Job Description

Senior Construction Estimator — RIB CostX Expert (Remote) | Australian Residential

Design Science | Full-time | Remote, aligned to Queensland (AEST) business hours

Design Science is a Queensland building design and construction practice doing things differently. We measure existing buildings with survey-grade Trimble and Leica laser scanning equipment, build every project digitally in Revit/BIM before site, and our principal holds both QLD Building Designer and Builder licences — held by fewer than 1% nationally. Our construction arm is scaling now, with a pipeline of designed, documented residential projects ready to price and build. That's where you come in.

The non-negotiable first

You are an advanced RIB CostX user. Advanced — workbooks, rate libraries and first-principles rate buildups, 2D and 3D/BIM model takeoff, subcontractor comparison, custom reports. This is the single most important requirement for this role, and applications that do not demonstrate deep CostX capability will not be considered.

The role

You'll work directly with our principal — a licensed builder and former CFO who built his own CostX system, formulae and rate buildups — producing detailed, orderable bills of quantities for residential renovation, extension, granny flat and duplex projects on Australia's Gold Coast. To be clear about our standard: we do not do m²-rate estimating. Every estimate is measured and built up from first principles into a BOQ a builder can actually order and build from. You'll be trained into our system, our buildups and our subcontractor structures, and you'll work from our Revit/BIM models and scan data — better inputs than most estimators ever get.

Your work will include full takeoffs and BOQs in CostX from Revit models and construction documentation, trade-package breakdowns for subcontractor pricing, tender and quote comparisons, stage cost plans during design development, maintaining and refining our rate libraries as real project costs land, and supporting tender submissions and client cost reporting.

About you

Minimum 8 years construction estimating experience, ideally including Australian residential projects — renovation and extension work is a genuine plus, because pricing work on existing buildings is harder than pricing new builds, and it's our specialty. You measure everything and assume nothing. You're comfortable working remotely, full-time, as an independent contractor on an all-inclusive monthly rate, aligned to Queensland hours, and communicating clearly in written English with an Australian principal who will review your work closely — especially early.

What we offer

A long-term, full-time engagement with a growing practice — direct relationship with the principal, no agency in between. Modern toolchain: laser scan data, Revit/BIM models, CostX. A construction pipeline that's already designed and waiting to be priced. And a principal who actually understands estimating and will invest in training you into a proven system, not throw you in the deep end. You will be deeply involved with optimising Revit to CostX integration, real BIM workflows not dwg m2 takeoffs. Real quantity takeoffs and calculations, not m2 measurements dropped and forgotten. Proper breakdowns into individual material quantities, we quantify what we draw and model, we build what we quantify.

How to apply

Include the word LASERLINE in the first line of your application (this is our attention-to-detail filter — applications without it are not reviewed). Then, in no more than 200 words, describe the most complex CostX workbook you have personally built: what it priced, how your rate buildups were structured, and one thing you'd do differently now. Attach your CV.