Cost Control & Planning Manager
Posted Updated
Description
Job Purpose-
- This document defines the
minimum and preferred recruitment requirements for hiring a Cost Control &
Planning Manager responsible for the integrated planning, scheduling and cost
management of all active projects within the construction department, including
utility-scale renewable energy projects (Wind and Solar PV) and
industrial/commercial construction.
Integrated Project Controls Leadership
- Establish, maintain and enforce project
controls procedures, standards and reporting frameworks across all construction
and renewable energy projects.
- Oversee and unify the planning and cost
control teams, ensuring full alignment between project schedules, resource
plans and budget forecasts.
- Act as the primary escalation point for
planning and cost-related disputes, delays, overruns and contractual control
issues.
- Drive a project controls culture across
the construction department, ensuring consistent methodology and data quality
from all project teams.
- Ensure all project controls deliverables
align with Owner requirements, contract obligations and company standards.
Master Scheduling & Progress Management
- Develop, review and approve baseline
schedules at Level 1 through Level 4 in Primavera P6 and MS Project for all
active projects.
- Ensure resource- and cost-loaded schedules
are properly integrated with budget forecasts and procurement plans.
- Monitor critical path, total float,
schedule performance index (SPI) and progress metrics across the full portfolio
on a rolling basis.
- Direct forensic delay analysis including
Time Impact Analysis (TIA), Windows Analysis and As-Planned vs. As-Built
methodology for dispute resolution and claims preparation.
- Review schedule recovery plans and
acceleration programmes proposed by contractors or internal project teams.
- Ensure that planning engineers maintain
live, accurate schedules with progress updates, logic integrity and alignment
with actual site conditions.
Financial Oversight & Cost Control
- Own the project budget framework: approve
project budgets, cash flow forecasts, cost breakdown structures (CBS) and
financial cost models.
- Validate and report Earned Value
Management (EVM) metrics including Estimate at Completion (EAC), Estimate to
Complete (ETC), Cost Performance Index (CPI), Schedule Performance Index (SPI)
and budget variance analysis.
- Mandate and follow up on corrective
actions where cost or schedule deviations exceed agreed thresholds.
- Lead cost benchmarking exercises for
labour, materials and subcontractors across Wind, Solar PV and construction
scopes.
- Identify and drive cost-saving and value
engineering opportunities without compromising schedule, quality or contractual
obligations.
- Prepare, review and present monthly cost
reports and financial forecasts for executive and senior management.
Claims, Variations & Contract
Compliance
- Supervise and technically lead preparation
of Extension of Time (EOT) claims, variation orders and disruption analyses.
- Ensure timely submission of interim
payment applications, milestone certificates and client certifications in
accordance with contract provisions.
- Review all contractual correspondence
related to schedule and cost matters to protect company interests.
- Maintain a comprehensive variation
register and ensure all scope changes are formally notified, quantified and
approved before execution.
- Coordinate with the legal and contracts
team on claims strategy, dispute resolution and contractual risk mitigation.
Risk & Change Management
- Maintain a consolidated risk register
covering schedule and cost exposures across all projects, with regular review
and update cycles.
- Evaluate and approve mitigation strategies
for identified risks including delays, overruns, procurement delays and scope
changes.
- Lead change impact assessments to support
client negotiations, variation pricing and schedule adjustment submissions.
- Provide quantified risk analysis input to
management decision-making, including Monte Carlo or equivalent probabilistic
methods where required.
Executive Reporting & Stakeholder
Management
- Prepare and present executive-level status
reports and dashboards integrating schedule performance, cost performance,
earned value, risk and forecast data across all projects.
- Deliver concise, visually clear management
presentations to senior leadership covering project health, financial forecast,
recovery actions and decision points.
- Advise senior management proactively on
recovery plans, acceleration strategies and financial forecasts before issues
escalate.
- Liaise directly with clients, consultants,
Owner’s Engineers and EPC contractors on all project controls matters.
- Represent the construction department in
Owner and client project review meetings as the project controls authority.
Requirements
General Experience
- Minimum 10 years of progressive
professional experience in construction project controls, combining
planning/scheduling and cost control functions.
- Minimum 5 years in a senior or managerial
project controls role with direct team management responsibility.
- Minimum 5 years of direct experience on
renewable energy projects, specifically Wind and/or Solar PV projects above 100
MW.
- Proven experience managing project
controls across multiple simultaneous projects within a construction or EPC
environment.
- Experience working with Owners, Owner’s
Engineers, EPC contractors, IPPs or international engineering consultants.
Sector-Specific Experience
- Utility-scale renewable energy projects:
Wind farm or Solar PV construction planning, cost control and commissioning
phase controls.
- Industrial or commercial construction
projects: factory, processing plant, large infrastructure or commercial
development.
- Full project lifecycle coverage: from
pre-contract baseline programme development through to final account close-out.
- Experience in multi-contract or
Owner-managed project delivery environments preferred.
- Experience in Middle East, GCC or
equivalent emerging market project environments is advantageous.
Planning & Scheduling
- Advanced Primavera P6: baseline
development, resource loading, cost loading, progress update, logic review and
schedule compression.
- MS Project: schedule integration,
multi-project consolidation and reporting.
- Critical Path Method (CPM), network logic
and schedule health analysis.
- Forensic delay analysis: Time Impact
Analysis (TIA), Windows Analysis, As-Planned vs. As-Built, Collapsed As-Built.
- Look-ahead programme management (3-week
and 6-week rolling programmes).
Cost Control & Financial Management
- Advanced Excel: financial modelling,
macros, pivot tables, cost dashboards and automated reporting tools.
- Earned Value Management: EAC, ETC, CPI,
SPI, BCWS, BCWP, ACWP and variance analysis.
- Budget preparation, cost breakdown
structure (CBS) development and cost forecasting.
- Cash flow modelling and S-curve analysis.
- Subcontractor cost management, invoice
verification and payment certification.
