio primarily focused on North and South America deliverables, but with significant Global cross functional work and opportunity. Your team will produce estimates that inform capital authorization, operating plans, and award decisions for billions of dollars in annual data center construction. This role is foundational to ECC's mission: Managing the end to end cost lifecycle from initial estimate through final account. Estimates improve every cycle because the team that produced them sees what actually happened. Key job responsibilities
Basic Qualifications
- Build, lead, and develop a team of estimating professionals and vendors across regional, product, and discipline lines, including hiring, performance management, and career development
- Own delivery and performance of the key ECC estimating scope areas: Basis of Design (BOD) Estimating, Design Intercept and Innovation Estimating, New Regions Planning, Project-Level Estimating (AMER), Operational Plan (OP) Support, Capital Appropriations Requests Assembly, Initial Budget Creation Support, and End-to-End Cost Planning
- Manage third-party estimating vendor contracts and deliverables, ensuring quality, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness at scale — supply capacity and performance will never be the bottleneck
- Drive the estimate-to-actual feedback loop with Cost Control, systematically benchmarking estimates against portfolio actuals to improve accuracy every cycle
- Lead estimating team inputs into the annual Operating Plan (OP) capital planning cycle alongside Preconstruction, Finance, and Cost Control — delivering estimate-anchored market-relevant forecasting
- Own the Estimating Team inputs into pre-award budget packages: CAR assembly, estimate-to-CAR handoff with Preconstruction and Techincal infrastructure Project Manager (TIPM), and initial budget creation inputs for new projects based on AMER and Global benchmarks
- Collaborate globally on Basis of Design estimates, PDCM/First of Kind/Intercept/Innovation costing, and new regions planning with Design Engineering and global estimating teams
- Develop and maintain cost databases, estimating tools, templates, and methodologies that reflect current market conditions across multiple AMER geographic markets
- Produce conceptual and detailed cost estimates for data center construction from schematic design through construction documents
- Communicate cost insights, risks, and opportunities to senior leadership, translating complex estimating data into actionable capital governance decisions
- Partner with Construction Management, Design Engineering, Finance, DCSP, and Preconstruction as the subject matter expert for all estimating matters — customer obsessed, partner first A day in the life You start the day reviewing estimate deliverables from your regional managers and third-party vendors — a West Coast campus civil estimate is due for review prior to being used in a CAR request, and a Central/SE region estimate needs reconciliation against recent GC RFP Round pricing.
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Electrical, Mechanical, Civil Engineering, or a similar technical discipline
- Experience in construction of data center delivery (design, commissioning and construction), mission critical facilities, or equivalent industrial/manufacturing facility builds
- 3+ years of people management experience
- Experience working with and managing third party vendors
- 8+ years of progressive experience in construction cost estimating, cost management, or quantity surveying in commercial, industrial, or infrastructure construction
- Demonstrated experience producing conceptual through detailed construction cost estimates for large-scale, complex projects ($500M+)
- Proficiency with cost estimating tools and databases (e.g., RSMeans, CostX, Sage/Timberline, proprietary cost databases, Bluebeam, On-Screen Takeoff, or equivalent)
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret construction drawings, specifications, and contract documents across multiple disciplines (MEP, civil, structural, architectural)
- Experience with multi-geography pricing — understanding regional labor markets, material escalation, and supply chain dynamics across the U.S.
- Exceptional communication skills with the ability to present cost insights to senior leadership (L8+) and translate estimating data into capital governance recommendationsPreferred Qualifications
- Master's degree in construction management, Engineering, or MBA
- Experience with Basis of Design estimating, design-phase cost input, and value engineering
- Track record of building estimating programs from the ground up — establishing tools, templates, processes, and cost databases
- Experience with capital planning cycles, Budget assembly, or capital governance processes
- Experience with reverse engineering awarded contracts to validate subcontractor pricing and identify cost optimization opportunities
- Familiarity with hard bid, negotiated, and design-build delivery methods Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.
- 153,200.00
- 254,500.00 USD annually USA, WA, Seattle
- 153,200.00
- 254,500.
Benefits
- Paid Time Off (PTO)
- 401(k) Plans
- Mental Health
- Health and Wellness Programs
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What they do
An Estimator provides cost estimates for a project, based on an evaluation of the materials, labor, time and equipment needed to complete the project. May specialize in many aspects of construction or in manufacturing and design industries.
$79,733 / year median in Washington
+5% projected growth