Cost Manager / Quantity Surveyor - Life Sciences Construction

Turner & Townsend; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Turner & Townsend is seeking a Cost Manager/Quantity Surveyor to support planning, delivery, and financial control of life sciences construction projects in the Philadelphia area. The role focuses on estimating, procurement, cost control, and commercial management within complex capital projects such as labs, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and R&D facilities.

The successful candidate will lead estimation efforts, review vendor proposals, manage cost reporting, and ensure robust commercial

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in construction management, cost management, quantity surveying, engineering or related field.
• Minimum 3–5 years of cost management experience in the construction industry.
• RICS accreditation is valuable.
• Experience supporting cost management on medium or large projects.
• Construction consultancy experience preferred.
• Strong knowledge of procurement routes, value management and value engineering.
• Strong communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Advise client on strategies, prequalify vendors, assess proposals, bids and bid leveling documents, and chair bid interviews.
• Develop project estimates for construction, fees, direct costs and other expenses; review junior staff estimates and present to client.
• Present cost estimates and value engineering recommendations to client; review benchmark data with vendors and client.
• Establish cost reporting schedules; review cost reports and forecasts with client; maintain commercial risk register.
• Review payment applications, recommend contractor entitlements and manage change orders and disputes.
• Manage invoicing and post-contract closeouts; conduct lessons learned and hand over procedures.

Skills

Estimating

Procurement

Cost control

Commercial management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in construction management, cost management, quantity surveying, engineering

Tools

Cost Estimating Software

Take-off Software

Job description

Job Description

Turner & Townsend are looking for a Cost Manager/Quantity Surveyor to support the planning, delivery, and financial management of life sciences construction projects, including laboratory, pharmaceutical manufacturing, R&D, and related facilities. This role is based in West Point, PA, located approximately 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia in Montgomery County. The ideal candidate will have strong expertise in estimating, procurement, cost control, and commercial management within complex capital construction environments.

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.
• 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 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.
• 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 skills.

Additional Information

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

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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Any unsolicited resumes/CVs submitted through our website or to Turner & Townsend personal e-mail accounts, are considered property of Turner & Townsend and are not subject to payment of agency fees. In order to be an authorised Recruitment Agency/Search Firm for Turner & Townsend, there must be a formal written agreement in place and the agency must be invited, by the Recruitment Team, to submit candidates for review.

Please find out more about us at www.turnerandtownsend.com/ and www.heery.com/