Senior Quantity Surveyor (Data Center)

Role Overview

If you are interested in a long and rewarding career working with high-profile clients on some of the most challenging projects in the world, then Decima is where you belong. At Decima, you will have the opportunity to explore meaningful growth and professional development.

We are seeking a detail-oriented and highly motivated Senior Quantity Surveyor to provide full-lifecycle cost and commercial management support for a large-scale data center project in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The successful candidate will support the project from concept and pre-design stages through tendering, construction, commissioning, and final account. The role requires strong experience in cost planning, quantity take-offs, BOQ preparation, tender evaluation, payment certification, change control, claims, forecasting, and commercial reporting.

The ideal candidate will have direct experience working on data centers, mission-critical facilities, or technically complex projects, with strong knowledge of MEP and electromechanical systems, including major electrical, mechanical, ELV, controls, and testing and commissioning packages.

This is a client-facing role requiring close coordination with design, engineering, procurement, contracts, planning, cost control, construction, commissioning, contractors, and client representatives.

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Responsibilities

Pre-Design and Cost Planning

• Prepare concept, feasibility, preliminary, and detailed cost estimates during the early design stages.
• Develop and maintain project cost plans, budgets, benchmarks, assumptions, exclusions, contingencies, and risk allowances.
• Provide cost advice during concept design, schematic design, design development, and detailed design.
• Assess the cost impact of design options, technical solutions, scope changes, and value-engineering proposals.
• Review design information to identify scope gaps, cost risks, constructability concerns, and potential commercial impacts.
• Support cost benchmarking using historical data, market intelligence, supplier quotations, and comparable projects.
• Update estimates and cost plans as the design develops and additional information becomes available.

Quantity Take-Offs and BOQ Preparation

• Prepare and review detailed quantity take-offs from drawings, specifications, models, scope documents, and design information.
• Develop bills of quantities, schedules of rates, pricing documents, and measurement schedules.
• Measure civil, structural, architectural, infrastructure, mechanical, electrical, ELV, controls, and commissioning works.
• Ensure quantities and BOQs are accurate, complete, coordinated, and aligned with the project scope and applicable measurement standards.
• Identify omissions, duplication, discrepancies, and unclear scope within drawings, specifications, and tender documents.

Tendering and Procurement

• Support the preparation of tender packages, commercial schedules, pricing documents, and tender instructions.
• Review contractor and subcontractor tender submissions for commercial compliance and completeness.
• Conduct bid normalization, quantity comparison, rate analysis, scope-gap reviews, and commercial evaluations.
• Review exclusions, qualifications, assumptions, provisional sums, allowances, and commercial risks.
• Prepare tender clarification schedules, commercial comparison reports, and recommendation reports.
• Support contractor and supplier negotiations, value engineering, and procurement strategy.
• Ensure tender recommendations are aligned with the approved budget, project scope, and commercial objectives.

Post-Contract and Construction-Phase Management

• Review contractor payment applications, progress claims, invoices, and supporting documentation.
• Verify completed and installed quantities through site inspections, progress records, approved drawings, and inspection documentation.
• Assess materials on-site, equipment delivery milestones, retention, advance payments, and previous certifications.
• Prepare or support interim payment recommendations and payment certificates.
• Review and evaluate variations, change orders, claims, compensation events, and commercial impacts.
• Verify contractual entitlement, quantity changes, rate build-ups, supporting records, and cost substantiation.
• Prepare and maintain variation logs, payment trackers, claim registers, procurement trackers, and commercial records.
• Support the negotiation and resolution of variations, claims, and commercial disputes.
• Assist with final account preparation, evaluation, negotiation, and settlement.

Cost Control and Commercial Reporting

• Prepare monthly cost reports, budget updates, forecasts, and commercial dashboards.
• Track original budget, approved budget, committed cost, certified payments, approved variations, pending changes, and forecast final cost.
• Prepare cost-to-complete assessments, cash-flow forecasts, and financial projections.
• Monitor contingency usage, procurement commitments, commercial risks, and cost-saving opportunities.
• Identify cost discrepancies, scope gaps, potential variations, and emerging financial risks.
• Provide clear commercial recommendations and escalate material issues to project leadership.
• Support project leadership and the client with accurate, timely, and decision-focused commercial information.

