MEP Project Estimator

What you will do

• Prepare detailed MEP estimates for data center projects across all phases - conceptual budgets, design development estimates, bid packages, and final GMP submissions
• Analyze drawings, specifications, and addenda in depth - understanding not just quantities but system intent, redundancy requirements, and sequencing constraints that affect cost
• Price data center MEP systems with genuine technical understanding - cooling plant (air-side economization, water-side cooling, DX), UPS and battery systems, generator infrastructure, switchgear, power distribution, and plumbing
• Solicit, evaluate, and level pricing from MEP subcontractors and equipment suppliers - ensuring submissions are complete, competitive, and scoped correctly against the contract documents
• Develop value engineering alternatives that maintain critical system redundancy and uptime performance while identifying genuine cost reduction opportunities
• Track market conditions, material pricing, and labor rates across active data center markets - keeping estimates current in a sector where equipment lead times and trade labor costs shift quickly
• Prepare risk analyses identifying MEP-specific project challenges - long lead equipment, supply chain constraints, commissioning sequencing, and scope gaps between design packages
• Present estimates clearly in client and team meetings - explaining cost drivers, basis of estimate, and key assumptions to ownership, design teams, and project management
• Support bid submissions and subcontractor negotiations - working through scope clarifications, exclusions, and final pricing alignment ahead of award
• Maintain and improve the MEP estimating database - building a reliable library of current unit costs, equipment pricing, and historical benchmarks across data center project types

What you need

• 3 years of estimating experience with a focus on MEP systems - data center or mission-critical exposure.
• Solid working knowledge of MEP systems, construction methods, and applicable codes - particularly as they apply to critical facilities with N 1 or 2N redundancy requirements
• Ability to read and interrogate a full set of MEP construction documents and specifications - identifying scope gaps, coordination issues, and pricing risk before a bid goes out
• Proficiency in current estimating platforms - InEight Estimate, ProEst, Bluebeam for digital takeoffs, or equivalent. Competent in Excel for cost modeling and bid assembly
• Experience soliciting and leveling subcontractor and vendor pricing - understanding what complete looks like and where gaps are typically hidden
• Strong analytical skills and attention to detail - MEP estimates on data center projects are high-stakes and errors have downstream consequences
• Clear written and verbal communication - you will be presenting numbers and explaining cost decisions to clients, designers, and senior leadership
• Degree in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, construction management, or a related field - or equivalent experience

Nice to have

• Direct experience estimating hyperscale or colocation data center MEP scopes - cooling plant, generator yard, HV switchgear, UPS rooms, and power distribution to the rack
• Familiarity with long lead equipment dynamics - transformer and switchgear procurement timelines and how supply constraints affect bid strategy and contingency
• Experience on design-build or EPC programs during preconstruction phases
• Exposure to BIM coordination processes and how model-based workflows affect MEP quantity takeoffs and clash resolution costs
• Experience pricing modular or prefabricated MEP solutions alongside traditional stick-build scope