Lead Project Accountant

Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising; Bellevue (WA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

HDR is seeking a Lead Project Accountant to oversee a Project Accountant team within a Business Group. You will QC documentation, run monthly financial meetings, and coordinate reporting on project status, budgets, and cost variances.

This role requires strong leadership and deep experience in project accounting within a professional services context. Responsibilities include mentoring staff, ensuring internal controls, and collaborating with project leads to optimize financial performance and

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in project accounting or similar
• Experience managing and training a team
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Proficiency with MS Office and document management tools

Responsibilities

• Lead and supervise a Project Accountant team for a Business Group.
• QC contract documents for the business group project accounting team prior to signatures.
• Run monthly financial meetings for business group delivery projects.
• Maintain workload distribution among project accounting team and assign project support work as needed.
• Train new PA staff and communicate new processes to the team.
• Serve as the centralized contact for accounting or contract questions on assigned projects.
• Provide detailed analysis and reporting on project status in the accounting system.

Skills

Team leadership

Mentoring staff

Interpersonal skills

Organizational skills

MS Office proficiency

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting or related field

Associate degree in a related field

Tools

Microsoft Word

Excel

Adobe Acrobat

Outlook

PowerPoint

Job description

HDR is an employee‑owned engineering and environmental consulting firm. Our Lead Project Accountant will play a key role in our Power sector, managing project accounting for a Business Group within HDR’s global operations.

Responsibilities

• Lead and supervise a Project Accountant (PA) team for a Business Group.
• QC contract documents for the business group project accounting team prior to signatures.
• Run monthly financial meetings for business group delivery projects.
• Maintain even workload distribution among project accounting team and assign project support work as needed.
• Train new PA staff and communicate new processes to the business group project accounting team.
• Serve as the centralized point of contact for accounting or contract related questions or tasks on assigned projects.
• Provide detailed analysis and reporting on project status within the established accounting system or other developed tracking tools.
• Be responsible for analyzing, preparing, validating and maintaining budget estimates, detailed baseline budgets, work package agreements, and daily/weekly/monthly cost variance reports.
• Team with technical staff, project leads and managers to make recommendations to influence key decision‑makers related to project accounting.
• Utilize earned value management techniques or other financial reporting techniques to communicate to the Project Team relationships and variances between planned work, executed work, and actual costs.
• Lead on managing subconsultant agreements, subconsultant invoices and release of payments to subconsultants per their contract terms and conditions.
• Assist in AR collection for business group projects.
• Assist the Area Accounting Manager in supporting local operations Area leadership teams.
• Be responsible for supporting accounting functions for an area business group.
• Primary responsibilities include sharing in supervising, training & mentoring responsibilities of Area Resources business group accounting staff, for all facets of project and contract financial management, as well as, assisting Area Accounting Manager to ensure general accounting functions maintained for the Area.
• Perform specialized accounting functions and establish internal controls for procedures and practices in accordance with company policies, accounting procedures and contractual obligations within the resources business group.
• Work directly with Area Operations Manager, Business Group Managers and Assistant Regional Accounting Director (ARAD) to manage and coordinate department and project accounting systems to monitor department general ledger accounts, project budgets, invoicing, payables, receivables and other related financial information.
• Audit compliance with contractual requirements, which may include invoicing and reporting format, net fee projections and financial quality control.
• Review and analyze financial statements.
• Assist area business group manager in coordinating and reviewing annual departmental budgets.
• Advise management on financial performance of area business group and projects.
• Supervise the activity of area business group accountants for the collection of employee time and expense reports and verification of project numbers, resource codes, and receipts.
• Supervise the activity of area business group accountants and project controllers specific to project accounting and contractual obligations.
• Make staffing recommendations to management.
• Select and/or deal directly with vendors related to department operations as needed.
• Perform other accounting and contracting administration support to accounting staff, Project Managers, Engineers, and Business Group Managers, as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting or related business degree.
• Experience successfully managing and training a team.
• Strong interpersonal skills and “can‑do” attitude.
• Strong organizational skills; able to manage priorities and workflow on multiple simultaneous projects.
• Highly proficient in the use of Microsoft Word, Excel, Adobe Acrobat, Outlook, and Powerpoint.
• Experience with document management software (e.g. Bentley ProjectWise, E‑builder, Document Express) strongly desired.
• A/E industry experience required.
• Ability to deal effectively with a diversity of individuals at all organizational levels.
• Commitment to excellence and high standards.

Required Qualifications

• Associate degree in a closely related field or combination of education and relevant experience.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience; an advanced degree may offset years of experience.
• Proficiency with MS Office including Word and Outlook.
• Excellent verbal and written communication including grammar, punctuation, proofreading, spelling and telephone skills.
• Flexibility and ability to prioritize and handle multiple tasks and collaborate with various managers in a fast‑paced environment.
• Self‑motivated, well‑organized and detail‑oriented.
• Ability to handle confidential information.
• An attitude and commitment to being an active participant of our employee‑owned culture is a must.

Location

United States – Washington – Bellevue

Schedule

Full‑time

Employee Status

Regular

Job Posting

Feb 4, 2026

At HDR, we are committed to the principles of employment equity.

We are an affirmative action and equal opportunity employee. We consider all qualified applicants, regardless of criminal histories, arrest and conviction records.