Capital Cost Estimator – Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP)

At Lilly, the work is demanding because patients are waiting. We unite caring with discovery to help make life better for people around the world, knowing that every decision, every detail, and every day matters. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, our over 50,000 employees around the globe take on complex challenges to discover and deliver life-changing medicines, strengthen how health is understood and managed, and support the communities we serve. This is hard, urgent, selfless work—but it’s work worth doing. If you’re driven by purpose and ready to bring your best to work that truly matters for patients, we invite you to join us. 

Position Brand Description:

The Global Facilities Delivery (GFD) Organization, part of Corporate Engineering, delivers new and renovated capital assets around the world.  Our mission is accomplished through a highly leveraged organization of design, construction and qualification contractors.

Many of the assets delivered focus on manufacturing medical innovations and delivering innovative solutions to patients.  Some of the assets delivered support an expansion in supply of existing medicines. 

Role Summary:

The MEP Capital Cost Estimator develops owner-side Class 5 through Class 1 estimates for the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, building controls, and utility distribution systems supporting complex pharmaceutical manufacturing and infrastructure projects. The role converts evolving engineering scope, design information, execution strategies, market data, and benchmarks into complete, traceable, and decision-ready estimates. The role will assess installation labor, equipment setting, supports, testing, commissioning interfaces, temporary services, and MEP trade indirect costs.

Key Objectives/Deliverables:

• Develop capital cost estimates from Class 5 through Class 1 using methods appropriate to the maturity of project definition, including capacity-factored, parametric, assembly-level, unit-rate, and detailed quantity takeoff methods.
• Prepare estimate plans, estimate workbooks, quantity takeoffs, pricing build-ups, bases of estimate, assumptions, exclusions, qualifications, and supporting documentation for assigned scopes.
• Interpret business requirements, basis-of-design information, drawings, specifications, equipment lists, process flow diagrams, P&IDs, layouts, schedules, contracting strategies, and construction execution plans to define estimate scope and cost.
• Build labor, material, equipment, subcontract, construction management, temporary facilities, logistics, indirect cost, escalation, and contingency inputs appropriate to the assigned discipline and estimate class.
• Obtain and normalize vendor budget quotes, contractor pricing, market rates, productivity factors, location factors, escalation inputs, and historical cost data.
• Identify scope gaps, overlaps, ambiguities, estimate risks, cost drivers, and missing inputs; document their treatment in the estimate and Basis of Estimate.
• Perform cost benchmarking using historical project data, comparable facilities, market intelligence, and normalized unit-cost metrics to validate estimate reasonableness, identify cost drivers, and explain variances. Develop and maintain internal benchmarking databases using actual costs from completed and active projects, and maintain current insights into relevant external benchmarks. Complete estimate reconciliation, variance analysis, and estimate-to-estimate bridging as scope and design mature.
• Support multidisciplinary estimate reviews and page-turns with project teams, engineering partners, construction partners, procurement, and project controls.
• Prepare estimate summaries and clear cost narratives for project reviews, funding decisions, value engineering, option analysis, bid evaluation, and change assessment.
• Maintain estimates in Oracle Unifier PMIS to provide a complete and auditable estimate trail.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction management, quantity surveying, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience. 
• At least 5 years of direct capital cost estimating experience for industrial, manufacturing, life sciences, or similarly complex capital projects. 
• Demonstrated experience personally developing estimates across multiple levels of project definition, including conceptual and detailed estimates.
• Qualified applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. Lilly will not provide support for or sponsor work authorization or visas for this role, including but not limited to F-1 CPT, F-1 OPT, F-1 STEM OPT, J-1, H-1B, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, or L-1

Additional Preferences:

• Experience estimating pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical, food, semiconductor, advanced manufacturing, or other process-intensive facilities. 
• Experience with both owner and contractor estimating environments. 
• Professional certification such as AACE Certified Estimating Professional (CEP), Certified Cost Professional (CCP), or an equivalent credential. 
• Experience with benchmarking, estimate reconciliation, value engineering, bid leveling, and change estimate development. 
• Familiarity with CSI MasterFormat, Uniformat, equipment-based process estimating, and owner work breakdown structures. 
• Ability to work independently, manage multiple estimate assignments, and clearly communicate limitations and uncertainty.

Additional Information:

• Must reside in or relocate to Indianapolis, Indiana, with onsite presence at Lilly Technology Center-South
• Ability to travel up to 25% including domestic and international project locations

Lilly is dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities to actively engage in the workforce, ensuring equal opportunities when vying for positions. If you require accommodation to submit a resume for a position at Lilly, please complete the accommodation request form (https://careers.lilly.com/us/en/workplace-accommodation) for further assistance. Please note this is for individuals to request an accommodation as part of the application process and any other correspondence will not receive a response.

Lilly is proud to be an EEO Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender identity, sex, gender expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, ancestry, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Our employee resource groups (ERGs) offer strong support networks for their members and are open to all employees. Our current groups include: Africa, Middle East, Central Asia (AMECA), Black Employees at Lilly (BE@Lilly), Chinese Culture Network (CCN), EnAble, Evolve, Lilly Indian Network (LIN), Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA), Pride (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN) and Women’s Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL).

Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location.  The anticipated wage for this position is

$130,500 - $211,200

Full-time equivalent employees also will be eligible for a company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance). In addition, Lilly offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees, including eligibility to participate in a company-sponsored 401(k); pension; vacation benefits; eligibility for medical, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits; flexible benefits (e.g., healthcare and/or dependent day care flexible spending accounts); life insurance and death benefits; certain time off and leave of absence benefits; and well-being benefits (e.g., employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities).Lilly reserves the right to amend, modify, or terminate its compensation and benefit programs in its sole discretion and Lilly’s compensation practices and guidelines will apply regarding the details of any promotion or transfer of Lilly employees.

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