Engineering Estimator

For over four decades, MDS has maintained its unrivaled position as a global leader in Gas Turbine Engine Solutions, serving prestigious companies worldwide. Specializing in aviation, industrial, and marine solutions, MDS provides tailored, complete Gas Turbine Engine test facilities, establishing itself as a key partner to its clients. From building the world’s most advanced, one-of-a-kind gas turbine engine test facilities—with projects in more than 20 countries—to being at the forefront of research and development, MDS continually drives innovation.

MDS, a world leader in designing and constructing gas turbine engine test equipment and facilities, has a requirement for an Engineering Estimator here in Ottawa, ON.

As an Engineering Estimator, you’ll play a central and high profile role in winning new business which will in turn influence the future strategic direction of the company. You will be responsible for liaising with personnel across all MDS engineering departments to help converge upon cost effective solutions to meet the complex and diverse technical needs of MDS’ growing client base. The role offers a unique opportunity to interface not only with all of MDS’ business departments but also to engage directly with senior executives and owners of the company on business-critical decisions. In an exciting and dynamic workplace, you will be a key contributor to cost and commercial management of proposals and will gain wide exposure to business development strategies for selling engineering products and services internationally to major gas turbine manufacturers.

What you'll be doing:

• Reviewing customer technical and commercial requirements, being responsible for identifying key cost drivers and potential cost-capability trade offs;
• Responsible for preparing MDS’ estimates to account for costs of execution including internal resource hours, procurement of 3rd party equipment/services, delivery and on-site installation and commissioning activities;
• Working in close collaboration with Sales and Proposal Managers to agree strategies to develop technical solutions and commercial models to meet client needs, often in challenging timescales and competitive bid scenarios;
• Consulting with Operations and multi-disciplinary engineering resources to support the development of solutions and 3rd party scope definitions for soliciting external proposals;
• Working with 3rd party suppliers to define scope of supply and obtain bids. Reviewing 3rd party proposals to ensure any gaps or inconsistencies in the technical and commercial solution are understood and duly accounted for, be it via baseline cost inclusions or factored contingency;
• Depending upon the price quality requested by the client, exercising sound judgement in leveraging a blend of estimation methods, including but not limited to extrapolation of costs from historical data and parametric type analyses, as may be best suited to meet the needs of the proposal team in meeting the deadline;
• In concert with the wider proposals team, responsible for generation of costed risk registers, estimating pre- and post-mitigation factored contingency;
• Responsible for generating commercial sections of the overall proposal, including but not limited to consideration of cash flows and appropriate payment plans as well as capture of key assumptions, exclusions and dependencies which impact cost / risk;
• Working with subject matter experts to understand and account for costs / risks associated with taxation, duties, bonding and contractual terms;
• Leading briefings to senior management on cost builds, proposed selling presentations and potential negotiation strategies, in order to help our leaders make informed decisions to secure future business;
• Opportunities for direct client interaction and assisting in fielding post-submission price queries and challenges.

What'll help your success?

• At least 2 years’ experience in developing bespoke engineering solutions / services, systems engineering, commercial management and/or estimation;
• Ability to interpret complex requirement statements and distill key information, including cost drivers and areas of schedule and technical risk;
• Advanced skills in Microsoft Excel and Word;
• An astute individual with a keen eye for detail who is willing to challenge and be challenged;
• Ability to convey complex information clearly and concisely in an engaging manner that helps people in different parts of the organisation retain key messages;
• Capable of multi-tasking without missing deadlines, establishing an action plan for self and others to complete work efficiently and on time;
• A collaborative team player with strong communication skills who works effectively with others while also being able to take ownership and operat