Senior Cost Consultant - Infrastructure Projects

Arcadis; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

Arcadis is seeking a Senior Cost Consultant to lead cost management for significant Rail, Highway, and Aviation projects. This role requires extensive experience in the infrastructure sector with a focus on delivering accurate financial reports and managing multiple workstreams effectively.

The ideal candidate will have at least 8 years of relevant experience, strong leadership skills, and familiarity with NEC contracts. Join Arcadis to contribute to innovative, sustainable solutions and make a meaningful impact in the UK.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 8 years of experience in delivering cost management services.
• Experience managing NEC3/NEC4 contracts and supporting compliant commercial delivery.
• Proven stakeholder management skills with clients and contractors.

Responsibilities

• Deliver cost management activities from project inception to completion.
• Prepare and present cost plans, budgets, and financial reports.
• Review complex commercial data for risks and opportunities.

Skills

Cost management

Stakeholder management

Commercial acumen

Technical capability

Leadership capability

Education

Bachelor’s degree in quantity surveying or equivalent

Relevant professional qualification (e.g. RICS)

Tools

NEC3/NEC4 contracts

Job description

Arcadis is the world's leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets.

We are more than 36,000 people, in over 70 countries, dedicated to improving quality of life. Everyone has an important role to play. With the power of many curious minds, together we can solve the world’s most complex challenges and deliver more impact together.

Role description:

The Senior Cost Consultant will take a leading role in delivering cost management services across major Rail, Highway and Aviation programmes in the UK. Working within the Mobility Commercial Management team, the role involves regular site‑based engagement (typically 2–3 days per week across the London area), close collaboration with contractors and client teams, and responsibility for ensuring consistent, accurate and high‑quality commercial outcomes. The postholder will manage several workstreams or significant elements of larger programmes, applying strong technical capability, sound professional judgement and effective stakeholder management to support successful project delivery.

Role accountabilities:

• Leading and delivering cost management activities across small to medium‑sized schemes, or defined packages within larger programmes, from project inception through to completion.
• Preparing, managing and presenting cost plans, budgets, estimates and financial reports, ensuring accuracy, transparency and alignment with project requirements.
• Reviewing and analysing complex commercial data to identify risks, opportunities and trends, providing clear and informed recommendations.
• Coaching and supporting junior team members to develop capability, encourage knowledge‑sharing and maintain high delivery standards.
• Working within established governance and financial systems to track budgets, monitor expenditure and manage variances effectively.
• Providing advice on risk management, compliance and assurance matters, ensuring processes and contractual obligations are fully met.
• Collaborating with internal teams and external stakeholders, building productive relationships and promoting best practice across projects.
• Engaging proactively with clients, providing clear updates, resolving issues and identifying opportunities to enhance value and strengthen client relationships.
  
  

Qualifications & Experience:

• Minimum of 8 years of experience in delivering cost management services across the full project lifecycle within the Rail, Highway, Aviation or wider infrastructure sectors.
• Experience working with NEC3/NEC4 contracts, including application of contract mechanisms, managing compensation events and supporting compliant commercial delivery.
• Experience mentoring junior colleagues with demonstrable leadership capability.
• Proven stakeholder management skills, working effectively with clients, contractors and external partners.
• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to manage work packages independently through to completion.
• Bachelor’s degree in quantity surveying or equivalent in a relevant discipline.
• Relevant professional qualification or chartered status (e.g. RICS).
• CSCS card holder or willingness to obtain.
  
  

Why Arcadis?

We can only achieve our goals when everyone is empowered to be their best. We believe everyone's contribution matters. It’s why we are pioneering a skills-based approach, where you can harness your unique experience and expertise to carve your career path and maximize the impact we can make together.

You’ll do meaningful work, and no matter what role, you’ll be helping to deliver sustainable solutions for a more prosperous planet. Make your mark, on your career, your colleagues, your clients, your life and the world around you.

Together, we can create a lasting legacy.

Join Arcadis. Create a Legacy.

Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging

We want you to be able to bring your best self to work every day which is why we take equality and inclusion seriously and hold ourselves to account for our actions. Our ambition is to be an employer of choice and provide a great place to work for all our people. We believe that by working together diverse people with different experiences develop the most innovative ideas. Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of how we improve quality of life and we work closely with our people across six ED&I Workstreams: Age, Disability, Faith, Gender, LGBT+ and Race. A diverse and skilled workforce is essential to our success.