Project Controls Director - Infrastructure

Parsons; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 400,000 - 700,000; Full time

Job summary

Parsons in Abu Dhabi, UAE, seeks a Project Controls Director to lead cost, schedule, and performance management across complex infrastructure programs, including rail and aviation.

You will establish a unified master schedule, manage interfaces between packages, review contractor baselines, and provide dashboards and governance reporting to clients and stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering or related discipline.
• Minimum 15 years of experience on large-scale infrastructure projects.
• Experience involving rail and aviation infrastructure.
• Strong knowledge of project controls principles and practices.
• Knowledge of applicable project controls software and tools.
• Excellent leadership, coordination and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement project controls processes, procedures, and tools covering schedule, cost, and performance management.
• Establish and maintain an integrated Master Schedule across multiple project packages.
• Identify package interdependencies and assess their potential effects on overall project delivery.
• Review and approve Contractor baseline schedules for alignment with contractual requirements and established project controls practices.
• Validate project schedules and resource requirements to support timely completion.
• Conduct what-if analyses to assess proposed changes, potential impacts, and alternative delivery solutions.
• Track project progress and monitor performance against established baselines.
• Perform Earned Value Analysis and incorporate findings into project performance reporting.
• Implement standardized cost and schedule reporting to provide consistent management oversight.

Skills

Leadership

Coordination

Communication

Planning

Scheduling

Performance monitoring

Reporting

Stakeholder management

Project controls knowledge

Software/tools knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering or related discipline

Job description

Project Controls Director - Infrastructure Job Snapshot Role: Project Controls Director Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE Industry: Construction Function: Project-Program Management Experience: Minimum 15 years of relevant experience Job Type: Full Time Position Overview Parsons is seeking an experienced Project Controls Director to join its team in Abu Dhabi, UAE, supporting the delivery of large-scale infrastructure projects, including rail and aviation. This senior leadership role will direct project controls across multiple engineering disciplines and project packages, establishing effective cost, schedule, performance, risk, and reporting processes while coordinating with clients, contractors, consultants, and other stakeholders. The position will provide the controls framework and performance insight needed to maintain alignment with project scope, schedule, cost, quality, contractual, and technical objectives.

Job Details

Country: UAE City: Abu Dhabi Industry: Construction Function: Project-Program Management Salary: Not disclosed Gender: No Preference Candidate Nationality: Not specified Job Type: Full Time Work Arrangement: On-site

What You 'll Be Doing

• Develop and implement project controls processes, procedures, and tools covering schedule, cost, and performance management.
• Establish and maintain an integrated Master Schedule across multiple project packages.
• Identify package interdependencies and assess their potential effects on overall project delivery.
• Review and approve Contractor baseline schedules for alignment with contractual requirements and established project controls practices.
• Validate project schedules and resource requirements to support timely completion.
• Conduct what-if analyses to assess proposed changes, potential impacts, and alternative delivery solutions.
• Track project progress and monitor performance against established baselines.
• Perform Earned Value Analysis and incorporate findings into project performance reporting.
• Implement standardized cost and schedule reporting to provide consistent management oversight.

Planning and Schedule Management

The Project Controls Director will provide senior oversight of planning and scheduling activities across complex infrastructure workstreams. This includes maintaining an integrated view of project packages, interfaces, dependencies, resources, progress, and emerging schedule pressures. The role will evaluate design changes, delays, and Contractor performance to determine their effect on project milestones and overall delivery. Where required, the Project Controls Director will support the issuance of appropriate delay notices and coordinate actions with the relevant project stakeholders.

Risk, Trends and Performance

• Identify schedule, cost, interface, and delivery risks.
• Maintain relevant risks and conflicts within the Project Risk Register.
• Develop and recommend appropriate mitigation strategies.
• Lead project controls studies and trend analysis.
• Conduct risk evaluations to support informed project decisions.
• Prepare dashboards, performance metrics, and regular progress reports.
• Highlight emerging trends and areas requiring management attention.
• Provide project controls information supporting programme governance and decision-making.

Claims and Delay Analysis

Review and assess Contractor claims affecting time and project performance, including Extension of Time requests. The role will apply appropriate delay analysis methodologies to evaluate schedule impacts and provide project controls input into claim assessments. The Project Controls Director will also assess the consequences of design changes, construction delays, and Contractor performance while maintaining clear supporting records for project decision-making.

Stakeholder and Interface Coordination

• Collaborate with clients, contractors, and consultants on planning, scheduling, and technical matters.
• Coordinate project controls requirements across multiple engineering disciplines.
• Lead project controls workshops and coordination meetings.
• Facilitate discussions aimed at resolving schedule and delivery challenges.
• Attend stakeholder meetings and contribute project controls insight.
• Prepare concise meeting minutes and clearly defined follow-up actions.
• Support alignment between project packages and key interfaces.
• Provide expert input on construction phasing and interface management.
• Contribute project controls insight to value engineering activities.

Project Controls Leadership

The position will provide leadership, training, and guidance to project controls personnel, helping establish consistent practices across the project. The Project Controls Director will promote accurate reporting, effective schedule management, disciplined performance monitoring, and clear communication of project status. The role will also support deployment of Project Management Information Systems across the programme to strengthen the management and reporting of project information.

Governance and Compliance

• Ensure project controls activities support contractual requirements.
• Monitor alignment with applicable technical requirements.
• Support compliance with relevant safety requirements throughout the project lifecycle.
• Maintain reliable cost, schedule, and performance information for management review.
• Support programme governance through structured reporting and performance metrics.
• Participate in lessons-learned workshops.
• Apply lessons from project delivery to improve future controls practices and processes.

What Required Skills You 'll Bring

• Bachelor 's degree in Civil Engineering or a related discipline.
• Minimum 15 years of experience on large-scale infrastructure projects.
• Experience involving rail and aviation infrastructure.
• Strong knowledge of project controls principles and practices.
• Knowledge of applicable project controls software and tools.
• Strong planning, scheduling, performance monitoring, and reporting capability.
• Excellent leadership and coordination skills.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Ability to coordinate effectively with multidisciplinary teams, clients, contractors, consultants, and other project stakeholders.

What Desired Skills You 'll Bring

• Master 's degree in a relevant discipline is preferred.
• Previous professional experience in the Middle East region is advantageous.

About Parsons

Parsons supports complex infrastructure programmes through multidisciplinary engineering, project management, and project controls teams. The company emphasizes effective project delivery, technical quality, innovation, collaboration, professional growth, employee wellbeing, inclusion, and continuous improvement.