About FMA Builders

Founded in 1991, FMA Builders is a high-end residential general contractor based in San Francisco, building custom homes and estates throughout the greater Bay Area. Our portfolio includes more than 200 high-end residential projects of varying size, style, and complexity.

We are known for proactive project management with a strong emphasis on cost and schedule control, and for the white-glove service we provide while building and maintaining our clients’ homes. FMA has intentionally remained small enough that every project receives direct attention from one or more principals, alongside dedicated project managers and superintendents who work in close coordination with the field.

Role Overview

The Project Engineer / Assistant Project Manager (Estimating-Focused) is an early-career builder who sits at the intersection of estimating, project controls, and project management support. You will support high-end residential projects with drawing control, RFIs and submittals, bid coordination, and meeting logistics, while also playing a meaningful role in pre-construction and budgeting alongside FMA principals and senior PMs.

You’ll work directly with project managers day-to-day and with principals on estimating and project analysis, learning how scopes, costs, and schedules actually come together on the kind of houses most builders don’t see this early in their career. Over time, the role can increase in estimating responsibility, support a greater number of projects, or grow into a full PM track, depending on your strengths and interests.

Work Environment

• Location: FMA’s office at 665 Third Street, Suite 430, San Francisco, CA 94107, with regular travel to projects across the San Francisco Bay Area.

• Schedule: Full-time, hourly, with standard business hours with flexibility tied to project and meeting needs.

• Office / field mix: Primarily office-based (estimating, project controls, coordination) with recurring field visits to stay close to how the work is actually built.

• Collaboration: Daily interaction with project managers, superintendents, accounting/operations (who run Sage 100 Contractor), and occasionally directly with principals on estimating and special efforts.

Key Outcomes

1\. Estimates that reflect real scope, not just numbers

• Pull and organize historic cost and duration data and prior project budgets into usable inputs for new estimates.

• Perform room-by-room and system-by-system takeoffs in CAD/Bluebeam and translate them into structured estimating spreadsheets.

• Coordinate with subcontractors for budget pricing and scope clarifications, documenting assumptions so decisions are made with eyes open.

2\. Project information is current and reliable

• Maintain drawing sets, revisions, and logs in Procore so field teams and PMs are always working from the latest information.

• Draft and route RFIs and submittals with PM oversight, track responses, and ensure decisions are reflected in the documents and logs.

• Keep core logs (RFIs, submittals, issues, decisions) clean and current enough that leaders can quickly see what’s open, resolved, or at risk.

3\. Bid coordination and procurement run smoothly

• Help structure and issue clear bid packages.

• Track incoming bids and organize questions/clarifications so comparisons are accurate and complete.

• Support PMs and principals in aligning bids with historic cost data and project constraints to inform award decisions.

4\. Project financials and historic data connect to reality

• Partner with PMs and the accounting team (who run Sage 100 Contractor for accounting, payroll, and job cost) to ensure budgets, commitments, and changes stay aligned.

• Review and help interpret basic job-cost and cost-to-complete reports, connecting what’s in Sage 100 to what’s happening on site and in Procore.

• Help reconcile estimating assumptions, buyout decisions, and in-field changes so the financial picture of each project stays clear.

5\. Meetings drive decisions and follow-through

• Prepare concise agendas and packets for OAC and internal coordination meetings (updates, key decisions needed, financial/estimating context).

• Capture decisions, action items, and owners during meetings, then close the loop with clear, timely follow-up.

• Ensure that what’s agreed in meetings shows up in the schedule, logs, and next-step tasks rather than living only in people’s heads.

6\. Historic data and tools are used thoughtfully, not blindly

• Learn FMA’s internal tools for cost-per-square-foot, durations, and class-code cost history and keep them organized and up to date.

• Know when a high-level benchmark is sufficient and when a deeper, line-item estimate is required.

• Surface situations where historical analogs don’t fit (new assemblies, unusual sites, atypical scopes) instead of forcing mismatched comparisons.

Qualifications

Experience & Background

• 2–5 years of experience as a project engineer, assistant project manager, field engineer, or similar; stronger or adjacent backgrounds will be considered.

• Experience with a general contractor environment; exposure to high-end custom residential is a plus but not required.

• Comfort working on complex, multi-stakeholder projects (multiple consultants, tight sites, high-detail interiors, or similar complexity).

Technical Skills

• Ability to interpret architectural and consultant drawings.

• Familiarity with RFIs, submittalås, and basic construction logs.

• You enjoy spreadsheets, organized data, and building clear, structured ways of looking at scope and cost.

• Proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets and comfort with Bluebeam or comparable takeoff tools for quantity takeoffs and markups.

• Working understanding of estimating basics.

• Ability to collaborate with an accounting team using Sage 100 Contractor and comfortable reading basic job-cost and cost-to-complete reports.

Soft Skills & Traits

• Curious builder’s mindset: you want to understand how complex homes actually go together, not just move paperwork.

• Strong organization and follow-through: you keep information tidy, close loops, and make it easy for others to trust your work.

• Clear, direct communication: you leave no room for confusion on the part of subcontractors and vendors about what is and isn’t included.

• Low-ego, collaborative orientation: comfortable supporting multiple PMs and working closely with principals, superintendents, accounting, and subs.

Education & Credentials

• Degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Architecture, or related field preferred, or equivalent practical experience.

• Relevant GC or high-end residential internships/co-ops strongly preferred.

Compensation & Benefits

FMA pays all roles hourly, including this one.

• Full-time hourly role: Target range $55–$65 per hour, depending on experience and fit. For exceptional candidates with deeper experience or unique value, FMA is open to considering higher rates.

• Bonus / profit sharing: Eligibility for FMA’s annual performance-based bonus / profit-sharing programs.

• Retirement: FMA offers a 401(k) / Cash-Balance-Plan hybrid. Historically, employees have received employer contributions of up to 10% of W-2 wages, even if they choose not to contribute. The plan includes a built-in safe-harbor component that ensures a guaranteed employer-funded contribution each year.

• Health insurance: We do not currently offer a company medical plan. We structure compensation with this in mind, and many employees use spouse coverage or the individual market.

• Other benefits: FMA also offers PTO and perks such as parking or toll reimbursement, phone stipend, and, where helpful, a gas card; specific details for this role will be aligned with company-wide programs at the time of hire.

Culture & Values

FMA’s team philosophy centers on building and maintaining high-quality homes while providing white-glove service — and doing it in a way that keeps employees’ welfare and concerns at the center of management decisions. We aim to maintain a safe, pleasant, and productive work environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, and where employees feel like valued members of the team.

Our core values emphasize:

• Quality – attention to detail, perseverance, hard work, and skill.

• Satisfaction – delivering results for clients and for FMA.

• Culture – a “one team” mentality, growth and development, and a family feel.

• Transparency – honesty, trust, and clear communication.

• Aptitude & Drive – bringing talent, attitude, and commitment to both the work and the process.

Project Engineers / Assistant PMs are expected to lean into FMA’s open-door, suggestion-friendly culture: surfacing issues early, collaborating on solutions with PMs, superintendents, accounting, and principals, and offering ideas to improve systems and processes as they learn the business.