Cost Engineer - Life Sciences

Jacobs; Cork; On-site; EUR 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Jacobs is seeking a highly motivated Cost Engineer to support Life Sciences projects, delivering cost transparency, financial control, and commercial rigor across complex programs for pharmaceutical manufacturing, biotech, and advanced facilities.

The successful candidate will be on site in Limerick two days per week, collaborating with project managers, planners, procurement, engineering, and construction teams to ensure cost alignment with scope and schedule, while supporting risk and

Qualifications

• Degree in Engineering, Quantity Surveying, Finance, Construction Management, or related field.
• Proven experience in cost engineering or project controls, ideally within Life Sciences, pharmaceuticals, biotech, or advanced manufacturing.
• Strong understanding of capital project lifecycles, estimating methodologies, and cost control principles.
• Proficiency with cost management tools (EcoSys, Prism, SAP, Excel).
• Excellent analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to thrive in a fast paced, highly technical project environment.

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and manage project cost estimates, budgets, and forecasts across all project phases.
• Track and report actual costs vs. budget, identifying variances and recommending corrective actions.
• Maintain and update the project cost control system, ensuring accuracy and traceability of all financial data.
• Work with cross-functional teams to align cost with project scope and schedule.
• Participate in change management, including cost impact assessments and change order evaluation.
• Prepare and deliver cost reports, dashboards, and KPIs for stakeholders.

Skills

Cost engineering

Project controls

Budgeting & forecasting

Excel

Stakeholder management

Analytical skills

Education

Engineering / related field

Tools

EcoSys

Prism

SAP

Excel

Job description

At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world's most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good.

Your impact

Jacobs is seeking a highly motivated Cost Engineer to support our growing portfolio of Life Sciences projects. You’ll play a key role in ensuring cost transparency, financial control, and commercial rigor across complex, multi disciplinary engineering programs. This is an opportunity to contribute to projects that advance pharmaceutical manufacturing, biotechnology, medical devices, and cutting edge research facilities.

Key Responsibilities

Cost Management & Control

• Develop, maintain, and manage project cost estimates, budgets, and forecasts across all project phases.
• Track and report actual costs vs. budget, identifying variances and recommending corrective actions.
• Maintain and update the project cost control system, ensuring accuracy and traceability of all financial data.

Project Support

• Work closely with project managers, planners, procurement, engineering, and construction teams to ensure cost alignment with project scope and schedule.
• Participate in change management, including cost impact assessments, trend analysis, and change order evaluation.
• Support risk management activities by identifying cost risks, opportunities, and mitigation strategies.

Reporting & Governance

• Prepare and deliver regular cost reports, dashboards, and KPIs for internal and client stakeholders.
• Ensure compliance with Jacobs’ project controls procedures, client requirements, and regulatory standards.
• Contribute to project reviews, audits, and financial governance activities.

Collaboration & Continuous Improvement

• Engage with multidisciplinary teams to drive cost efficiency and value engineering initiatives.
• Support the development and refinement of Jacobs’ cost engineering tools, templates, and best practices.
• Foster a culture of transparency, accountability, and proactive problem solving.

Here’s what you’ll need

• Degree in Engineering, Quantity Surveying, Finance, Construction Management, or related field.
• Proven experience in cost engineering or project controls, ideally within Life Sciences, pharmaceuticals, biotech, or advanced manufacturing.
• Strong understanding of capital project lifecycles, estimating methodologies, and cost control principles.
• Proficiency with cost management tools (e.g., EcoSys, Prism, SAP, Excel).
• Excellent analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to thrive in a fast paced, highly technical project environment.

The successful candidate will be required on site in Limerick 2 days per week

#LSEUNC26

Joining Jacobs not only connects you locally but globally. Our values stand on a foundation of safety, integrity, inclusion and belonging. We put people at the heart of our business, and we truly believe that by supporting one another through our culture of caring, we all succeed. We value positive mental health and a sense of belonging for all employees.

With safety and flexibility always top of mind, we’ve gone beyond traditional ways of working so you have the support, means and space to maximize your potential. You’ll uncover flexible working arrangements, benefits, and opportunities, from well-being benefits to our global giving and volunteering program, to exploring new and inventive ways to help our clients make the world a better place. No matter what drives you, you’ll discover how you can cultivate, nurture, and achieve your goals – all at a single global company. Find out more about life at Jacobs.

We aim to embed inclusion and belonging in everything we do. We know that if we are inclusive, we’re more connected and creative. We accept people for who they are, and we champion the richness of different perspectives, lived experiences and backgrounds in the workplace, as a source of learning and innovation. We are committed to building vibrant communities within Jacobs, including through our Jacobs Employee Networks, Communities of Practice and our Find Your Community initiatives, allowing every employee to find connection, purpose, and belonging.Find out more about ourJacobs Employee Networks here.

Jacobs partners with VERCIDA to help us attract and retain talent from a wide range of backgrounds. For greater online accessibility please visit https//www.vercida.com/uk/employers/jacobs to view and access our roles.

As a disability confident employer, we will interview disabled candidates who best meet the criteria. We welcome applications from candidates who are seeking flexible working and from those who may not meet all the listed requirements for a role.

We value collaboration and believe that in-person interactions are crucial for both our culture and client delivery. We empower employees with our hybrid working policy, allowing them to split their work week between Jacobs offices/projects and remote locations enabling them to deliver their best work.

Your application experience is important to us, and we’re keen to adapt to make every interaction even better. If you require further support or reasonable adjustments with regards to the recruitment process (for example, you require the application form in a different format), please contact the team via Careers Support.