Cost Manager

Kelly Science, Engineering, Technology & Telecom; Houston (TX); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid schedule (4 onsite days, 1 day远

Job summary

Kelly Science, Engineering, Technology & Telecom is seeking an experienced Cost Manager to support capital projects through the full lifecycle. You will establish cost baselines, develop forecasts and accruals, and provide clear financial visibility to project teams and leadership.

The ideal candidate has strong project controls experience in engineering, construction, EPC, industrial, or manufacturing environments and can work independently with minimal supervision.

Qualifications

• Experience in project cost management or controls.
• Strong forecasting, budgeting, accruals, and variance analysis.
• Ability to explain financial findings to stakeholders.
• Independent work with minimal training.
• Excellent communication and organization skills.

Responsibilities

• Integrate cost estimates, work-hour estimates, and schedules into the project cost baseline.
• Establish and maintain the cost baseline and work breakdown structure.
• Gather and coordinate cost inputs from project disciplines to ensure accurate forecasts and reporting.
• Develop and maintain cost reports, cash flow forecasts, cancellation curves, contingency analyses, and monthly accruals.
• Monitor actual costs, commitments, spending, and cash flow; compare results with forecasts and explain variances.
• Estimate cancellation costs and assess budget impact of changes and deviations.
• Ensure cost records reflect committed and spent funds, deviation notices, field change orders, and project execution changes.
• Develop a forecast of funds required to complete the project within budget and schedule.
• Identify and communicate cost risks and issues to the project team.
• Work with leadership to understand deviations and develop mitigation actions.
• Provide cost data and analysis to support performance metrics, benchmarking, and closeout.
• Present financial updates and cost performance reports to teams and leadership.

Skills

Project controls

Cost forecasting

Budgeting

Variance analysis

Stakeholder communication

Independent work

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

SAP

EcoSys

Excel

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Cost Manager to support capital projects through the full project lifecycle. This role establishes and maintains project cost baselines, develops forecasts and accruals, analyzes variances, and provides clear financial visibility to project teams and leadership. The ideal candidate has project controls experience in an engineering, construction, EPC, industrial, or manufacturing environment. This is a project cost management role- not a general accounting or bookkeeping position.

Key Responsibilities

• Integrate project cost estimates, work-hour estimates, and schedules into the project cost baseline.
• Establish and maintain the cost baseline and work breakdown structure in alignment with project work processes and execution strategy.
• Gather and coordinate cost inputs from project disciplines and functions to ensure accurate forecasts and reporting.
• Develop and maintain cost reports, cash flow forecasts, cancellation curves, contingency analyses, and monthly accruals.
• Monitor actual costs, commitments, spending, and cash flow; compare results with forecasts and explain variances.
• Estimate cancellation costs and assess the cost and overall budget impact of project changes and deviations.
• Ensure cost records reflect committed and spent funds, deviation notices, field change orders, and project execution changes.
• Develop a realistic forecast of the funds required to complete the project within the approved budget and schedule, incorporating cost trends and analysis.
• Identify and communicate cost risks and critical issues to the project team.
• Work with project leadership to understand the causes of deviations and develop actions to mitigate their impact.
• Provide cost data and analysis to support project performance metrics, external benchmarking, and project closeout.
• Present financial updates and cost performance reports to project teams and leadership.

Required Qualifications

• Several years of experience in project cost management, project controls, or a related field.
• Strong experience with cost forecasting, budgeting, accruals, and variance analysis.
• Ability to analyze project financial performance and clearly explain findings to stakeholders.
• Ability to work independently with minimal training.
• Strong communication, organization, and problem-solving skills.
• Bachelor’s degree in a related field preferred. Equivalent years of relevant experience may be considered.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with capital, industrial, engineering, construction, or EPC projects.
• Experience supporting large engineering or construction programs.
• Familiarity working with Project Managers, Engineers, Construction Managers, and Project Controls teams.
• SAP experience strongly preferred; EcoSys experience is a plus.
• Strong Microsoft Excel and cost-reporting skills.
• Hybrid schedule: four days onsite and Fridays remote.
• Standard 40-hour work week, with limited overtime expected.