Preconstruction Specialist, Buyout and Bid Spread

ICON Builders is a nationally recognized general contractor specializing in occupied affordable housing renovations. For more than 30 years, we have partnered with owners, developers, and housing authorities to renovate multifamily communities while residents remain in their homes. With more than 25,000 apartment homes successfully renovated across the United States, our commitment to safety, quality, integrity, and collaboration has earned us a reputation for excellence throughout the industry.

Own the mechanics of buyout so the Project Manager can focus on the award decision. This role builds the bid spread, levels scope, exposes gaps between the estimate and the market, and carries each trade from solicitation to a fully scoped, ready to execute subcontract recommendation. The Project Manager retains award authority. The specialist owns everything up to that point and everything after it that is administrative.

• Build and maintain the bidder list by trade and by market, working from ICON’s qualified subcontractor database and expanding it in unfamiliar geographies.
• Issue invitations to bid with complete scope documents, manage the question and addendum flow and confirm coverage well before the bid date.
• Escalate thin coverage early rather than reporting it after the fact.

• Build the trade-by-trade bid spread comparing each proposal against the estimate, the scope of work and the drawings.
• Level scope by identifying exclusions, clarifications, unit price assumptions, allowances and quantity differences, then normalize every bidder to a common basis.
• Flag scope gaps between trades so nothing falls between two subcontracts.
• Quantify buyout variance against the estimate by trade and roll it into a project level Buyout report for the PM and executive review.

• Prepare the award recommendation package with the leveled spread, the recommended bidder and the rationale.
• Prepare the scope of work exhibit for the selected subcontractor and route it through the contracts lane.
• Track buyout progress against the buyout schedule and report status weekly.

• Minimum three qualified bidders on every significant trade, or a documented reason why not.
• Bid spread issued to the PM within 5 business days of the bid date.
• Buyout completed against the project buyout schedule with no trade left unbought past its required start.
• Buyout variance tracked and explainable by trade, with favorable variance captured rather than absorbed.
• No change order attributable to a scope gap that leveling should have caught.

• Strong Excel skills. Comfort building and maintaining a working spread, not just filling one in.
• Ability to read an estimate and a scope of work and identify what a bidder quietly left out.
• Working knowledge of Davis Bacon and prevailing wage implications on HUD and publicly funded work is a plus.

• 2 or more years in construction preconstruction, project engineering, or project administration. Multifamily renovation preferred.
• Strong written communication. These roles live in email and in formal transmittals.
• Comfort holding subcontractors and design team members to a due date without escalating every conversation.
• Proficiency in Procore or comparable PM software, Bluebeam, Excel and Microsoft Office.
• Willingness to travel occasionally for project startup or turnover.

ICON Builders offers a competitive benefits package that may include:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• FSA and HSA
• 401(k) with Company Match
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Paid Holidays
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

ICON Builders is an…