Data Center and MEP Commercial Management

• Provide quantity surveying and commercial support for complex data center MEP and electromechanical systems.
• Measure and evaluate packages including, but not limited to:
  • Transformers, switchgear, generators, UPS systems, batteries, and electrical distribution.
  • Busways, cables, containment, grounding, and lightning protection.
  • Chillers, pumps, cooling towers, CRAH/CRAC units, and chilled-water systems.
  • Plumbing, drainage, water treatment, and fire protection systems.
  • BMS, EPMS, SCADA, controls, ELV, security, and ICT systems.
  • Fuel systems, specialist equipment, and long-lead items.
  • Testing, commissioning, integrated systems testing, and handover activities.
• Review commercial interfaces between MEP, CSA, infrastructure, utility, and commissioning packages.
• Support the assessment of long-lead equipment costs, procurement milestones, delivery status, and associated commercial risks.
• Ensure data center cost planning and commercial controls reflect system redundancy, resilience, phasing, commissioning, and operational requirements.

Contract Administration and Coordination

• Review contract terms, commercial conditions, payment milestones, variation provisions, and claims requirements.
• Support contract administration in accordance with FIDIC or other applicable contract forms.
• Coordinate with cost control, planning, procurement, contracts, engineering, design, construction, commissioning, and document control teams.
• Participate in commercial meetings, progress reviews, cost workshops, tender meetings, and contractor negotiations.
• Maintain complete and accurate commercial records, correspondence, measurements, claims documentation, and approvals.
• Ensure all quantity surveying and commercial activities comply with client standards, contract requirements, internal procedures, and industry best practices.

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Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Quantity Surveying, Civil Engineering, Construction Management, Commercial Management, or a related field.
• Significant experience in quantity surveying, cost management, commercial management, or construction cost control.
• Strong experience working across the full project lifecycle, including:
  • Concept and pre-design cost planning.
  • Detailed quantity take-offs and BOQ preparation.
  • Tender documentation and commercial tender evaluation.
  • Construction-stage payment certification.
  • Variations, claims, forecasting, and final accounts.
• Direct experience working on data centers, mission-critical facilities, or technically complex industrial projects.
• Strong practical knowledge of MEP and electromechanical quantity measurement and cost management.
• Experience measuring and commercially managing major electrical and mechanical packages.
• Strong knowledge of cost planning, measurement rules, pricing, valuation methods, and project cost control.
• Experience reviewing contractor payment applications, invoices, variations, claims, and supporting commercial documentation.
• Strong ability to read and interpret drawings, specifications, BOQs, schedules, scope documents, and contracts.
• Experience conducting site inspections and verifying installed quantities and progress.
• Strong understanding of construction contracts, commercial terms, change control, and claims procedures.
• Excellent analytical skills with the ability to identify scope gaps, quantity discrepancies, commercial risks, and cost impacts.
• Strong communication and coordination skills with the ability to work with clients, consultants, contractors, and multidisciplinary teams.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and strong working knowledge of Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
• Willingness and ability to work full-time on-site in Dubai.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional membership or certification such as MRICS, RICS, AIQS, AACE, or an equivalent cost management qualification.
• Experience working on hyperscale, colocation, or Tier III/Tier IV data center projects.
• Experience working within a PMC, cost consultancy, owner’s representative, or client-side environment.
• Previous experience working in the UAE or wider GCC region.
• Strong working knowledge of FIDIC contracts.
• Experience with claims preparation, evaluation, negotiation, and dispute avoidance.
• Experience using quantity take-off and cost management platforms such as CostX, PlanSwift, Bluebeam, Candy, BuildSmart, SAP, or similar.
• Experience using project and document management systems such as Procore, Aconex, Oracle Primavera Cloud, or similar.