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Modular Estimator

interstates

Topeka, KS
Uncategorized

Job Score

70 pts
On-site model (+70)

Take Charge of Your Career at Interstates

At Interstates, we don’t just show up to work, we show up for each other. From our headquarters in Iowa to job sites across the country, we’re doing award-winning electrical, controls, automation, and OT work that powers industrial facilities for clients here in the U.S. and around the world. Whether you’re bending conduit, wiring panels, writing code, supporting projects, or helping things run behind the scenes, you’ll be part of a crew that works hard, shares laughs, and takes pride in doing quality work. We believe in building strong teams, doing the right thing, and making a difference in the communities where we live. If you want to grow and do meaningful work, you’ll feel at home here. 


Are you an electrician or estimator ready to apply your field experience in an office-based role? As a Modular Estimator at Interstates, you’ll develop timely, accurate estimates for modular electrical construction projects while supporting clients across a variety of industrial markets.

You’ll collaborate with estimators, project managers, project engineers, clients, and design professionals to deliver competitive, well-defined proposals. This role is an opportunity to expand your estimating expertise while helping Interstates pursue better ways to serve our clients and communities.

Our Culture

At Interstates, we treat each other like family. Our team is built on Dependability, Integrity, Trust, Quality, and Family.

  • Work with caring teammates who support one another.
  • Be recognized as an individual—not just a number.
  • Balance work and personal commitments through flexible scheduling.
  • Build connections through team gatherings and social activities.
  • Give back through company-sponsored community and charitable events.

Our Why

At Interstates, we believe in:

  • Providing opportunities for our people
  • Making a difference with our clients and communities
  • Pursuing a better way

Watch a Day in the Life of an Estimator

https://youtu.be/vavZuE2FLsI?si=DitBTJm33IiMT1Gv

Responsibilities

The Estimating Department produces project-specific construction estimates based on client requirements, drawings, specifications, and other project information. As a Modular Estimator, you will:

  • Develop accurate, timely estimates for modular electrical construction projects, supporting competitive bids and client proposals.
  • Analyze and interpret drawings, specifications, and scope requirements.
  • Prepare budget pricing from schematic drawings, narratives, and preliminary project information.
  • Identify and price value-engineered alternatives to plans and specifications.
  • Draft scope letters, proposals, bid packages, and vendor solicitations.
  • Attend job walks, pre-bid meetings, and project discussions with clients and design professionals as needed.
  • Collaborate with estimators, project managers, and project engineers on change orders and cost-to-complete estimates for active projects.
  • Help develop and communicate company estimating standards for design-build and plans-and-specifications work.
  • Manage competing deadlines in an efficient, composed, and detail-oriented manner.
  • Perform other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

  • Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook, Office, and Adobe Acrobat.
  • Knowledge of electrical code requirements and basic electrical calculations, including voltage drop, Ohm’s law, conduit fill, wire ampacity, and derating, is preferred.
  • Strong analytical, problem-solving, and organizational skills.
  • Ability to read and interpret electrical drawings, specifications, and construction documents.
  • Ability to calculate figures and amounts accurately.
  • Strong attention to detail, sound judgment, and ability to prioritize work effectively.
  • Clear verbal and written communication skills.
  • Self-motivated team player who works effectively with supervisors, peers, and cross-functional teams.
  • Two or more years of electrical construction or electrical estimating experience preferred.

Education

A high school diploma or GED is required. Additional education or equivalent experience in estimating, construction management, finance, business administration, or a related field is preferred.

Location and Travel

  • Location: Sioux Center, IA, Omaha, NE or Topeka, KS.
  • Travel: Occasional travel to job sites near Sioux Center, IA, Omaha, NE, or Topeka, KS, based on business needs; approximately 10% travel.

Benefits of Working at Interstates

  • 401(k) retirement plan with company match
  • Health, dental, and vision insurance
  • Short- and long-term disability and group life insurance
  • Paid time off, holiday pay, and flexible scheduling
  • End-of-fiscal-year incentives and merit increases
  • Company discount program with national brands
  • Company-sponsored holiday events, team celebrations, and community volunteer opportunities
  • Career advancement opportunities aligned with your long-term goals
  • Career coaching and continued education opportunities for licensed electricians
  • A family- and safety-focused culture that cares about you as a whole person

Build a career that’s built to last. Apply today and see how Interstates can help you grow.

 

Interstates. Let's Build Logo

What You Should Know Before You Apply

Interstates may collect personal information as part of your job application, such as your contact details, work history, education, and any information you provide. This information is used only for recruitment, to evaluate your candidacy, and to meet legal requirements. For details about our privacy practices and your rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), please see our Privacy Policy. By applying, you acknowledge that you have reviewed this notice.

