Senior Estimator, Self-Perform Civil & Concrete in McPherson, Kansas at Prairie Landworks

Lead the estimating work now. Grow into the precon leadership seat next.

We’re a small but growing company, which means you’ll get to make a real impact. Since 2012, we’ve grown with a simple belief: do meaningful work, do it with character and integrity, and create a safe, rewarding place for good people to build a career. We self-perform key parts of our work and take pride in building projects the way we’d want them built for our own families and communities. And just as important, we work hard to keep our projects close enough to home that our team can get back to their families at night.

Help us chase the right work, price it well, and keep bids grounded in how the work actually gets built.

The day-one need is strong estimating judgment. From there, we can help you develop systems ownership and grow into more of the head-of-preconstruction seat over time to help support our planned growth to $25M+.

The right person likes the estimating work itself, but also wants a bigger seat at the table as they earn it.

• Protect margin and support the right kind of growth by estimating $200K to $7M heavy civil, concrete, utility, earthwork, foundation, process piping, and commercial/municipal building projects.
• Build accurate, competitive bids by handling takeoffs, subcontractor and supplier coordination, site visits, risk review, bid reviews, and timely proposal submission.
• Keep self-perform estimating tied to field reality by pricing work in a way that crews can actually build.
• Support better bid decisions by bringing estimating judgment, project fit, production reality, and client relationships into the conversation early.
• Help win work on more than price by explaining scope, risks, approach, and value clearly when clients, partners, or internal leaders need it.
• Grow into more preconstruction responsibility by learning how PLi approaches planning, design coordination, preliminary scheduling, value engineering, and project readiness before work hits the field.
• Build toward more estimating systems ownership by helping refine HeavyBid setup, workflows, and consistency with support from the people already doing that work.
• Develop into a stronger estimating leader by sharing structure, mentoring as appropriate, and helping shape the estimating team as we grow.

• You have solid estimating experience in heavy civil, industrial, commercial, municipal, concrete, utility, earthwork, foundation, or similar self-performed work.
• You can lead estimates or are ready to move from participating in estimates to owning more of the bid from start to finish.
• You're comfortable doing real estimating work yourself, including detailed reviews, takeoffs, coordination, and bid-day decisions.
• You understand that the numbers matter, and you also understand that good estimating depends on production reality, communication, and knowing which jobs are worth chasing.
• You bring judgment to work that still has a few unknowns, especially when scope, risk, client expectations, or schedule need to be sorted out before the bid is final.
• You're willing to grow into more responsibility around systems, process, mentorship, client conversations, and preconstruction leadership instead of needing all of that to be fully defined on day one.
• You've used HCSS HeavyBid or another estimating system, or you have enough estimating software experience to learn HeavyBid with support.

• Experience across civil, GC, and industrial self-performance work.
• Exposure to design-build or preconstruction.
• Familiarity with Acumatica or other ERP systems.
• Experience helping implement or refine estimating systems.
• Experience mentoring another estimator or helping bring structure to an estimating process.
• Local or regional knowledge in central Kansas.

This is not a remote role. We value being in the room with the people shaping the bids, the work, and the decisions around both.

Most weeks are 45–50 hours. Busy seasons and bid pushes can occasionally spike above that, and weekends are rare but possible during major bids.

Work is office-based, with some jobsite visits and occasional client or partner meetings. PLi intentionally focuses on a roughly 60–90 mile radius of McPherson, Kansas, primarily central Kansas, so this role should be home all the time with only rare overnight exceptions for a trusted client outside the normal radius. Some flexibility is available once established.

Role-Specific

• Base salary of $115K–$145K
• Performance-based bonus opportunity tied to company success and individual contribution.
• Take-home company vehicle.
• A senior estimating role with a path to grow into a leadership role in a growing company
• High autonomy and direct access to owner and leaders.
• Real influence on what work PLi pursues and how it gets executed.
• Ability to help shape estimating systems, tools, and processes without needing to own all of it on day one.
• Opportunity to help build and support the estimating team as the company grows.

Support

• Estimating team of 3 right now, including owner.
• Strong office support team.
• Collaborative culture between PM and Superintendent.
• Late-model equipment.

Variety

Work across commercial, municipal, and industrial building projects, not repetitive subdivision or tenant-finish-only work.

Balance

• Target 45–50 hour work week.
• Early Fridays.
• 3 weeks PTO plus 7.5 paid holidays, plus your birthday off after 1 year.
• 90-mile service radius, home nightly with rare exceptions.

Compensation & Benefits

• Medical, Dental, Vision, minimum 60% company paid.
• 401K / Roth with 4% match.
• Boot allowance after 1 year.
• Supplemental voluntary benefits.