I’m seeing more postings pushing Estimator/PM roles that include precon, buyout, and contract drafting without a defined fee structure. If you’re carrying GMP development and writing subcontracts on roughly $30–50M awarded annually, what base/bonus mix have you landed, and is it pegged to hit rate or gross margin achieved at award?
On $30–50M awarded, I’ve landed $150–180k base plus 0.5–1.5% of awarded gross margin, paid 50% at award and 50% at 50% completion with a close‑out true‑up — chasing hit rate alone turns you into a bid machine. If they want “no defined fee structure,” counter with a GM-based grid with a floor (10% of base) and a cap (25%) so you’re not subsidizing bad backlog. What market and delivery type — CMAR or hard-bid?
And building on @s_hu86, I’d push for “pay on realized GM, not hit rate”: base around 160–185 with about 1.0–1.25% of realized gross margin, 20% held until about 75% WIP, plus a small precon stipend per pursuit so you’re not eating RFP time. Add a margin floor/ceiling (no clawback unless GM drops >100 bps from buyout) and a kicker for VE/change-order GM you originate — otherwise you’re measuring blueprints, not buildings.
If you’re carrying GMP development and drafting the subs, the lever that’s helped me is baking the payout schedule into comp: pay on executed GMP and verified buyout savings, with a small close‑out true‑up. I also push for a floor per $10M awarded so the year isn’t sunk if an owner stalls approvals, and I trade that for explicit authority over contingency and vendor selection. Would your team let you codify a “buyout savings share” (e.g., 10–15%) instead of chasing an “undefined fee structure”?
One lever that’s worked for me is paying on “portfolio GM, not job‑by‑job”: base around 170, plus about 0.8–1.2% on the blended realized margin of your $30–50M book with a collar (no payout below a 6% hurdle, kicker above 10%), and a small $2–5k spiff per executed GMP to acknowledge the paper chase. It’s a seatbelt for volatility and keeps upside if you outperform; carve out owner-driven scope changes from the calc; would your shop entertain a 12‑month rolling basis instead of tracking each job separately?
I’d add a “fade/fill clause”: bonus pays on realized GM after fee erosion, with a small kicker on confirmed buyout savings only if they’re locked in the sub scopes and still intact at about 50% install — so you don’t get paid on sandcastles. No clawbacks for owner‑driven changes. @n_moore1990 have you had pushback separating a modest precon stipend so base isn’t doing all the lifting?
At my last shop I was at 170 base with a 20% target split 40/60 — 40% at contract signing, 60% trued up at mid‑project/closeout against budget‑to‑buy variance and DSO, gated by a 33% win rate; the clause that saved me was “no ding for owner‑driven scope adds.” @kfrost34 would you bake that gate in or just collar it?