Senior Project Manager + Estimator

Architectural, custom, commercial & knockdown-rebuild projects in Australia

Long-term, full-time, fully remote — work directly with senior management of a fast-growing Australian builder.

Read this whole post before you apply. It is long on purpose.

If you read carefully and follow the application instructions exactly, you will stand out — because most people will not. We hire sharp people who pay attention to detail, work without hand-holding, and improve the way things get done. We will see in the first ten seconds whether you skimmed the post.

This is not a junior role and this is not a generalist VA role. If you have less than 5 years of hands-on Australian construction experience, please do not apply. We will explain why below.

The two core, non-negotiable skills

There are two skills you must bring on day one. Both are required. We will not consider applications that are strong in only one.
1. Project management
You can run multiple live Australian projects at once without losing track. You manage timelines, dependencies, RFIs, decisions, suppliers, vendors, and stakeholders — without being chased. You own each project end-to-end, from kickoff to handover. You drive things forward.
2. Estimation (including detailed take-offs and AutoCAD drawings)
You produce accurate take-offs from architectural and engineering drawings. You read and work with AutoCAD drawings comfortably. You price scope changes. You build like-for-like quote comparisons. You issue inclusions / exclusions / assumptions lists that remove ambiguity. Your estimates hold up against actual costs — wastage is something you watch and minimise.
3D modelling and visualisation is a bonus / advantage — it is not required. If you have it, tell us. We will use it. But we are not hiring you for it.

Hard requirements

If you do not meet every single one of these, please do not apply. Your application will be discarded immediately.
• Minimum 5 years hands-on experience on Australian residential AND commercial projects. Not 5 years “in construction” somewhere else. We mean Australian projects, with Australian standards (NCC/BCA, AS, NatHERS, BAL, ResCode, council planning, etc.). If you have only worked on US, UK, Middle East, or local Philippines projects, this role is not for you.
• Strong project management as a core skill. Multiple live projects, no dropped balls, end-to-end ownership.
• Strong estimation as a core skill. Detailed take-offs, AutoCAD drawing literacy, scope-change pricing, supplier engagement.
• High-level English — written AND spoken. You will develop and maintain relationships with Australian suppliers, vendors, and subcontractors through direct phone conversations and email. You must be confident, clear, and professional on the phone. If you are uncomfortable on calls in English, please do not apply.
• True self-starter. Take a brief, run with it, deliver, report back. No need for a manager standing over you.
• Process improvement mindset. You see slow, sloppy, or missing processes and you fix them — not just complain about them.
• Australian Eastern time business hours, full-time. Approximately 7am–4pm Manila time, Mon–Fri. Non-negotiable.
• Reliable computer + stable internet, with a backup plan for blackouts. If you are the right person and your connection is slow, we will pay to upgrade it.

The work

We are a rapidly growing Australian builder delivering ambitious projects across:
• Architectural homes — premium custom builds for design-led clients
• Custom homes — bespoke residential builds, often complex briefs
• Commercial projects — fitouts and selected commercial builds
• Knockdown rebuilds (KDRs) — full demolition + new construction on existing lots, including high-scrutiny council areas
We are not a sleepy local builder. The work is varied, the briefs are interesting, and we take on projects we want to be proud of. We are deliberately growing the team — and we are deliberately hiring people we plan to keep for years.

Working hours

Australian Eastern time, Mon–Fri (approximately 6/7am–3/4/5pm Manila). This role requires real-time overlap with Australian-based clients, suppliers, and subcontractors.

Daily time tracking
You must log your time daily against the correct project and task. This is non-negotiable. Time entries must be clean and accurate so we can see where effort is going across all your active projects and improve productivity over time. You should also be able to do this in under 2 minutes a day across everything you have on.

What this role actually is
You will run multiple live Australian projects at once, end-to-end — typically two to four jobs at any given time depending on stage. You will own each project from preliminary brief through to handover. You will manage the documentation and decision flow, drive the trades, suppliers, and consultants, and produce the estimating outputs that drive cost certainty. You will report directly to senior management. You will operate as a senior — autonomously, with judgement, and with the full expectation that you will tell us when something is wrong rather than wait to be asked.

