Estimator (Kalkulator) -- Construction \& Data Centre Projects

Fortica AS is looking for an Estimator (Kalkulator) to join our team in Drammen.

You will own the numbers behind our bids --- from the first rough budget to the priced, submitted tender --- across a mixed project portfolio that includes commercial and industrial buildings and, increasingly, data centre and mission-critical facilities.

Data centres are one of the fastest-growing segments in the Nordic construction market, and this role puts you in the middle of it.

This is a role for someone who wants both sides of the job: focused calculation work at a desk with good tools and good data.

We need to fill this position quickly.

Applications are assessed on a rolling basis, and we interview as suitable candidates apply, so please do not wait for the deadline.

What you will do: Tendering and calculation

• Produce cost estimates across all phases --- early-phase budgets and feasibility figures, target price in collaborative (samspill) contracts, and full detailed tenders

• Carry out quantity take-off from drawings, specifications and BIM models

• Read, interpret and quality-check tender documents, descriptions and contract terms (NS 3420, NS 8405/8406/8407)

• Build up unit prices, production rates, indirect costs, risk allowances and margin, and document the assumptions behind them

• Request, compare and challenge quotations from subcontractors and suppliers, and negotiate the terms that sit behind your numbers

• Identify risk and opportunity in each bid --- scope gaps, buildability issues, schedule exposure, price escalation --- and quantify them rather than burying them

• Contribute to bid strategy together with sales, engineering and project management, and take part in tender clarification meetings with clients

Data centre and technical projects

• Price mission-critical scopes: shell and core, white space and fit-out, and the heavy technical content that defines these projects --- power distribution, UPS and generators, cooling, and the associated infrastructure

• Work with cost-per-MW and cost-per-m² benchmarks, redundancy concepts (N+1 and similar) and phased delivery models

• Account for commissioning, testing and client witnessing requirements in both cost and schedule

• Support tenders governed by international client standards, sustainability requirements and certification schemes

On site and after handover

• Hand over your calculation to the project team and stay available as the reference for how the price was built

• Price variations and change orders during execution

• Run post-completion cost reviews (etterkalkyle) and turn the results into better estimating data

Continuous improvement

• Maintain and develop our price database, cost norms and calculation templates

• Help establish and improve our estimating routines, tools and use of BIM-based quantity extraction

What we are looking for: Required:

• Relevant education in construction or engineering --- bachelor's or master's in civil engineering, building engineering or similar.

• Strong practical experience in estimating can compensate for formal education

• Minimum 5 years of experience in estimating, cost engineering, project engineering or site management in construction --- or a closely related discipline

• Solid understanding of construction methods, sequencing and what actually drives cost on a building site

• Confident reading technical drawings and descriptions, and comfortable working with digital models

• Strong Excel skills and experience with at least one professional estimating or description tool (for example ISY Calcus, ISY/G-Prog Beskrivelse, Holte, Smartkalk, Cordel, or equivalent)

• Professional working English, written and spoken, Norwegian is a big plus

• Valid driving licence (class B)

• The right to work in Norway

A big plus if you have:

• Experience with data centres, industrial facilities, or other technically complex, MEP-heavy projects

• Familiarity with Norwegian standards and contract formats (NS 3420, NS 3451, NS 8405/8407) and with collaborative and design-build delivery

• Experience with international clients and their governance, reporting and commissioning requirements

• Interest in sustainability in construction: climate accounting, LCC and certification schemes such as BREEAM

How you work

• Accurate and structured --- you know that a decimal point is a commercial decision

• Analytical, and curious about why a number is what it is rather than accepting the first figure you are given

• Calm under deadline pressure, because tender deadlines do not move

• A clear communicator who can explain a calculation to people who did not build it

• Commercially aware, and comfortable saying when a bid does not add up

What we offer:

• Occupational pension and insurance schemes

• If required for the project: Coverage of travel, accommodation and expenses for project travel [+ company car / car allowance if applicable]

• Real influence over how we estimate: our tools, our data and our routines are open to improvement, and we expect you to have opinions

• A portfolio that runs from conventional construction to some of the most demanding technical projects being built in the Nordics

• Over 50 colleagues in a company where decisions are made quickly and you can reach the people who make them

Send your CV and a short letter telling us about a tender you priced and what you learned from how it turned out.

Applications are reviewed as they arrive.

Informal enquiries are welcome and will be treated confidentially.

Fortica AS is an equal opportunity employer.

We welcome applicants regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, religion, disability or sexual orientation, and we encourage qualified candidates from all backgrounds to apply.