About Manhattan Plumbing & Heating (MPH)

MPH is a 90+ person construction and service company serving some of Southwest Montana’s most demanding residential and commercial clients. With revenues exceeding $20 MM, a strong reputation, and a deeply integrated Sage 100 environment, we self-perform mechanical and civil scopes that require precision, planning, and discipline.

Our excavation group tackles complex projects in challenging terrain: steep slopes, tight access, weather swings, and long-haul logistics. We are building the next chapter of our civil capabilities and need a dedicated estimator to anchor that growth.

We are disciplined, team-oriented, and focused on doing things the right way. This role is central to pricing work intelligently and setting the field up to execute safely and profitably.

 

Why This Role Matters

MPH’s excavation work has reached the point where estimating and preconstruction are strategic, not just transactional. We have an experienced Excavation Manager, strong field leadership, and solid systems. What we need is a civil-focused partner who:

• Brings rigor and realism to how we price and sequence work

• Understands how mountain terrain changes production, risk, and logistics

• Helps re-establish a competitive edge in the local market without giving away margin

If you enjoy thinking in sequence, challenging assumptions respectfully, and turning drawings, contours, and haul roads into grounded numbers, this is a high-impact seat where your judgment will be visible every day.

 

The Opportunity: What You’ll Lead

You will own civil estimating and preconstruction for complex excavation projects, partnering closely with the Excavation Manager and operations to price work accurately, sequence it intelligently, and set projects up to win before the first bucket hits the ground.

1\. Civil / Excavation Estimating Excellence

• Prepare accurate, defensible estimates for excavation and civil scopes, including foundations, hillside work, site development, utilities, and infrastructure

• Build estimates grounded in real-world production assumptions that reflect terrain, access, weather, elevation, and long-haul logistics

• Identify and quantify major cost drivers (rock, groundwater, traffic control, trucking, export/import, etc.) before bids go out

• Surface viable alternates and VE options early so leadership can make informed decisions on scope and strategy

2\. Preconstruction Planning, Sequencing & Risk

• Price projects with realistic sequencing, staging, and site constraints fully accounted for

• Flag constructability issues early and collaborate with the Excavation Manager on means and methods

• Call out risk factors (schedule, access, utilities, geotech, third parties) and frame options, not just problems

• Provide leadership with a trusted second opinion on cost, duration, and risk for key pursuits

3\. Handoff & Field Partnership

• Own a clean, well-documented handoff from estimate to field that sets operations up to execute as planned

• Translate the estimate into quantities, production targets, and simple, field-usable narratives

• Participate in pre-job meetings to align on scope, assumptions, and sequence

• Close the loop at job closeout: compare estimated vs. actual and help sharpen the next estimate

4\. Systems, Data & Sage 100 Integration

• Ensure estimating workflows integrate smoothly with Sage 100 and existing financial systems

• Maintain and improve historical cost data, production rates, and template assemblies

• Help refine how excavation estimates map into job-cost structures so that field performance is visible to ownership

• Suggest and implement incremental process improvements rather than one-off workarounds

 

What Success Looks Like (12–18 Months)

By the end of year one, success in this role looks like:

• Tighter, more defensible excavation and civil estimates that leadership trusts

• Bid hit rate improves without margin erosion

• Field execution tracks closely to estimated cost and schedule on the majority of awarded work

• Clear visibility into the main cost and risk drivers on each bid, with alternatives considered upfront

• Estimating inputs flow cleanly into Sage 100 and job-cost reporting

• The Excavation Manager and field teams see you as a go-to partner, not a spreadsheet in a different room
  
  

Who You Are

Technical Excellence

• Civil / excavation estimating experience in mountain or alpine environments (Southwest Montana, Idaho, Colorado, or similar regions)

• Strong plan reading, site visualization, and comfort working from incomplete or evolving information

• Hands-on experience with earthwork, foundations, utilities, and infrastructure takeoffs

• Cost modeling for trucking, export/import, and material movement; understanding how terrain and haul distance change the math

• Solid grasp of production rates in steep terrain and harsh conditions

• Familiarity with estimating and accounting systems; Sage 100 experience is a plus but not required

Mindset & Soft Skills

• Operational mindset: you think in sequence, not just quantities

• Comfortable challenging assumptions respectfully and constructively with both office and field

• Clear communicator with field leaders, PMs, and ownership; can translate between plans, numbers, and real-world conditions

• Sound judgment under ambiguity and complex site conditions; willing to slow down the conversation when risk is being underweighted

• Collaborative by default; no silos between estimating and operations

• Long-term, ownership mentality: you care about what happens after the bid is won
  
  

Who This Is For

This role is well suited for someone who:

• Has real experience in mountain or alpine environments and understands how they change risk and production

• Wants to own excavation and civil estimating, not just assist occasionally

• Enjoys being in dialogue with operations, not working in a spreadsheet-only vacuum

It is not a fit for candidates who:

• Have only flatwork, paving, or strictly residential-only estimating backgrounds with no exposure to complex civil scopes

• Come from non-civil trades and want to “learn excavation on the fly” in a senior seat

• Prefer a detached, spreadsheet-only estimating role without close collaboration with field operations

Compensation & Details

• Salary: Competitive and commensurate with experience

• Bonus: Performance-based, tied to company and individual results

• Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, retirement match, PTO

• Location: Onsite in the Gallatin Valley (Manhattan/Bozeman), MT

• Environment: Founder-led, field-oriented, high-trust; close partnership with Excavation Manager and operations
  
  

Join Us

If you’re energized by complex civil work in real mountains, enjoy sharpening numbers with the people who have to live with them, and want real ownership of estimating and preconstruction, we would love to meet you.

This is a chance to anchor the estimating function for a growing excavation group inside a company that is ready for and excited about the expertise you bring.