COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPE ESTIMATOR / DESIGNER

PAY RANGE

Base:

$90,000 - $100,000 Bonus Opportunity

POSITION SUMMARY

The Senior Landscape Estimator / Designer is a high-impact, revenue-generating role responsible for designing, estimating, and driving profitable landscape projects across maintenance, enhancements, and construction divisions. This role operates heavily on the estimating and operational side of the business, ensuring all work aligns with production capabilities, labor assumptions, margin targets, and field execution standards. This role has the authority to make decisions related to design standards, estimating approaches, workload prioritization, and process improvements to ensure performance, efficiency, and scalability across the department. This role owns the full design and estimating process from concept through handoff, ensuring all work is aligned with company production standards, margin targets, and operational capabilities. The Senior Landscape Designer partners closely with Sales and Operations to deliver accurate, buildable designs that close at a high rate and perform in the field. This role also serves as a leader within the department, responsible for training, developing, and elevating junior designers while helping build scalable design and estimating systems. This is not a back-office role. This position directly impacts revenue growth, margin performance, and operational success. This role operates as the owner of the design and estimating function, responsible not only for individual output but for building scalable systems, standardizing processes, and ensuring consistent performance across all designers. This position is accountable for creating repeatable success through people, process, and accountability.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Wild Ridge Lawn & Landscape is a premier commercial lawn maintenance, landscape construction, irrigation, and snow management company serving a diverse portfolio of commercial properties across Indiana and surrounding markets. We specialize in delivering high-quality outdoor environments for retail centers, corporate campuses, industrial facilities, and institutional clients. Our team is built on strong systems, operational discipline, and a culture of accountability. We are committed to delivering exceptional service while developing leaders at every level of the organization. As we continue to grow, our focus remains on building a high-performance team that values excellence, efficiency, and continuous improvement while creating long-term partnerships with our clients.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Success in the Senior Landscape Designer role is defined by revenue production, estimate accuracy, margin performance, and leadership development. Within the first 12-18 months, this role will have:

Revenue Production :

Designed and contributed to $1.5M - $2.5M+ in sold work annually through high-quality, closeable designs.

Margin Performance :

Consistently delivered enhancement projects at 65%+ gross profit margin and overall work at 60%+.

Estimate Accuracy :

Maintained estimate accuracy within ±3% of actual job cost across all project types.

Operational Alignment :

Delivered designs that align with field production capabilities, eliminating rework and inefficiencies.

Close Rate Improvement :

Achieved a 40%-60%+ close rate on designed opportunities through strong design, pricing, and collaboration with sales.

Turnaround Speed :

Maintained fast design turnaround times (48-72 hours for small projects, 5-7 days for large projects) to support sales velocity.

Leadership Development :

Trained and developed at least one junior designer into a higher-performing role with increased responsibility.

System Development :

Helped build and refine design, estimating, and handoff processes to support company growth.

• Participate in weekly pipeline review meetings to align on opportunities, priorities, and revenue targets.
• Participate in weekly job costing reviews to evaluate estimate accuracy and margin performance.
• Participate in weekly production and scheduling meetings to ensure alignment between design and field execution.
• Participate in monthly financial reviews focused on revenue, gross margin, and performance metrics.
• Conduct regular 1:1 meetings with junior designers to provide coaching, accountability, and development.

OBJECTIVES

• Design and estimate $4M+ in annual revenue across enhancement, construction, and maintenance opportunities.
• Achieve and maintain 65%+ gross profit margin on enhancement work and 55%+ across all designed work.
• Maintain estimate accuracy within ±3% of actual job cost across all projects.
• Ensure 100% of designs align with company production standards, including labor production rates and material assumptions.
• Achieve a 40%-60%+ close rate on designed opportunities through strong design, pricing, and collaboration with sales.
• Deliver all designs within established turnaround times to support sales velocity and client responsiveness.
• Ensure less than 5% of projects require redesign due to design or estimating errors.
• Maintain 100% accuracy and completeness in all estimates, proposals, and documentation.
• Collaborate with Sales and Account Managers to support client presentations and close opportunities.
• Execute seamless handoffs to Operations with complete documentation, scope clarity, and expectations alignment.
• Train and develop junior designers, ensuring increased capability, accuracy, and output across the team.
• Assist in recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding new design team members.
• Continuously improve design standards, estimating templates, and processes to increase efficiency and scalability.
• Operate with a high level of ownership, accountability, and professionalism aligned with company standards.
• Provide weekly reporting to VP of Operations on: o Active design pipeline o Project status and risks o Capacity constraints o Revenue outlook tied to design backlog
• Identify and communicate risks before they become problems, including: o Underbid jobs o Capacity gaps o Design bottlenecks o Field execution risks
• Own total design department performance, including: Total pipeline supported Close rate across all designers Margin performance across all designed work Estimate accuracy across the team
• Develop and implement standard design templates, estimating frameworks, and QC checklists
• Ensure 100% of design output follows standardized processes
• Reduce dependency on individual knowledge by documenting all key workflows
• Increase team capacity by training designers to operate independently at a high level
• Own and manage design team capacity and workload planning, ensuring all opportunities are prioritized, assigned, and completed on time
• Proactively balance workload across designers to prevent bottlenecks and missed opportunities
• Maintain visibility into all designed projects through completion, ensuring alignment between estimate, execution, and final financial performance
• Participate in post-job reviews to identify estimate gaps, production inefficiencies, and margin opportunities
• Ensure no revenue is lost due to design delays or bandwidth constraints
• Ensure all estimates are financially aligned with company labor budgets, production assumptions, and gross margin targets before approval

COMPETENCIES

Strong understanding of:

• Landscape design principles across commercial properties
• Construction, enhancement, and maintenance estimating
• Labor production rates and job costing
• Gross margin management and pricing strategy
• Field operations and installation practices Additional competencies include:
• Strong design and visualization skills
• High attention to detail and accuracy
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
• Strong communication and collaboration skills
• Ability to lead, train, and develop team members
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making ability
• High level of accountability and ownership mindset

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree in Landscape Architecture, Horticulture, or related field preferred
• 5+ years of landscape design and estimating experience
• Proven experience designing and estimating commercial landscape projects
• Strong understanding of production rates, job costing, and margin management
• Experience working with CRM and estimating systems (HubSpot preferred)
• Experience mentoring or leading junior team members preferred

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Combination of office-based design work and field visits
• Ability to sit for extended periods working on designs and estimates
• Ability to visit job sites and assess conditions as needed
• Valid driver's license required

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY

Wild Ridge Lawn & Landscape is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. We hire and develop talent at all levels regardless of race, color, religion, age, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.

Pay:

$90,000.00 - $100,000.00 per year

Benefits:

Dental insurance Health insurance Paid time off Professional development assistance Referral program Retirement plan Vision insurance

Work Location:

In person