Responsibilities
Project management (core)
• Run 2–4 live Australian projects concurrently across residential, commercial, custom, and KDR work.
• Own each project end-to-end: kickoff ? preliminary ? tender/contract ? construction ? handover.
• Maintain document hygiene: folder structure, naming conventions, revision control, audit trail. Anyone in the team can find any document in under 30 seconds because of how you set it up.
• Maintain live registers: RFIs, scope changes, approvals, procurement status, action lists, decision log.
• Issue weekly project updates that are short, clear, and decision-oriented — what shifted, what's blocked, what we need to d ---------- .
• Capture meeting notes and action lists with owner and due date — chase them until closed.
• Maintain safety document registers: SWMS, inductions, licences, insurances, SDS, i ---------- /hazard reports, risk assessments. Use AI-assisted drafting only as a starting point — every detail must be checked against real scope, site conditions, and trade methodology before submission.
• Support progress claims and handover — checklists, defect tracking, close-out compilation.
• Identify slow or broken processes and propose improvements. We expect at least one substantive process improvement per month — proposed, agreed, and run by you.
Estimation (core)
• Prepare preliminary budgets from early information (scope notes, concept drawings, early consultant inputs).
• Complete detailed take-offs from final drawings and engineering documentation.
• Read and work with AutoCAD drawings — annotate, mark up, query inconsistencies.
• Produce inclusions, exclusions, and assumptions lists that remove ambiguity.
• Issue quote requests to suppliers and subcontractors, follow up, close gaps.
• Check that quotes match drawings and specifications (scope completeness, missing items, AS compliance).
• Maintain an estimating cost database — keep it current as we learn from real projects.
• Prepare tender summaries: trade coverage, allowances, missing information, risks, recommendations.
• Price scope changes before and during construction. Approval-ready format. Track approval status.
• Track estimate-vs-actual on every project — wastage is your number, and you watch it.

Supplier and vendor relationships (core)

You will be one of our main points of contact for Australian suppliers, vendors, and subcontractors. You will build and maintain those relationships through direct phone conversations and email. You will negotiate, clarify, follow up, and resolve issues. You will be polite, professional, and persistent. You will not hide behind email when a phone call would be faster or clearer. This is a phone-based role. If you are uncomfortable on calls in English, please do not apply.

3D modelling (bonus / additional)

If you also have 3D modelling and rendering skills — interior, exterior, or design coordination — tell us. We will use it. We are not hiring you for it, but we will value it as a strong differentiator and you will get to use it on projects we want to put our name on.

How we want you to work

We expect you to operate like a senior. Own your projects end-to-end, manage three jobs without dropping balls, and do not need someone to tell you what to do next. We hire people who improve things, not people who maintain them. If you spot a process that is slow, sloppy, or missing — we want you to suggest something better, propose how, and then run it.
You will work directly with senior management. That means fast decisions, real authority, and real accountability. It also means we expect you to tell us when something looks wrong — in a drawing, in a quote, in a brief, in this job post — rather than nod along and hope. We respect candidates who push back politely. We have no time for people who guess and pretend.
Speaking of building things — we like to hire people who actually make things with their own hands, not just spreadsheets. So when you write back, somewhere in the body of your reply (not as a section heading, please), tell us in two or three honest sentences about one thing you have personally made, fixed, or built in the last twelve months. It can be small — a meal you were proud of, a piece of furniture from offcuts, a wall you patched yourself, a side project, a scale model, a vegetable garden, anything tangible that you actually did with your own time. We are not looking for impressive. We are looking for real. The reason we ask is simple: people who make things tend to think about how things go together. People who only describe things rarely catch the gaps.

