Junior Estimator / Civil Preconstruction Engineer

Get into heavy civil estimating with room to grow beyond the junior seat.

About Sunset Valley Construction

We’re a sitework and underground utilities contractor focused on building and maintaining essential infrastructure. We’re projecting to double in size over the next four years and are looking to build out our estimating and preconstruction team to support that growth.

This position is designed for someone earlier in their construction career who has a solid foundation and wants to learn heavy civil estimating, takeoffs, and preconstruction from an experienced team.

How You’ll Contribute

As a Junior Estimator / Preconstruction Engineer, you’ll work alongside the owner and estimating/project management team to support the front end of our projects.

You don’t need to walk in knowing how to build a complete heavy civil estimate. You'll use your basic understanding of construction fundamentals, plans, heavy equipment and site construction while we teach you takeoffs, estimating, production rates, pricing, and how real estimates get built before the work reaches the field.

Growth Opportunity

This is not intended to be a career-long junior position. As you develop, you’ll take on more complex takeoffs, estimates, and preconstruction responsibilities.

Depending on your strengths and interests, this position can grow toward Estimator, Senior Estimator, Project Engineer, Assistant Project Manager, Project Manager, or Preconstruction Manager. Your growth will be driven by your ability to learn the work, produce accurate information, and become someone the estimating, project management, and field teams can rely on.

What You’ll Get To Do

• Build a stronger takeoff foundation by learning to perform quantity takeoffs for earthwork, utilities, drainage, site concrete, paving, and other heavy civil/sitework scopes.
• Help the team understand project scope by reviewing plans, specifications, addenda, and bid documents and flagging missing or conflicting information.
• Support organized estimates by pulling together quantities, labor, equipment, materials, subcontractors, and vendor pricing.
• Keep supplier and subcontractor input moving by helping solicit, organize, and compare quotes.
• Learn what moves the number by working through production rates, crew makeup, equipment selection, site conditions, and project sequencing.
• Help prepare bids by assisting with bid forms, proposal packages, scope sheets, and estimate reviews.
• See how plans become real work by attending occasional pre-bid meetings and job walks.
• Keep estimating information easier to use by maintaining organized files, historical pricing, bid results, vendor information, and project data.
• Support cleaner handoffs to operations so project managers and field teams understand what was included in the estimate.
• Step into preconstruction responsibilities when estimating workload allows, including submittals, buyouts, scheduling, procurement, project setup, and other project coordination.
• Help improve estimating and preconstruction consistency by working with our estimating and construction software.
• Build field understanding by spending time with our field teams and seeing how heavy civil work is actually built.

Who You Are

• You’ve already got a construction foundation to build from, either through 2+ years as a Project Engineer or similar construction role, or through a two-year or four-year degree in Civil Engineering, Construction Management, Finance, Business, or a related field.
• You can look at plans, specifications, and contract documents and start making sense of how the work gets from drawings to finished sitework.
• You know enough about heavy equipment, site construction, excavation, grading, utilities, drainage, paving, or similar work to ask better questions as you learn the estimating side.
• You’re comfortable sitting with numbers, quantities, spreadsheets, and detailed information long enough to find what changed, what’s missing, and what needs another look.
• You keep bids, deadlines, quotes, and open items organized so the team is not chasing loose ends at the last minute.
• You ask questions when something does not add up, take feedback from people with more field and estimating experience, and use it to get sharper.
• You care about how the work actually gets built, not just how to measure quantities from a set of plans.
• You’re comfortable spending most of your time in the office and getting out into the field enough to connect the estimate back to the real work.

Even Better, But Not Required

• You’ve worked for a heavy civil, sitework, utility, paving, excavation, or general contractor.
• You have previous experience performing construction takeoffs.
• You’ve used Bluebeam, InSite, Cloudrig, ConstructConnect, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Project, or similar construction software.
• You have experience working as a Project Engineer, Assistant Project Manager, Field Engineer, or Project Coordinator.
• You’ve spent time around heavy equipment, active construction sites, or hands-on field work.

Typical Schedule

This is a 40-hour-per-week, year-round, on-site role based in Ellington, CT.

The role is primarily office-based, with occasional job site visits, pre-bid meetings, and local meetings with owners, vendors, and subcontractors. We want you to get enough time in the field to understand what we’re estimating.

What’s In It For You

Tools and training

• Modern estimating and construction technology, including Cloudrig, Phantom Foxit, and InSite Elevation Pro.
• Hands-on training in heavy civil takeoffs, estimating, preconstruction, and project management.
• Direct exposure to projects ranging from approximately $100K to $10M.

Perks

• 2 pre-paid Southwest plane tickets anywhere in the USA once a year.
• Mentorship and unlimited training, both hands-on and digital, including leadership development.
• Personal use of SVC equipment when available and when it does not interfere with company operations.
• A family-first company with generous discretionary PTO.
• Health, Dental, and Vision insurance after 3 months, with 75% of employee and immediate-family premiums paid by SVC.
• 401(k) plan with a 3% company match after 3 months.