Pros
The current Estimating department set up responds directly to the president - he didn't care about how I got the job done provided it was done before the deadline. He has a bonus structure set up for on-time submissions through out the year - small bonuses, but nice motivator. If you had excellent percentages you can qualify for the additional vacation bonus - I got the 4 days paid round trip/resort to Colorado. Basically, if you know what you are doing, this is a good job for you - he tells you the end result that he wants, the deadline, and expects you to get it done one way or another - not a lot of hand holding, so if you need a lot of training, this wouldn't be the place for you. Got me an assistant after about a year.
Cons
Far away location from Houston (45 minutes) - wound up being the reason I left. Must know labor hours by heart or have a pre-existing spreadsheet/book to be able to calculate it. Wasn't a problem for me, but I can see where it may be for others. Must come into the office 5 days a week. Client deadlines can be tight sometimes, there were a few days where I needed to stay until 6-630PM to meet them. They have trouble hiring competent Jr Estimators. In the time I was there, we cycled through 3 different Jr Estimators before finally getting a good fit. The only plus side of it was that the Jr's work with PM Dept too - the PMs have a low tolerance for incompetency & are not keen on retraining - if the Jr Estimator isn't efficient, the PM will push them out the door fairly quickly.