Good at Quantity Surveying? Ready to Build Something of Your Own?
Most QS roles ask you to slot into an existing team, inherit somebody else's processes and work your way through somebody else's structure.
This one doesn't.
Adara is an established London residential architecture practice with a strong pipeline of homeowners, developers and residential projects already coming through the business.
We're now ready to bring Quantity Surveying in-house, and we're looking for an experienced, commercially minded Residential Quantity Surveyor / Cost Consultant to help us build it.
You'll have live projects to work on from the outset, but the bigger opportunity is yours to shape: developing a genuinely valuable residential cost consultancy service, growing it through our existing client and developer network and ultimately creating a successful service line in its own right.
If you're technically strong enough to operate independently but ambitious enough to want more than another conventional QS position, we'd love to talk.
The Role at a Glance
Residential Quantity Surveyor
London - Hybrid + Client Sites
Interested in speaking with candidates from £45,000 - £70,000 DOE
Plus uncapped bonus earned on builder referrals
Full Time | Permanent + Flexi-Hours
Sector: Residential | Architecture | Construction | Property Development
Projects: Homeowner | Refurbishment | Extension | High-End Residential | Developer
Expertise: Cost Planning | Tendering | Procurement | Contract Administration | Commercial Management
Opportunity: Build & Grow a New In-House Cost Consultancy Service
Residential QS | Cost Planning | Tendering | Contract Administration | Client-Side | Commercial Growth
Who We Are
Adara is a London-based architecture and planning practice helping homeowners and developers unlock the potential of residential property.
Our work spans everything from extensions and individual residential projects through to larger development opportunities, giving us an established network of clients, developers, builders and projects.
We already work alongside external Quantity Surveyors across a number of our schemes.
Now we see an opportunity to do something different: bring that expertise in-house and build a more accessible, commercially valuable QS offering around the clients and projects we already serve.
The Opportunity
You'll work directly with the founder Dom, taking ownership of the Quantity Surveying capability within the business.
First and foremost, you need to be a good QS.
Dom isn't looking for somebody he needs to teach how to cost a project, run a tender or challenge a builder. You'll need enough experience to confidently advise homeowners while also holding your own with experienced developers, contractors and other construction professionals.
But that's where the conventional job description ends.
There's an opportunity to rethink how QS services are delivered to the residential market, particularly on smaller projects where homeowners often go directly from drawings to builder quotations with very little independent commercial guidance.
Could we offer a more accessible cost-planning service? Help clients understand competing quotations? Negotiate with builders? Run tenders? Offer contract administration where required?
And alongside that, there's Adara's existing pipeline of larger projects and developer relationships where traditional QS services are already required.
The foundations are here. We need the QS who sees what this could become.
What You'll Be Doing
• Deliver Quantity Surveying and cost consultancy across predominantly residential projects.
• Prepare cost plans, budgets, estimates and project cost advice.
• Manage tendering, procurement and contractor quotation analysis.
• Challenge costs and negotiate confidently with contractors on behalf of clients.
• Support contract preparation and administration where required.
• Monitor project costs, variations and commercial performance through delivery.
• Advise homeowners and developers clearly and commercially.
• Work closely with Adara's architects, planners, clients and external project teams.
• Help define and package new QS services for smaller residential projects.
• Identify opportunities within Adara's existing client and developer network.
• Play a central role in building the QS function into a successful standalone revenue stream.
About You
We're not looking for somebody at the very beginning of their QS career.
You'll need a solid grounding in Quantity Surveying and enough technical confidence to operate independently, because you'll be establishing the expertise rather than joining an existing QS department.
Residential experience is particularly valuable. You'll be working with both homeowners and experienced developers, so you need to be equally comfortable explaining costs to someone undertaking their first extension and defending your position with someone who understands construction inside out.
You'll Bring:
• Solid Quantity Surveying / Cost Consultancy experience.
• Strong residential construction knowledge.
• Pre and post-contract capability.
• Cost planning, estimating and budgeting experience.
• Tendering, procurement and contractor negotiation experience.
• Confidence dealing directly with clients, developers and contractors.
• The technical credibility to work independently.
• Strong commercial judgement and communication skills.
• An entrepreneurial mindset and appetite to build something rather than simply inherit it.
Why This Role?
Because there isn't a finished QS department waiting for you.
You'll have the opportunity to shape the service, influence how it's priced and delivered, develop new propositions and turn existing demand into something much bigger.
Dom already works with external QSs across multiple projects and believes there's significant untapped demand both within Adara's existing pipeline and among smaller residential clients who are currently underserved by traditional cost consultancy.
Ready to Build Something?
If you're a capable residential QS who's ever thought “I could build something better myself”, this might be the opportunity to do exactly that, without having to start from zero.
Apply now and come and build the next service line at Adara.
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Salary description
£45000.00 - £70000.00 per year