Project Controller

Deerns France; Madrid; Hybrid; EUR 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Personal development opportunities

Competitive salary

International exposure

Collaborative environment

Job summary

Deerns France in Madrid is looking for a Project Controller who will act as a trusted business partner to project managers. You will ensure financial performance through robust analysis of project costs, cash flow, and profitability.

The ideal candidate has a Bachelor's or Master's in Finance, 8+ years in Project Control, and fluency in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. This position offers a competitive salary and a hybrid work model.

Qualifications

• 8+ years’ experience in Project Control or a comparable role.
• Fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and English.
• Advanced Excel skills and strong affinity with data.

Responsibilities

• Act as financial lead during tender and execution phases.
• Prepare budgets, forecasts, and monthly reports with clear insights.
• Monitor and optimize budget, profitability, and working capital.

Skills

Financial reporting

Forecasting

Risk management

Stakeholder management

Excel

ERP systems

Spanish GAAP

Data analysis

Tax compliance

International project experience

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Finance or Business Administration

Job description

Are you the analytical business partner who helps steer complex projects to success? Do you combine strong financial expertise with a proactive mindset, and are you fluent in Spanish, English and Portuguese? Then we would love to meet you. At Deerns, you will work on impactful, international projects in an environment where innovation, sustainability, and collaboration are at the core.

About Deerns

Deerns specialises in advisory, design and engineering services for buildings and facilities that require extreme conditions and are mission critical. For over 98 years, we have been undertaking major projects with world-class clients in the sectors airports, real estate, health care, life sciences, micro-electronics and data centres, generating about EUR 80+ mln in revenue (2025).

Our high-quality services range from strategic consulting, master planning, end-to-end design and specialist engineering to sustainability advice, transaction services and digital roadmaps. Our 750+ experts in mechanical, electrical and plumbing design (MEP), building physics, energy optimisation, digitalisation and sustainability are committed to make their work matter, whilst respecting our values of entrepreneurship, design reputation, integrity, cooperation and competence.

Deerns in Spain

Our Deerns Spain office is a growing and dynamic hub within Deerns’ international network. We work on leading-edge projects across Europe and beyond, collaborating closely with multidisciplinary teams and international clients. The office offers an entrepreneurial environment where ownership, collaboration, and innovation are highly valued.

The Role

As a Project Controller, you act as an independent and objective financial co-pilot and a trusted business partner to the Project Manager or Unit Director. You take full ownership of the financial performance of projects, ensuring that decisions are supported by robust analysis and clear financial insights.

In this role, you translate financial data into meaningful insights on project progress, costs, cash flow, profitability, forecasts, and risks, enabling well-informed and data-driven decision-making. You continuously maintain oversight and ensure that projects operate in line with the Deerns Integrated Risk Management Framework, safeguarding both compliance and performance.

You operate with a high degree of independence across your projects, proactively identifying risks and deviations at an early stage. Rather than simply reporting, you act as a true challenger, critically assessing assumptions, questioning plans and forecasts, and constructively influencing decisions based on data and insights. Through this, you help drive better project outcomes, improve financial predictability, and strengthen overall project control, while connecting stakeholders, bringing clarity to complex situations, and ensuring that financial considerations are fully integrated into day-to-day project management.

In this role, you also bring a solid understanding of financial control and local compliance topics. While your primary focus is on project performance, you are able to connect project financials to broader accounting, tax, and reporting requirements. Where relevant, you contribute to financial closing, audit preparation, and compliance activities, strengthening the link between Project Control and Finance.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as financial lead during tender and execution phases.
• Challenge planning, forecasts, and cash flow assumptions.
• Monitor and optimize budget, profitability, and working capital.
• Translate corporate risk policies into project risk profiles.
• Identify, assess, and quantify financial risks, including foreign exchange and relevant tax considerations.
• Manage contractual obligations, variation orders, and claims.
• Prepare budgets, forecasts, and monthly reports with clear insights.
• Coordinate internal and external project audits and ensure readiness of project financials.
• Ensure compliance with the Integrated Risk Management Framework and applicable financial regulations.
• Support alignment between project financials and financial reporting, including closing and audit processes.
• Collaborate with Finance to ensure consistency with accounting standards (e.g. Spanish GAAP – PGC).
• Drive process improvements and digitalization initiatives.

Your Profile

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Finance, Business Administration, or a similar field.
• 8+ years’ experience in Project Control or a comparable role.
• Strong knowledge of financial reporting, forecasting, and risk management.
• Experience in international, project-based environments.
• Advanced Excel skills and strong affinity with data.
• Experience with ERP systems.
• Experience with tax processes, including VAT and corporate tax filing.
• Working knowledge of Spanish accounting principles (Spanish GAAP / PGC).
• Experience contributing to year-end closing and supporting external audits.
• Understanding of how project financials interface with statutory reporting and compliance requirements.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Ability to challenge and advise at different organizational levels.
• Fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and English.

Who You Are

You recognize yourself in the following:

• Integrity-driven professional – transparent and principled.
• Stable anchor – reliable and structured within project teams.
• Anticipatory thinker – spots risks early.
• Trusted challenger – constructively questions assumptions.
• Pragmatic decision-maker – balances governance and flexibility.
• Data-to-decision translator – turns data into actionable insights.
• Digitally curious – continuously improves and automates processes.

What We Offer

• A key role in international, high-impact projects.
• A collaborative and professional environment where your input matters.
• An open and collaborative culture with an informal and supportive team environment
• Strong focus on personal development and career growth.
• Exposure to an international network of experts.
• Competitive salary and benefits package aligned with the Spanish market.
• Hybrid working model based in Barcelona or Madrid.

The Team

You will join our international Project Control community, working closely with Project Managers, Business Controllers, and Finance teams to ensure strong financial governance and project performance.

In this role, you will report hierarchically to the Manager Project Control, while financially partnering with and reporting to the Business Controller for your projects.

Interested?

Apply now and become a key player in driving financial excellence at Deerns.