Our culture (and where this role can take you)

We work hard, we deliver, and we have fun. We celebrate wins. We argue ideas, not people. We don't micromanage and we don't tolerate excuses. If you want a place to coast, this isn't it. If you want a place to grow, it is.
We are growing fast. Strong performers don't stay in the same role for long. Within 12–18 months — assuming you hit your KPIs and goals (including estimate-vs-wastage targets) — your role can grow into BOTH:
• People management — a small team of estimators / project coordinators reporting to you, with you owning their growth, training, and output.
• Delivery ownership — full accountability for end-to-end delivery on a portfolio of projects.
This is not a “maybe one day” carrot. It is how we hire and how we grow. We are looking for someone who can grow into both of those responsibilities — not just do the work in front of them today.
Quality assurance — you build and run it
You build, run, and improve the QA system that ensures your work is consistently high quality before it reaches us for review. At minimum it must include checklists for:
• Take-offs — drawing references, revision check, scope coverage, allowances, unknowns.
• AutoCAD drawing checks — revision number, scale, dimensions, layer hygiene, callouts referenced.
• Quote scope checks — included, excluded, missing, assumptions, AS compliance flags.
• Scope change pricing — inputs received, drawings referenced, rate source, calcs checked, approval-ready format.
• Safety documentation — correct trade, correct activity, correct site/job, version control, expiry checks, no invented details.
• A definition of done for each deliverable type — so nothing is sent half-finished.

Key performance indicators
These are the standards your work will be measured against. Hitting them is what earns you the team and delivery responsibility we described above.
Area Standard
On-time delivery ? 95% of committed deliverables completed by the agreed time.
Multi-project capability Run 2–4 live projects concurrently without dropped tasks or missed deadlines.
Daily time logging Time entries every working day, against the correct project + task.
Quote turnaround Quote comparisons + recommendations within 24–48 hours of receiving inputs.
Take-off accuracy No repeated misses; clear references and assumptions every time. AutoCAD revisions verified.
Estimate vs. wastage Track estimated vs actual on every project. Wastage tracked, reported, and reduced over time. This is your number.
Tender clarity Every tender includes inclusions, exclusions, assumptions, and a short risk/unknowns list.
PO accuracy ? 95% correctly raised and linked to supporting documentation.
Supplier engagement Direct phone + email contact maintained. Issues resolved at source. Strong, professional working relationships.
Trade compliance Required documents collected and current before trades start.
Process improvements At least one substantive, actionable improvement per month, with implementation owned by you.
Evidence standard Numbers and compliance statements traceable to drawings, quotes, or registers. No fabricated details.
30 / 60 / 90 day plan
Window Focus What we expect
By 30 days Up and running. Fully integrated into our systems and ways of working. Daily time logging. First take-offs and quote comparisons delivered with evidence. Documentation hygiene running across all live projects. Personal QA system v1 in use. By day 30, we should be sending you work and trusting it back.
By 60 days Operating at a higher level. Running 2–3 live projects end-to-end with minimal direction. Tender turnaround at our KPI standard. Long-lead and decision tracker live. Direct supplier/vendor relationships established and managed. First substantive process improvement proposed AND implemented. By day 60, you are not asking us how to do things — you are telling us how you are doing them, and why.
By 90 days Leadership track begins. Fully owning your delivery lane. Estimate-vs-wastage tracked and trending in the right direction. 3+ improved templates or workflows adopted by the team. Simple reporting that helps us d ---------- quickly. Consistent “one step ahead” behaviour. We are starting conversations about your growth — what additional team support you need, and what taking on people management looks like for you.
Salary
Negotiable based on experience. Top of band is reserved for candidates who can credibly demonstrate strong Australian project management plus proven estimation depth (take-offs, AutoCAD literacy, supplier relationships). Open to higher for the right person — but you will need to show us why.
Perks and benefits
• 13th month bonus after 6 months probation.
• 3 vacation leaves and 3 sick leaves after 6 months probation.
• Filipino public holidays observed.
• Paid training included — we invest in your development.
• Direct working relationship with senior management. Fast decisions. Real authority. Real accountability.
• Annual review for raise and bonus based on performance.
• Internet upgrade paid for if you are the right person and your connection isn't fast enough.
• Interesting, ambitious projects you can be proud to put on your portfolio.

Career path
Strong performers grow with us. The path forward from this role — once KPIs and goals are consistently being hit — is into a role with both people responsibility AND delivery responsibility: a small team reporting to you, plus full accountability for end-to-end delivery on a portfolio of projects. We promote from within. We are deliberately hiring people we plan to grow.