Project Cost Control Manager

Job Description Summary

Lead and oversee all project cost control activities during execution, including budgeting, cost tracking, forecasting, and reporting, ensuring alignment with project strategy and approved execution plans.

Job Description

Role Purpose

Electrification and grid projects are large, multi-site, and highly complex programs executed by international teams.

The Cost Control Manager is responsible for leading all cost control activities across the project lifecycle to ensure transparent, predictable, and commercially sound delivery.

The role ensures alignment between ITO, Planning, Engineering, Procurement, OTR and Financial functions, maintaining full cost-schedule integration, performance measurement, and early-warning visibility to support decision-making, profitability, and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• Leadership, Governance & Team Development
• Lead and oversee all project cost control activities during execution, including budgeting, cost tracking, forecasting, and reporting, ensuring alignment with project strategy and approved execution plans.
• Establish and maintain the project's cost control framework defining CBS structures, cost coding standards, control accounts, and budget allocation aligned with WBS and corporate governance.
• Support the development and competency of cost control resources through guidance, standardized tools, and mentoring, ensuring compliance with company procedures, audit requirements, and best practices in project cost management.
• Budget Establishment, Cost Baseline & Financial Control
• Validate awarded project budgets and develop the execution cost baseline, including phasing, control accounts, and alignment with the Integrated Master Schedule.
• Ensure complete and accurate incorporation of scope, quantities, contract values, and work package allocations into the cost plan.
• Maintain budget integrity by controlling transfers, reallocations, trending, and updates in accordance with project change control procedures.
• Collaborate with Finance to reconcile cost baseline and budget releases throughout the project lifecycle.
• Ensure full audit trail, traceability, and version control for all cost data, baseline revisions, and forecast updates.
• Integration with Planning & Scheduling
• Ensure full alignment between cost control and Planning functions, integrating cost phasing, progress curves, and financial forecasts with Primavera P6 schedule logic.
• Collaborate with the Planning Manager to maintain consistency between cost and schedule baselines and uphold Earned Value Management (EVM) standards.
• Provide cost curves, support cash-flow profiles aligned with schedule milestones and progress measurement systems.
• Jointly review schedule-driven cost impacts and cost-driven schedule risks, identifying performance gaps and recommending corrective actions.
• Support delay, acceleration, and disruption assessments by quantifying financial implications of schedule variances.
• Cost Control, Forecasting & Performance Measurement
• Define and execute cost control procedures in line with contractual, corporate, and project-specific requirements.
• Monitor actual and committed costs versus budget across all packages; consult invoices, commitments, accruals, manpower costs, change impacts, and supplier payment status.
• Perform variance, productivity, burn-rate, and trend analyses to detect early warnings and cost risks.
• Develop and maintain Estimate-at-Completion (EAC), Estimate-to-Complete (ETC) and cost trend forecasts using data-driven methods.
• Ensure complete and accurate cost reporting through periodic (weekly/monthly) cost dashboards and management summaries.
• Create performance measurement systems using statistical tools (regression, variance analysis, correlation) to identify inefficiencies and improvement actions.
• Interface closely with Procurement and Commercial teams to ensure accurate commitment tracking, contract alignment, and early identification of cost deviations.
• Change, Risk & Opportunity Management
• Quantify, evaluate, and track all change orders, variations, deviations, and commercial events impacting the project cost baseline.
• Maintain and update the cost-risk register, incorporating cost exposure, plan and implement risk responses and probabilistic assessments.
• Analyse key cost drivers and emerging risks; propose opportunities, savings, and mitigation strategies to maintain cost predictability.
• Prepare financial impact assessments for scope, design, engineering changes, field instructions, or schedule shifts in collaboration with Planning, Engineering, and Commercial teams
• Sales Alignment & Stakeholder Interface
• Work closely with Tender and Finance to ensure reconciliation between cost forecasts, contract values, payment milestones, and revenue recognition.
• Interface with management, and project leadership to present cost reports, trends, deviations, and forecast outcomes.
• Lead cost presentations and provide insights during Monthly Project Reviews (MPRs) and management steering committees.
• Support contract administration, claims substantiation, and commercial negotiations by providing accurate and defensible cost data.
• Guarantee traceability between cost forecasts, commitments, invoices, accruals, and earned value metrics.
• Studies, Benchmarking & Continuous Improvement
• Coordinate and validate inputs for special project cost studies such as productivity reviews, cost deviations, and contractor performance assessments.
• Evaluate study outcomes, prepare financial insights, and present results to project leadership for decision-making.
• Develop innovative cost control practices that align with evolving project and industry needs.
• Utilize historical cost data, trend analysis, and variance studies to improve forecast accuracy and predictability.
• Drive digitalization and automation of cost control workflows using Power BI, Power Platform, SAP/ERP integrations, and cost-schedule linkages.
• Identify and implement process improvements that enhance cost accuracy, reporting efficiency, and cross-functional collaboration

Education & Experience Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in engineering with financial training, Quantity Surveying, Construction Management or any related degrees (Master's degree is an advantage).
• AACE Certified Cost Professional (CCP) or equivalent professional certification is required / strongly preferred.
• 10+ years' experience in project cost control for large industrial, EPC, transmission, HVDC, infrastructure, or energy projects.
• Strong expertise in cost management and ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, or equivalent) and advanced Excel / Power BI capability for analytics and visualization.
• Proven ability to work effectively with Oracle Primavera P6.
• Comprehensive understanding of WBS / CBS structures, performance measurement, and Earned Value Management (EVM).
• Demonstrated capability to lead teams, manage stakeholders, and operate within multicultural environments.
• Excellent written and verbal English communication skills.
• Curious, proactive, and committed to continuous improvement and knowledge sharing in cost management practices.
• Additional Information
• Relocation Assistance Provided: No
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