Custom Home Purchasing Agent/Estimator

The Purchasing Agent manages assigned estimating, purchasing, and project buyout activities for Ascend’s high-end, fully custom residential projects. This role converts plans, specifications, selections, and budgets into clear scopes, competitive bids,  accurate and fully documented purchase orders, and reliable cost commitments. The ideal candidate understands residential construction, catches scope gaps early, communicates directly, and builds strong trade-partner relationships without compromising quality or schedule.

·   Own the buyout of assigned projects from approved budget through subcontract and purchase-order issuance, procurement tracking, and final buyout reconciliation.

·    Prepare, update, and reconcile conceptual, design-development, and final project estimates, including quantity takeoffs, bid leveling, and scope comparisons.

·   Develop complete bid packages and written scopes of work from plans, specifications, design selections, and project requirements, including inclusions, exclusions, alternates, allowances, schedule expectations, and responsibility for trade interfaces.

·   Solicit, track, analyze, and negotiate subcontractor and supplier proposals for best value, schedule, quality, and scope coverage.

·       Document bid invitations, clarifications, proposal revisions, negotiations, recommendations, and award decisions in JobTread so the project record is complete and auditable.

·   Identify exclusions, overlaps, allowances, long-lead items, and budget risks before commitments are issued.

·       Compare proposed and awarded costs with the current estimate and approved budget; report variances, savings, unresolved exposure, and recommended corrective action before commitments are issued.

·   Prepare and maintain purchase orders, subcontracts, vendor pricing, budgets, and buyout logs in JobTread, using approved cost codes, contract templates, and document-control standards.

·   Coordinate with preconstruction, design, Operations Managers, superintendents, and accounting to ensure clean project handoffs, complete scope transfer, and accurate cost coding.

·   Support change-order pricing and procurement; verify scope, cost, lead time, and required approvals before work proceeds, and maintain supporting quotations and approval documentation in JobTread.

·   Maintain trusted relationships with trade partners and expand the qualified vendor base through ongoing sourcing and performance feedback.

·       Coordinate with accounting and operations to confirm required vendor onboarding documents, agreements, insurance, tax forms, and licensing are current before an award is issued.

·       Maintain current trade and material cost data, historical pricing, bid templates, and estimating assumptions to improve the accuracy and consistency of future estimates.

·   Track procurement status and long-lead materials, confirm required-on-site dates with the project team, and escalate threats to budget or schedule promptly to the Director of Operations.

·       Participate in estimate reviews, buyout meetings, and preconstruction-to-operations handoffs; clearly communicate outstanding decisions, allowances, procurement risks, and owner-selected items.

·       Issue purchase orders, subcontracts, and changes only within approved budgets, delegated authority, and company approval requirements; promptly escalate exceptions for written direction.

·       Support project teams with cost and procurement information without directing daily field operations, approving client design changes, or authorizing uncontracted work outside established company procedures.

·       Provide complete cost documentation to accounting, while accounting retains responsibility for invoice processing, payment release, and financial reporting.

·   Three or more years of residential construction purchasing, estimating, project coordination, or related experience; custom-home experience strongly preferred.

·   Ability to read architectural and engineering plans, specifications, schedules, and finish-selection documents; perform accurate quantity takeoffs; and understand residential scopes, sequencing, materials, and trade interfaces.

·   Strong bid analysis, negotiation, organization, follow-through, and written communication skills, including the ability to explain estimate assumptions and cost variances clearly.

·   Proficiency with Excel and construction estimating or project-management software; experience with Buildertrend or JobTread or similar systems is preferred.

·   High attention to detail, sound judgment, integrity, and the ability to manage multiple custom projects and deadlines while protecting confidential client, vendor, and company pricing information.

Ascend Custom Homes is an equal opportunity employer. Compensation is based on relevant experience, demonstrated capability, and overall fit for the position.