Cost Manager / Quantity Surveyor- Life Sciences Construction

Turner & Townsend; Columbus (OH); On-site; USD 120,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Turner & Townsend is seeking a Cost Manager/Quantity Surveyor to support a major life sciences construction program in the United States. The role involves advising clients, developing estimates, managing cost reporting, and controlling costs across multiple project phases.

The ideal candidate has 3–5 years of cost management experience in construction, familiarity with life sciences or manufacturing projects, and strong communication with stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in construction-related field.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills are required.
• RICS accreditation is valuable.

Responsibilities

• Advise client on strategies, prequalify vendors, assess proposals and bids, chair bid interviews, and manage appointments.
• Develop project estimates covering construction, fees and direct costs; review estimates and provide value engineering recommendations.
• Establish cost reporting schedules, review cost reports and forecasts, and manage commercial risk registers.
• Oversee cost control: assess payments, review change orders, and manage disputes to protect client interests.
• Monitor invoicing processes and ensure timely payments.
• Benchmark performance against other commissions and ensure post-contract audits and closeouts.
• Conduct post-contract reviews to create training materials and handover procedures.
• Utilise Bid Analysis Sheets, Change Control Forms, Cost Estimating Software, and Take-off Software for all duties.
• Support cost management across multiple construction phases from planning to closeout.

Skills

Communication

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree in construction management

RICS accreditation (valued)

Tools

Cost Estimating Software

Take-off Software

Job description

Cost Manager / Quantity Surveyor- Life Sciences Construction

• 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.

Turner & Townsend are looking for a Cost Manager/ Quantity Surveyor to join our team and support construction cost services for a major capital construction program. This opportunity will involve supporting the continued expansion of a large life sciences manufacturing campus, working closely with project stakeholders to deliver complex projects across multiple phases of development. The ideal candidate will be driven and promote our Turner & Townsend purpose and values.

Responsibilities

• Advising client on strategies, managing prequalification of vendors, assessing proposals, bids, and bid levelling documents, making final recommendations to the client, attending & chairing bid interviews, and managing appointment process.
• Manage estimating services for full project by developing project estimates (relating to construction, fees, direct work and other costs), reviewing estimations prepared by junior team members, presenting estimates to client, presenting value engineering recommendations and risk assessments to client, meeting with vendors to review, validate, and challenge costs, and reviewing estimates by utilizing benchmark data collected from other projects.
• Manage cost reporting by establishing reporting schedule, reviewing & presenting cost reports and forecasts, reviewing project budget & spend forecast with the client, developing & maintaining commercial risk register, and hosting periodic meetings with project team & vendors.
• Manage cost control process by reviewing payment application assessments prepared by junior team members, liaising with project managers to recommend contractor entitlements, reviewing requests for change orders from vendors & making recommendations to client, and using dispute prevention/management/resolution procedures to manage payment requisitions, change orders, and contractual disputes.
• Manage & monitor invoicing process.
• Benchmark performance against other successful commissions.
• Manage all facets of the final accounting process and post contract audits and account close outs.
• Hold post-contract reviews with the client to establish a lesson learned document and apply lessons to create training manual.
• Develop procedures governing handover of project.
• Perform all the duties above through the use/preparation of Bid Analysis Sheets, Change Control Forms, Cost Estimating Software, and Take-off Software.
• Support cost management activities across multiple phases of construction, from planning and procurement through commissioning and closeout.
• SOX control responsibilities may be part of this role, which are to be adhered to where applicable.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in construction management, cost management, quantity surveying, engineering, or a field related to construction.
• Minimum 3-5 years of relevant experience working in a cost management role in the construction industry.
• RICS accredited or working towards it is valuable.
• Experience supporting cost management on medium or large-sized construction projects.
• Experience working on manufacturing, industrial, life sciences, commercial, or large capital construction projects is beneficial.
• Construction consultancy experience is strongly preferred.
• Good knowledge of construction industry technical matters, such as different procurement routes, value management, and value engineering.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.

*On-site presence and requirements may change depending on our client's needs.

The base salary range for this role is $120,000-$130,000 USD. This range reflects the company's good faith estimate of the base salary for this position at the time of the posting. Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, skills, qualifications, and internal equity. In addition to base salary, employees may be eligible for bonuses and a comprehensive benefits package.

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.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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