Interstates is an EEO provider and offers a drug-free workplace.  Employment at Interstates is at-will and may be terminated at any time with or without notice or cause, except as otherwise provided by law.

Discover Other Areas

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Key skills include video production and editing (Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut), motion graphics (After Effects), animation (Blender, Cinema 4D), sound design, podcast production, live streaming (OBS Studio), and photography. Knowledge of visual storytelling, rhythm, and art direction is a differentiator.

Audiovisual professionals in technology companies are highly valued, especially those who master motion graphics, social media videos, and content for digital platforms. The field offers opportunities from videomaker to head of audiovisual, with a focus on creativity, technical quality, and storytelling.

About Blockchain

The Blockchain area involves the development and implementation of secure and distributed transaction ledgers. Professionals in this field work with smart contract development, cryptography, consensus algorithms, and platforms such as Ethereum, Hyperledger, and Solana, ensuring security and decentralization for various types of applications.

About Traffic Manager

The Traffic Manager is the professional responsible for planning, executing, and optimizing paid media campaigns across various digital platforms. With the competitiveness of the digital market, paid traffic professionals are essential for generating qualified leads and maximizing return on advertising investment.

Key skills include campaign management on Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and TikTok Ads, media planning, metrics analysis (ROAS, CPA, CPC, CTR), A/B testing, remarketing, and landing page creation. Tools like Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Hotjar, and automation platforms are essential.

Traffic managers in technology companies are highly valued, especially those who master performance marketing, conversion funnel optimization, and scaling strategies. The field offers opportunities from media analyst to head of performance, with a focus on growth, budget efficiency, and return on investment.

About UX Design

The User Experience (UX) Design area focuses on optimizing the overall user experience when interacting with a product or service. UX professionals conduct user research (UX Research), map journeys, create wireframes, perform usability tests, and define navigation flows to ensure the product is intuitive, useful, and meets users' real needs.

About Backend

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Tech & Remote Glossary

Stop getting lost in interviews and job descriptions

The job market, especially within tech and global companies, has developed its own dialect. Not understanding these acronyms can make you lose valuable opportunities or poorly negotiate your contract. To end this problem, we created the Definitive Glossary for the Remote Professional.

🏢 Work Models & Routine

Async (Asynchronous Work)
A communication model where responses don't need to be immediate. Instead of back-to-back meetings, the team relies on well-structured documents, threads, and messages. It's the gold standard for global companies spanning multiple time zones.
Sync (Synchronous Work)
The opposite of Async. It requires the team to be online and available at the same time for meetings, live chats, and real-time collaboration.
Daily / Stand-up
A quick daily meeting (usually 15 minutes) common in Agile (Scrum) methodologies. The team answers three questions: What did I do yesterday? What will I do today? Are there any blockers?
All-Hands / Town Hall
A company-wide meeting involving all employees. Usually led by the founders (C-Levels) to present results, new goals, and answer team questions.
1:1 (One-on-One)
A recurring individual meeting between a professional and their direct manager. It is used for career alignment, feedback, and problem-solving, not just for project status updates.

💰 Contracts, Benefits & Compensation

PTO (Paid Time Off)
Instead of strict, categorized leave policies, modern US companies usually offer a flexible pool of days (e.g., 20 days of PTO, or even "Unlimited PTO") that you can use for vacations, sick days, or personal matters, while receiving your regular compensation.
Equity / Stock Options
Company ownership. The startup offers you the right to buy shares at a heavily discounted strike price in the future. If the company grows, goes public, or is acquired, these shares can be highly lucrative.
Vesting (Vesting Schedule)
The rule that controls your Equity. It usually lasts 4 years. You don't get all the shares on day one; you "earn" them gradually as you stay with the company. A "1-year Cliff" means you must stay for at least one year to receive your first batch of shares.
RSUs (Restricted Stock Units)
Unlike Stock Options (where you have the right to buy the stock), RSUs are actual shares the company grants you as a bonus or part of your compensation package, following a strict Vesting schedule.
Independent Contractor (1099 / B2B)
The most common international hiring model for global talent working for US companies. You act as a service provider (business-to-business), receiving the gross salary (often six-figure compensation) without standard local payroll tax deductions at the source.

