{"id":2024614,"url":"https://alion.io/job/bovis-senior-cost-planner-estimator-2","title":"Senior Cost Planner / Estimator","company":{"id":3865719,"name":"Bovis","domain":"bovis.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/bovis-2","size_band":"501-1000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Oracle","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":95,"open_postings":12,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":118,"computed_at":"2026-10-31T05:58:55Z"}},"role":"Operations","role_family":"Operations","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Manchester, United Kingdom","Birmingham, United Kingdom"],"countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":56000,"max_usd":96000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":81},"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Microsoft Excel","optional":true},{"name":"Power BI","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-07-15T14:36:45Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-07-15","last_verified_at":"2026-10-31T10:28:49Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":107,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":[],"days_open":107},"description":"Summary -\nPrimarily involved with Estimating for external bids from inception at feasibility stage inputting into and/or developing conversion strategies, to presentation to the Leadership Team or the appropriate Limits of Authority at Commitment Review, including reviews and sign off in compliance for approval on the internal Bovis systems. \nThe Senior Cost Planner will be required to lead on a bid, or work as part of a wider commercial team, depending on the bid stage, scale and complexity. \nYou will be responsible for coordinating all aspects of the bid including prelims book, cost plan, cost plan commentary, fees and value engineering in coordination with the Bovis bid / project team. \nThey will work closely with the Cost Planning & Estimating Director in developing cost planning and delivery strategies and ensuring these are appropriately resourced and managed to successful outcomes, as well as, mentoring and supporting other members within the Estimating / Cost Planning team, supporting them with their projects, goals and personal objectives. \nYou will be required to challenge the design teams to design efficient buildings within the cost plan parameters. \nContinual analysis of the design metrics against the cost plan and best practice benchmark examples.\nSupport the development of best practices / standards, knowledge base, sector expertise including industry trends, yardsticks, or benchmarks etc. \nEnsure knowledge sharing and skills transfer to train, develop, and upskill the wider cost planning team.\nKey Responsibilities (Some not all)\nGeneral:\nTotally accountable for all of your work, possess the right attitude, show interest, work to the best of your ability and to display initiative within and beyond your roles and responsibilities. \nAccountable for all financial inputs into the project cost plan. Review and analyse all inputs received from other members of the project team and assess their appropriateness. \nHave experience of working on large scale, multi-phase developments with an excellent knowledge of costing, pricing and benchmarking within the Construction and Development industries, with particular experience in the Commercial and Public sector. \nUtilise company preferred Cost Planning software and Cost Planning tools. Prior experience of CostX is desirable but not essential. \n Bidding and Strategy: \nA champion of transparency must seek to understand the broader development / project context and seek to bring design and build solutions that help to achieve successful outcomes for Bovis. \nResponsible for setting and establishing the cost planning strategy and timeframes and assessing resource requirements for agreement by Management. \nEnsure that other disciplines such as, Project Management, Procurement, Design Management, Planning, Legal, Insurance, Construction and Commercial Management are providing the appropriate input into the cost planning process. \nEnsure cost plan compliance with the brief / authority / financiers / customer requirements during the conversion stage. \n Governance:\nEnsure all required peer and manager reviews are completed prior to Bovis governance gateways. Attain cost plan endorsement by Cost Planning Director. \nResponsible for all inputs into the cost sections of the relevant governance review documentation. \nEnsure internal governance process is robust with independent input on cost management. \nProduction of documents for Management reviews at required milestones in accordance with Bovis Governance. \nPresent cost plans at Commitment / Business Unit Reviews.\nCost Planning: \nAble to accurately quantify and price cost plans from Development Briefs / Feasibility stage through to Contract Price with preferred contractor. \nIn collaboration with the commercial team, secure market prices for trade packages and analyse same against cost plan allowances. Ability to price on a Labour, Plant and Materials basis from first principles is desirable but not essential. \nAccurate forecasting of current trade rates. \nPreparation, review and analysis of Preliminaries for first and second stage bids including producing standard preliminaries in accordance with the proposed bid strategy. Incorporating implications of :- programming requirements, methodology, phasing, logistics etc. \nIncorporate implications of programming requirements, methodology, phasing etc into cost plans / prelims. \nTake off quantities using information ranging from RIBA Stage 0/1 to RIBA Stage 4. \nManagement of external consultants (EQ Bill of Quants Consultancy), including initial engagement, appointment, issue of information, quality control, and ensuring submission and return in line with the programme. \nNegotiate with sub-contractors / assess sub-contractor proposals. \nEnsure that the scope, assumptions, and price are clearly documented throughout the cost planning stages and that a submission document is produced at significant gateways and design milestones. \nData / Analytics:\nBe skilled in data analysis and interpolation, analysis of design metrics and have a thorough understanding of construction processes, technologies, methodologies and principles. \nCapture and analyse cost data from projects for benchmarking. Populate and maintain benchmarking database. \nProduce a written narrative of the key insights that you have derived from your analysis of the cost and benchmarking and articulate why the cost plan is correct within that context. \nCapturing and analysis of cost data from projects for benchmarking. \nManage and input into the developing design in accordance with the cost plan. \nResponsible for proactively participating in design workshops to develop the concept through particular design challenges or value engineering to ensure there is consistent appreciation for the priorities of needs vs wants and challenging the status quo. \nSupport project teams with change control and major variations (during conversion and delivery). Maintain a “Running Sheet” of changes to inform cost shifts between design milestones. \n“Design to Cost” - Challenge the project and design teams to design efficiently and within the cost plan. Continually analyse the design against the cost plan assumptions, design brief/target design metrics and benchmark projects. \nAssess design options and provide guidance on their viability to the project team. \nCreate, participate