West Coast Senior Construction Estimator and Business Development Lead

Job Description

Senior Construction Estimator and Business Development Lead

About DRI

DRI, Inc. is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business general construction contractor built exclusively around federal work ONLY. Since 2017 we have delivered construction for the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Cemetery Administration, and the National Park Service. Our West Coast team is based in Medford, Oregon, and runs work across the region. We hold deep past performance across VISN 20, including Southern Oregon and Northern California, and we currently have active projects in Idaho and Washington.

We carry bonding capacity well above what our size would suggest, and we self-perform as a prime. No pass-through, no broker model. When DRI wins, DRI builds.

LOCATION

Anywhere on the West Coast, but preferably Pacific Northwest to Northern California. Full time, remote capable, travel required.

The Job

We are hiring one person to own the front end of our West Coast business: find the work, price the work, win the work.

This is a hunting seat. Today that function sits with our President, and it has taken the West Coast from a standing start to a portfolio of VA and NPS awards. We need someone to take it and run harder. The target is $10M to $20M in awarded contract value per year, in the $2M to $10M project range where our bonding and our SDVOSB status give us a real edge.

You will not be handed a pipeline. You will build one, and you will build the vehicles that carry it. Single-award task orders got DRI here. Getting to the next level means positioning on MATOCs, MACCs, and agency IDIQs where we compete inside a smaller pool for years at a time, and opening doors at federal agencies we do not serve today.

What You Will Do

ESTIMATING

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• Own conceptual through hard-bid estimates on federal construction projects, $2M to $10M typical
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• Perform quantity takeoffs, develop cost models, and build competitive pricing that protects margin
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• Solicit, evaluate, and level subcontractor and supplier quotes
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• Walk the sites. Attend pre-bid conferences and site visits in person
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• Lead bid strategy and participate in bid and no-bid decisions with the leadership team
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BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND CAPTURE

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• Monitor SAM.gov, agency forecasts, and acquisition plans to identify targets before they hit the street
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• Identify, position for, and capture multiple-award vehicles: MATOCs, MACCs, SATOCs, and agency IDIQs across VA, NPS, NCA, USACE, NAVFAC, GSA, and BLM
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• Build the capture plan for each vehicle: past performance mapping, gap analysis, teaming to fill what we cannot cover alone, and a sequenced timeline against the solicitation forecast
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• Manage on-ramp opportunities and vehicle recompetes so we are never caught flat-footed on a five-year cycle
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• Expand DRI into new federal agencies and new geographies, taking us from a VA and NPS shop to a diversified federal prime
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• Lead the proposal function. Direct our proposal writer and outside proposal support, own compliance and win themes, and build out the team as volume grows
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• Build and hold relationships with contracting officers, CORs, facility engineers, and small business specialists
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• Represent DRI at SAME posts, industry days, matchmaking events, agency outreach, and regional conferences
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• Recruit and qualify subcontractors in every market we pursue, building the bench ahead of the work rather than after award
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• Identify and structure teaming agreements, mentor-protege relationships, and joint ventures that extend our reach
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What You Need

REQUIRED

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• Federal construction experience with a prime contractor. This is not negotiable. You have priced and pursued work under FAR Part 15 and Part 36, you understand SF 1442, and you know how a set-aside procurement actually moves
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• A track record of awarded federal construction contracts you can point to by name and dollar value
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• Direct experience pursuing or performing under multiple-award vehicles. You have written to an IDIQ solicitation, understand how seed projects and on-ramps work, and know what it takes to stay competitive inside a pool once you are on it
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• Estimating capability across multiple divisions, from takeoff through final bid form
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• Working proficiency with AI tools. Not curiosity, proficiency. You already use them to accelerate solicitation review, past performance matching, market research, pricing analysis, and proposal drafting. We move fast because we use these tools hard, and a candidate who does not will not keep up with the pursuit volume this seat carries
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• Fluency with SAM.gov, agency forecasting tools, and the federal small business landscape
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• Willingness to travel. Site visits, pre-bids, and conferences are the job, not an add-on. Expect 30 to 40 percent travel
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• Based on the West Coast, positioned to reach VA, NPS, NCA, and DoD installations across the region
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PREFERRED

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• Existing relationships inside VA VISN 20, NCA, NPS, or USACE and NAVFAC in the western districts
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• Experience taking a small business prime onto its first multiple-award vehicle
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• Working knowledge of mentor-protege and JV structures as a route onto vehicles a company cannot qualify for alone
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• Experience at a small business prime where you carried the pursuit end to end without a proposal department behind you
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• You can describe a specific workflow you built with AI that measurably cut your pursuit or estimating cycle time
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• Familiarity with Bluebeam, On-Screen Takeoff, or comparable estimating software
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• Prior work under SDVOSB, 8(a), or HUBZone set-asides
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• Veteran
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We are not requiring OSHA 30 or CQM-C for this role. We want a closer, not a credential stack.

Why This Seat

You report to the West Coast Program Manager and you own the business development function outright. Our proposal writer reports to you, along with any proposal staff we bring in behind her. You are building a team, not filling a slot.

Decisions get made in a conversation, not a committee. You will have real authority over pursuit strategy, your own travel and conference spend, the markets we move into next, and the vehicle strategy that determines what DRI looks like in five years.

If you are currently sitting at a large prime watching your pipeline get handed to you, and you think you could build a better one yourself, this is that job.

To Apply

Send a resume and a short note naming three federal contracts you helped win, the agency, and the award value. No cover letter template. Tell us what you hunted and what you killed.

DRI, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Veterans strongly encouraged to apply.