🤖 Recruitment & Hiring Process

ATS (Applicant Tracking System)
The "robot" that reads your resume. Software like Greenhouse, Ashby, and Workday are used to filter candidates by keywords before a human even looks at the document. (Pro tip: this is why your resume must be clean, semantic, and have the right keywords).
JD (Job Description)
The document that lists the responsibilities, technical requirements, and benefits of the open position.
Cultural Fit
The interview stage that evaluates if your core values, communication style, and worldview align with the company's culture. This is the ultimate test of your Soft Skills.
Onboarding
The integration process. It's the period of your first few weeks at the company, where you get your access credentials, learn about the culture, study the internal documentation, and understand how the product works.

🚀 How to use this to your advantage?

The secret isn't just knowing what these acronyms mean, but using them actively. If during an interview for a premium tech role you ask, "How does your PTO policy and Vesting schedule work?", the recruiter will immediately perceive you as a high-level professional, familiar with the global market standards.

The remote job market requires preparation. And having the right vocabulary is the first big step to securing six-figure proposals and standing out among thousands of applicants.

Expert Tip

How to Build an Unbeatable Resume in 2026

At Mondywork, our engine analyzes hundreds of the best remote jobs daily. If there's one thing we've learned from observing the backend of elite recruiting platforms like Greenhouse, Ashby, and Workday, it's this: a good resume isn't the prettiest one; it's the most efficient one.

Many highly qualified professionals miss out on golden opportunities (and six-figure remote roles) simply because their resumes fail to communicate their value within seconds or get trapped in automated corporate filters.

To change that game, we've gathered the best market practices, rooted in data and the brightest minds in global recruiting.

1. The 7.4-Second Rule (The Skimming Test)

The biggest mistake candidates make is assuming the recruiter will read their resume like a book. The reality is much colder.

A famous study conducted by the career and recruiting firm Ladders, using eye-tracking technology, revealed that recruiters spend an average of only 7.4 seconds scanning a resume before deciding whether the candidate moves forward to the next round.

How to optimize your resume for the 7.4 seconds:

  • Clear Visual Hierarchy: Recruiters instinctively look for your Job Title, Current Company, and Dates of Employment. Make this information effortless to find.
  • Bullet Points Only: Never use large blocks of text. The human brain scans lists much more easily.
  • Focus on the Top Third: The top third of your resume (your professional summary and your most recent experience) is your "premium real estate." Your biggest selling points must live there.

2. Google's XYZ Formula for Experience

Most people describe what they did at work (their responsibilities). Recruiters want to know what you achieved (your results).

Laszlo Bock, former Senior Vice President of People Operations at Google, popularized the ultimate methodology for writing experience bullet points: The XYZ Formula.

The structure is simple and powerful:

"Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y], by doing [Z]."

  • Bad (Task-focused): "Wrote code for the payment platform."
  • Good (Result-focused): "Improved the speed of the payment platform."
  • The Google Standard (XYZ Formula): "Increased payment processing speed by 15% (X), reducing page load time by 1.2 seconds (Y), by refactoring the legacy API to Node.js (Z)."

Pro Tip: Whether you're in Digital Marketing, Design, or Tech, use hard metrics. Talk about conversion percentages, cost reductions, active user growth, or hours saved.

3. Beat the Bots: ATS Optimization

Over 99% of Fortune 500 companies and a vast majority of tech startups use ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems). These are software programs that read and filter resumes before a human ever lays eyes on them.

Austin Belcak, founder of Cultivated Culture and employability expert, analyzed over 125,000 resumes and found that complex formatting is the number one enemy of getting hired.

How to pass the ATS filter:

  • Ditch the Canvas (mostly): Resumes with dual columns, skill progress bars (e.g., "70% in JavaScript"), and graphic icons frequently confuse bots, which extract text in a jumbled mess.
  • Use a Linear Format: A simple Word or Google Docs document, saved as a PDF, with single-column formatting (reading top to bottom) is the safest template in the world.
  • Keyword Mirroring: ATS software runs on keywords. Read the job description on Mondywork and ensure the required hard skills (e.g., React, SEO, Figma, Agile) are explicitly written on your resume.

4. The Professional Summary (Your Elevator Pitch)

The traditional "Objective" statement ("Looking for an opportunity to grow within the company") is dead. Today, what works is the Executive Summary.

Use 3 or 4 lines at the very top of your resume to define who you are, your core specialty, and your biggest career win.

Example: "Mid-level Front-end Developer with 4 years of experience in e-commerce. Specialist in React and performance optimization (Web Vitals), with a proven track record of increasing mobile checkout conversion rates by 20%."

🚀 Ready to test your new Resume?

Now that your resume is optimized for the competitive US market and entirely focused on results, it's time to put it in play.

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