Director of Estimation and Vendor Relations

Director of Estimation and Vendor Relations

Position Summary

The Director of Estimation and Vendor Relations plays a key leadership role at MTA, driving accuracy, efficiency, and scalability within the estimating function while strengthening vendor partnerships. This role focuses on pricing strategies, vendor negotiations, margin management, and process improvement to support commercial success. The director will lead team development, create standardized operating procedures (SOPs), and implement training programs to build a high-performing and reliable estimating department. The ideal candidate will foster a culture of responsiveness, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and execute strategic plans to optimize estimating operations, aligning with company goals and market demands.
• Work closely with the Vice President of MedGas, COO, and CFO to align estimating practices with financial objectives, ensuring the sales team meets revenue and gross margin targets.
• Implement and manage KPIs to measure accuracy, turnaround time, vendor performance, and margin improvement.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement through cross-training, streamlined workflows, and adoption of automation and technology.
• Partner with cross-functional teams—including Sales, Operations, and Technical Support—to ensure alignment and seamless handoff from quote to execution.

Team Development & Management

• Hire, onboard, and develop a high-performing team of Estimators aligned with company goals.
• Provide coaching, mentoring, and ongoing professional development opportunities to team members.
• Establish and enforce SOPs to ensure consistency, repeatability, and scalability across all estimates.
• Design and implement robust training programs to efficiently onboard new team members and provide ongoing skill development.
• Collaborate with leadership to develop a comprehensive training curriculum that ensures the team maintains expertise in estimating best practices, technical standards, and company tools.
• Build a sustainable team structure that reduces reliance on single points of expertise.

Estimating & Vendor Relations

• Oversee preparation and review of accurate quotes and proposals in collaboration with the Sales team and subject matter experts.
• Ensure pricing strategies are competitive while achieving defined gross margin targets.
• Leverage expertise in blueprints, technical specifications, and industry standards (e.g., NFPA 99) to validate accuracy of scopes and estimates.
• Maintain and strengthen relationships with vendors and subcontractors to ensure proposals meet both quality and cost objectives.
• Work directly with vendors to negotiate pricing, secure cost advantages, and establish long-term partnerships that improve competitiveness and profitability.
• Monitor estimating workflows to identify bottlenecks, reduce turnaround time, and improve customer responsiveness.

Operational Excellence

• Lead initiatives to streamline estimating processes, reduce manual effort, and scale operations through systems and automation.
• Identify and resolve inefficiencies in workflows and foster collaboration across departments.
• Analyze data and KPIs to develop insights that drive margin improvement, speed to quote, and customer satisfaction.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, or a related field required; advanced degree (MBA, MS) strongly preferred.
• Minimum 7–10 years of leadership experience managing estimating or operations teams, preferably within the TIC industry or related technical service field.
• Proven success in developing, implementing, and achieving KPIs that demonstrate improvements in accuracy, efficiency, vendor performance, and margin results.
• Demonstrated ability to interpret and apply technical standards and codes such as NFPA 99 in the estimating process.
• Experience designing and implementing pricing models and strategies in collaboration with Sales and technical SMEs.
• Strong track record of evaluating and implementing workflow automation tools to improve efficiency and scalability.
• Direct experience creating and enforcing SOPs, as well as designing and executing training programs to ensure team compliance and reliability.
• Significant experience negotiating with vendors to achieve cost savings, strengthen partnerships, and enhance proposal competitiveness.

Work Environment

• This is a full-time hybrid role based in-office three days per week, with two remote workdays.
• Minimal travel required.
• Occasional extended hours may be needed to meet deadlines or address urgent operational needs.

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