and evaluate value engineering solutions and value management strategies. \nAct early in identifying opportunities to optimise the design to minimise abortive design work. \nSupport project teams in the evaluation of commercial risks. \nMake an assessment of the risk and opportunity within the design to allow you to include an appropriate allowance for contingency. \nDesign and Cost Control:\nManage and input into the developing design in accordance with the cost plan. \nResponsible for proactively participating in design workshops to develop the concept through particular design challenges or value engineering to ensure there is consistent appreciation for the priorities of needs vs wants and challenging the status quo. \nSupport project teams with change control and major variations (during conversion and delivery). Maintain a “Running Sheet” of changes to inform cost shifts between design milestones. \n“Design to Cost” - Challenge the project and design teams to design efficiently and within the cost plan. Continually analyse the design against the cost plan assumptions, design brief/target design metrics and benchmark projects. \nAssess design options and provide guidance on their viability to the project team. \nCreate, participate and evaluate value engineering solutions and value management strategies. \nAct early in identifying opportunities to optimise the design to minimise abortive design work. \nSupport project teams in the evaluation of commercial risks. \nMake an assessment of the risk and opportunity within the design to allow you to include an appropriate allowance for contingency. \nTake into account the contract conditions together with their impact, i.e. warranties, insurance, bonding, design and construction implications etc. \nActively contribute to the team’s delivery to the Bovis Global Minimum Requirements (GMRs) of safety during conversion including active contributions to the Risk & Opportunity at Design (ROAD) and Principal Designer process to eliminate hazard and risk in development, construction, and operation. \nStay up to date with the current inflation forecasts and apply these to your project using the inflation calculation templates. Maintain an awareness of the market conditions and published reports effecting inflation to be able to justify the inflation amount included within your cost plan.\n Risk and Opportunity Management:\nCreate, participate and evaluate value engineering solutions and value management strategies. \nAct early in identifying opportunities to optimise the design to minimise abortive design work. \nSupport project teams in the evaluation of commercial risks. \nMake an assessment of the risk and opportunity within the design to allow you to include an appropriate allowance for contingency. \nTake into account the contract conditions together with their impact, i.e. warranties, insurance, bonding, design and construction implications etc. \nActively contribute to the team’s delivery to the Bovis Global Minimum Requirements (GMRs) of safety during conversion including active contributions to the Risk & Opportunity at Design (ROAD) and Principal Designer process to eliminate hazard and risk in development, construction, and operation. \nStay up to date with the current inflation forecasts and apply these to your project using the inflation calculation templates. Maintain an awareness of the market conditions and published reports effecting inflation to be able to justify the inflation amount included within your cost plan.\nCredentials\nMaintain CSCS card for the role\n\nProfessional Construction Qualifications relevant to the role or qualified by appropriate level of experience (as noted below)\n\nHave a related Chartership such as MRICS / MCIOB\n\nEssential Skills, Knowledge, Experience and Behaviours\nSkills\nAble to prepare contract documentation for external parties ready for engrossment.\n\nAdvanced Data and Analytics including se of Power BI\n\nAdvanced word-processing, Excel spreadsheet packages and cost management software\n\nBuild and hold relationships with key stakeholders.\n\nStrong Commercial acumen\n\nTendering subcontract works packages of medium to high value\n\nTime management and prioritising tasks in order to meet deadlines\n\nValue engineering\n\nWritten and verbal communication to influence and build relationships with various stakeholders\n\nKnowledge\nAbility to contribute to value engineering as part of the design process\n\nAllocation of scope to trade packages\n\nBe able to produce detailed prelim forecasts.\n\nUnderstand and apply cost planning & financial procedures and reporting tools\n\nUnderstanding of various procurement routes, including the RIBA design processes.\n\nFully understand benchmark databases and the data held within them.\n\nGood understanding of building technology / construction methods\n\nKey design metrics and KPI’s\n\nMarket Rates & Cost Trends\n\nMeasurement rules\n\nStrong understanding of various procurement routes, including the RIBA design processes.\n\nSubcontractor market\n\nUnderstand consultant and clients requirements within tender documentation.\n\nUnderstand various contract pricing mechanisms\n\nExperience\nExtensive experience in construction, including a sound knowledge of Construction methodology, process and sequence\n\nBeing able to peer review work produced by other members of the cost planning and commercial team.\n\nBeing able to work on bids alone depending on scale / complexity, or working as part of a team on large scale projects.\n\nCoordinating / Leading all aspects of the commercial offer on bids / tenders\n\nManaging external consultants\n\nMentoring and Training junior staff members....","description_format":"text","description_chars":13989,"description_truncated":true,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Annual leave","Gym membership","Hybrid work","Parental leave"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United Kingdom","iso":"GB","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":[],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-07T13:26:58Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":47,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.789,"p_room":0.6,"age_days":107,"expected_fill_days":118,"reasons":["conf:7","win:late","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-31T05:58:55Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/bovis-senior-cost-planner-estimator-2","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/bovis-senior-cost-planner-estimator-2.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-31T13:33:35Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":21033,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-01T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":3865719},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=3865719"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fbovis-senior-cost-planner-estimator-2"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fbovis-senior-cost-planner-estimator-2"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fbovis-senior-cost-planner-estimator-2"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/bovis-senior-cost-planner-estimator-2\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fbovis-senior-cost-planner-estimator-2"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":2024614}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"bovis.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":2024614},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. Docs: https://alion.io/developers"}}