Senior Cost Manager - MEP (Advanced Manufacturing / Commercial Buildings)

Sccsinternational; Singapore; On-site; SGD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Turner & Townsend is seeking a Senior Cost Manager for MEP in Advanced Manufacturing / Commercial Buildings in Singapore. You will lead cost management across projects from initiation to completion, ensuring client expectations, quality standards and budget targets are met.

This role combines strategic planning, stakeholder engagement and team leadership, with responsibility for cost governance, reporting, and developing the cost management team while supporting business growth.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Cost Management, Quantity Surveying, Construction, Engineering, or related field.
• Minimum 10 years’ experience in cost management or construction projects.
• Strong communication and leadership skills with experience in people management.
• Strong business acumen with ability to drive client outcomes and coordinate with teams.
• Experience in client management with advisory skills in value management, value engineering and life cycle costing.

Responsibilities

• Lead the delivery of cost management services for construction projects from initiation to completion.
• Line-manage cost managers and develop the team with structured guidance and performance reviews.
• Manage client interfaces, governance, reporting and cost benchmarks across projects.
• Oversee cost planning, cost controls, and life cycle costing exercises.
• Monitor budgets, variations, and financial progress with the cost management team.
• Lead negotiations and contract administration alongside the cost management team.
• Contribute to business development, proposals, client presentations, and market engagement.

Skills

Strong communication

Leadership

Business acumen

Client management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Cost Management/Quantity Surveying/Construction/Engineering

Master’s degree (advantage)

Job description

Senior Cost Manager - MEP (Advanced Manufacturing / Commercial Buildings)

• Full-time

Turner & Townsend is a global professional services company with over 22,000 people in more than 60 countries.

Working with our clients across real estate, infrastructure, energy and natural resources, we transform together delivering outcomes that improve people’s lives. Working in partnership makes it possible to deliver the world’s most impactful projects and programmes as we turn challenge into opportunity and complexity into success.

Our capabilities include programme, project, cost, asset and commercial management, controls and performance, procurement and supply chain, net zero and digital solutions.

We are majority-owned by CBRE Group, Inc., the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm, with our partners holding a significant minority interest. Turner & Townsend and CBRE work together to provide clients with the premier programme, project and cost management offering in markets around the world.

You will lead the successful delivery of cost management services of construction projects from initiation to completion. You will be responsible for strategic planning, stakeholder management, governance, and execution, ensuring projects meet client expectations, quality standards, and budgetary targets. This role also includes cost oversight, team management and development, and contributing to business growth and innovation.

Key Responsibilities

• To take line management responsibilities and develop cost managers and team members through structured guidance, feedback, and performance reviews.
• Hold the highest level of professional integrity and business ethics.
• Foster a collaborative and high-performing team culture that supports continuous learning and professional growth.
• Motivate team members, and drive towards positive client outcomes and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Responsible to manage the team’s resource against the business pipeline and projects.
• Conduct interviews for vacant positions in line with the company’s recruitment process and resource requirements.
• Critically analyze, challenge and brainstorm project requirements and deliverables, in order to find creative solutions and alternatives on behalf of clients.

Client & Stakeholder Engagement

• Lead multidisciplinary project teams including clients, consultants, contractors, and suppliers.
• To act as the key, day to day client interface, ensuring that client objectives are met through the delivery of a value-added cost management service.
• Facilitate effective communication and collaboration across all stakeholders through structured meetings, reporting, and documentation.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to ensure alignment and successful project outcomes.
• Develop and lead cost benchmarks to support the overall project execution strategy, defining critical success factors and key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Critically analyze, challenge and brainstorm project requirements and deliverables, in order to find creative solutions and alternatives on behalf of clients.
• Establish robust cost reporting structures and control mechanisms.

Project Controls & Reporting

• Act as Commission Manager, taking responsibility for end to end service delivery, often with respect to large or complex commissions or multiple commissions.
• Managing estimating and cost planning activities to include taking ownership of and presenting the final revisions of cost plans.
• Ensuring the production of monthly post-contract cost reports and presenting them to the client.
• Leading value engineering and life cycle costing exercise.
• Implement and maintain cost controls mechanisms incorporated into projects’ schedule, cost, risk, and change management.

Financial and Risk Management

• Monitor project budgets and financial performance in collaboration with cost management team.
• Analyze cost drivers, manage variations, and report financial progress against budget.
• Lead commercial negotiations and contract administration on projects alongside the cost management team
• Responsible for managing internal risk management procedures and systems, including client care processes and the contract database.
• Reviewing and validating invoice data for accuracy and completeness.
• Coordinating with finance teams to ensure timely submission and approval.
• Tracking invoice status and resolving discrepancies.
• Ensuring compliance with client billing requirements and internal financial controls.

Business Development

• Contribute to business development initiatives, including proposal writing, client presentations, and market engagement to support growth and positioning.
• Collaborate with internal teams to identify new opportunities, develop tailored solutions, and respond to client needs with agility and insight.
• Demonstrate strategic thinking and commercial awareness in identifying trends, client priorities, and competitive differentiators.
• Capture and share lessons learned, benchmarking data, and best practices to drive continuous improvement across projects and teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Cost Management, Quantity Surveying, Construction, Engineering, or a related field; Master’s degree is a plus.
• Minimum 10 years’ experience in cost management or construction projects (e.g. cost manager, construction manager, procurement, project manager, vendor, consultant etc.).
• Strong communication and leadership skills with experience in people management
• Strong business acumen, with the ability to drive outcomes on behalf of clients, develop new business, leverage current opportunities, and coordinate with construction and design teams to meet deadlines and deliverables
• Experience in client management with solid experience in client facing environment that requires incumbent to utilise critical business development skills and advisory skills to enhance project delivery on value management, value engineering, and life cycle costing.

Our inspired people share our vision and mission. We provide a great place to work, where each person has the opportunity and voice to affect change.

We want our people to succeed both in work and life. To support this we promote a healthy, productive and flexible working environment that respects work-life balance.

Turner & Townsend is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and actively encourage applications from all sectors of the community.