Cost/Project Controls Manager

Kelly Services; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 110,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

Retirement savings plan

Paid holidays

Transit spending account

Paid sick leave

Job summary

Kelly Services in Houston, TX seeks an experienced Cost/Project Controls Manager to lead project cost management for capital projects within engineering, construction, or EPC environments. You will forecast, accrue, report costs, perform variance analysis, and provide financial visibility to project leadership.

This is not an accounting role but a true project controls position. The ideal candidate has strong SAP skills and can independently drive cost baselines, forecast accuracy, and critical

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with cost management or project controls experience.
• Several years of experience in project cost management or project controls.
• Strong forecasting and budgeting experience.
• Experience preparing accruals and analyzing project financial performance.
• Ability to work independently with minimal training.
• Effective communication with project stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Integrates cost estimate, workhour estimate, and schedule into the Cost Management baseline.
• Establishes cost baseline for deviations during project execution.
• Develops and maintains cost reports, cash flow curves, and contingency analyses.
• Prepares monthly accruals and cost reports.
• Tracks change orders and budget impacts.
• Presents financial updates to project teams and leadership.

Skills

Forecasting

Accruals

Cost reporting

Variance analysis

SAP

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

SAP

Job description

Kelly is currently seeking an experienced Cost/Project Controls Manager professional with a strong background in capital projects, engineering, construction, or EPC environments to join a leading team in the Houston, Texas area! This role is focused on project cost management for capital projects. The ideal candidate will be responsible for forecasting, accruals, cost reporting, variance analysis, and providing financial visibility to project leadership teams. This is not an accounting or bookkeeping position.

Candidates should have hands‑on experience with forecasting, accruals, cost reporting, and variance analysis, along with strong SAP skills. The successful candidate must be able to operate independently, communicate effectively with project leadership, and provide accurate financial oversight throughout the project lifecycle.

The Cost Manager acts as a technical resource for Cost Management within the Global Project Methodology (GPM) work process. This role supports establishment of the overall cost baseline with reporting to monitor and control the project within established tolerances of the baseline supporting cost effective project execution, and coordinates data inputs from the various disciplines and functions to ensure accurate forecasts and reporting of cost. The Cost Manager will also engage the project steering team to understand causes of the deviation and the need to establish actions to mitigate, where deviations from established tolerances occur. This position requires in‑depth conceptual and practical knowledge in own job discipline and basic knowledge of related job disciplines.

Responsibilities:

• Integrates the project cost estimate, workhour estimate, and project schedule into the Cost Management baseline.
• Establishes cost baseline from which deviations will be managed during project execution.
• Establishes work breakdown structure based upon work process norms and execution strategy.
• Develops and maintains cost reports, cash flow cancellation curves, and contingency analyses. Ensures accurate representation of cost data and cost forecast in monthly reporting.
• Provides estimate of cancellation costs.
• Estimates costs of deviations and assesses impact on total project cost.
• Ensures accurate reflection of committed spent funds, project deviation notices, field change orders, and project execution changes in all cost documents.
• Leads the project team in deriving an accurate and realistic forecast of all funds required to complete the project within the defined budget and schedule while incorporating own trending and analyses.
• Alerts the project team to critical Cost Management issues.
• Provides supporting data for project execution metrics, external benchmarking and project closure.
• Gather and analyze project cost data from multiple sources.
• Develop and maintain project cost forecasts.
• Prepare monthly accruals and cost reports.
• Monitor project spending, commitments, and cash flow.
• Analyze actual costs against forecasts and explain variances.
• Track change orders and budget impacts.
• Present financial updates and cost performance reports to project teams and leadership.
• Support project controls activities throughout the project lifecycle.

Required Experience:

• Bachelor's degree plus cost management, project controls or other related experience preferred. In lieu of degree, equivalent years of experience required.
• Several years of experience in project cost management or project controls.
• Strong forecasting and budgeting experience.
• Experience preparing accruals and analyzing project financial performance.
• Ability to work independently with minimal training.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to present findings to project stakeholders.

Preferred Experience:

• EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) industry experience.
• Capital project or industrial project experience.
• Experience supporting large engineering or construction programs.
• Familiarity working with Project Managers, Engineers, Construction Managers, and Project Controls teams.
• Systems Experience
• SAP experience is highly preferred.
• Ecosys experience is a plus.
• Strong Excel and reporting skills.

As part of our promise to talent, Kelly supports those who work with us through a variety of benefits, perks, and work‑related resources. Please note: The following benefits reflect Kelly's general offerings. Eligibility may vary by assignment, location, and job type. Kelly offers eligible employees voluntary benefit plans including medical, dental, vision, telemedicine, term life, whole life, accident insurance, critical illness, a legal plan, and short‑term disability. As a Kelly employee, you will have access to a retirement savings plan, service bonus and holiday pay plans (earn up to eight paid holidays per benefit year), and a transit spending account. In addition, employees are entitled to earn paid sick leave under the applicable state or local plan. Click here (https://www.mykelly.com/help-support-working-with-kelly-us/#Benefits) for more information on benefits and perks that may be available to you as a member of the Kelly Talent Community.

Why Kelly Engineering?

Your engineering skills are in demand, but how do you find the right fit? Easy. At Kelly Engineering, our team creates expert talent solutions to solve the world’s most critical challenges. We connect you with leading organizations where you can collaborate on innovative projects, work with cutting‑edge technologies and accelerate your growth. Whether you prefer the variety and flexibility of short‑term projects or are looking for a long‑term opportunity, we’re here to guide you to the next step in your engineering career.

About Kelly

Work changes everything. And at Kelly, we’re obsessed with where it can take you. To us, it’s about more than simply accepting your next job opportunity. It’s the fuel that powers every next step of your life. It’s the ripple effect that changes and improves everything for your family, your community, and the world. Which is why, here at Kelly, we are dedicated to providing you with limitless opportunities to enrich your life—just ask the 300,000 people we employ each year.

Kelly is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants regardless of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, marital status, pregnancy, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and we take affirmative action to recruit, employ, and advance qualified individuals with disabilities and protected veterans in the workforce. Requests for accommodation related to our application process can be directed to the Kelly Human Resource Knowledge Center. Kelly complies with the requirements of California’s state and local Fair Chance laws. A conviction does not automatically bar individuals from employment. Kelly participates in E‑Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I‑9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.

Kelly may use AI‑powered tools during the recruitment and hiring process. For full details, including how Kelly uses AI, your rights, and how to request a reasonable accommodation, visit the Recruitment Artificial Intelligence Notice (https://www.kellyservices.com/hubfs/myKelly/Resources/Employment_Policies/Recruitment-Artificial-Intelligence-Notice.pdf?hsLang=en) .

Kelly Services is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affluent employer. We welcome, value, and embrace diversity at all levels and are committed to building a team that is inclusive of a variety of backgrounds, communities, perspectives, and abilities. At Kelly, we believe that the more inclusive we are, the better services we can provide. Requests for accommodation related to our application process can be directed to Kelly’s Human Resource Knowledge Center. Kelly complies with the requirements of California’s state and local Fair Chance laws. A conviction does not automatically bar individuals from employment.