Can you look at an engineering drawing and work out what it’s actually going to cost to make? Good. We should talk.

We’re recruiting an experienced Estimator for a fantastic sheet metal manufacturer in Leicestershire. You’ll sit right between the customer and the shop floor, turning drawings and specifications into accurate quotations by understanding the materials, processes, tooling and production time needed to actually manufacture the job.

Job Title: Estimator
Money: Up to £37,000 per annum (dependent on experience)
Hours / Shifts: Monday to Thursday, 8:00am – 5:00pm | Friday, 8:00am – 2:30pm
Other benefits: Early Friday finish, free on site parking and the opportunity to work across estimating, customer projects and new product introduction within an established manufacturing business.

What’s the job?

This is a proper engineering estimating position.

You’ll be taking customer drawings and specifications and working out exactly what is required to manufacture the job, from materials and machine time through to tooling, bought in parts and fabrication processes.

Once a quotation becomes an order, you’ll also help make sure the job is correctly set up and handed into production.

Day to day, you’ll be:

• Producing quotations from customer drawings and specifications.
• Calculating material requirements and costs.
• Estimating machine production times.
• Obtaining prices from suppliers for bought in materials and components.
• Pricing individual components, batch quantities and fabricated assemblies.
• Specifying tooling, manufacturing processes, jigs and fixtures where required.
• Creating routings and Bills of Materials.
• Issuing jobs through to programming and purchasing.
• Creating and maintaining drawings within production software.
• Costing completed orders and checking new orders.
• Liaising with customers regarding quotations, product changes and new product introduction.
• Working closely with production and senior management.
• Following up quotations and helping convert them into orders.
• Managing relationships with an existing customer base.

In other words, you’ll need to understand how the part is going to be made, not simply what number somebody wants putting on the quote.

What experience do you need?

Ideally, you’ll already have experience estimating within a sheet metal, fabrication, precision engineering or similar manufacturing environment.

You should be comfortable reading a technical drawing and mentally breaking the job down into the processes needed to manufacture it.

We’re looking for someone who can:

• Read and interpret engineering drawings.
• Understand technical specifications.
• Identify special material requirements.
• Calculate material and production costs accurately.
• Understand manufacturing processes and machine times.
• Work with routings and Bills of Materials.
• Use CAD software.
• Work confidently with numbers.
• Use Word, Excel and Outlook.
• Communicate professionally with customers.
• Work under your own initiative and manage your own workload.

You’ll also need some commercial awareness.

The cheapest quote isn’t automatically the best quote, and the most expensive one generally doesn’t win much work either. The job is understanding what something genuinely costs to manufacture and putting together a price that works commercially.

More than just estimating

There’s also a customer facing side to the position.

You’ll liaise directly with customers regarding quotations, engineering changes and new products, while working closely with production and senior management internally.

So, they’re looking for somebody who is technically credible but can also hold a sensible commercial conversation with a customer.

If you’ve spent years around manufacturing and can translate “here’s the drawing” into “here’s what it will take to make it and what it needs to cost”, this should suit you very well.

Recruitment Process

To apply for this position, please complete the short application form below and upload a copy of your CV.

If you have any questions or would prefer to speak about the role in the first instance, please contact Josh on 0116 467 0800 or by email at josh.whitmore@your-recruiters.co.uk.

There is a 1 stage interview process at the company premises in Leicestershire for this Estimator vacancy.

Our Commitment

Your Recruiters Limited is an equal opportunity employer, celebrating diversity and committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

All applicants will receive a response, with detailed feedback provided to those unsuccessful following an interview.