Project Control Specialist (Cost)

HPM; Mesa (AZ); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

HPM is a national capital program management firm partnering with owners to lead complex capital improvement programs from planning through execution. It provides leadership, oversight, and advisory services to manage risk, control cost, and deliver complex projects.

HPM employs over 200 professionals serving industries including industrial, manufacturing, aviation, education, municipal, hospitality, and sports.

Qualifications

• 5-10 years of project cost controls experience or extensive project management experience in large, complex facilities construction and on-site management of new construction and renovations.
• Strong technical knowledge in construction contracts and cost management.
• Strong analytical skills for estimate analysis, bid evaluations, budget monitoring, cash flow analysis, risk analysis and benchmarking project costs.
• Strong leadership, communication and problem solving; experience coordinating and executing project issues.
• Good understanding of estimating from conceptual through definitive construction estimates.
• CPM Scheduling with Primavera P6 experience including cost control, change management and cost projection.
• Experience in project controls, commercial operations with emphasis on project controls and financial issues.
• Proficiency with MS Office, Excel Macros, MS Access, Power BI and dashboard development.

Responsibilities

• Review invoices against contract terms and conditions.
• Assist in standardizing processes and tools, deploy HPM solutions, share knowledge across the project controls community.
• Support project teams in planning and execution phases, including training as needed.
• Draft reports for clients based on cost timelines and site inspections.
• Conduct accrual analysis and coordinate with payment processing for vendor payments.
• Develop WBS and CBS structures for cost reporting.
• Produce weekly, monthly, and special client reports tracking project progress and status.
• Maintain funding availability with expenditure records and projections.
• Manage project costs, budgets, forecasts, commitments, accruals, WBS, milestones, risks and KPIs.
• Oversee change control, schedule baseline, and current budget reflecting approved changes.
• Perform earned value analyses to identify risks in schedule and cost variances; use cost-loaded schedules when possible.
• Track budget transfers, uncommitted costs, and contingencies.
• Present findings to clients with clear articulation and promote collaboration across parties.
• Provide monthly project status reports (cost, risk, manpower) to PM teams.
• Provide cash flow projections to manage capital and client outlays; compare actuals to forecasts.
• Reconcile project cost with cost reporting accuracy.
• Set up cost control systems for contracts requiring validated cost/schedule controls.
• Support claims and variance analysis reporting with MS Project, Primavera, Excel.
• Support Senior Project Controls Manager with data management for multiple sites.
• Support initial formalization of project controls function for large design projects.
• Maintain historical cost databases through budgets, commitments, WIP, invoices and forecasts.

Skills

Forecasting

Cost controls

Change management

Cost management

Earned value

Risk management

CPM Scheduling

MS Project

Primavera P6

Excel

Power BI

Communication

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Building Science, Construction Management, Civil Engineering, Business Admin

Tools

MS Project

Primavera P6

Excel

MS Access

Power BI

Job description

The Project Controls Cost Specialist will work on Project Controls teams using expertise in forecasting, change management, cost management, project budget analysis, project earn value measurement tracking, risk management, proposals, cashflow and reporting tools. In addition, the Cost Specialist will assist with managing the overall program cost controls and reporting function which includes providing client management support, updates, and presentations at all levels of management. In this role you may be required to travel up to 10% of the time.

• Ability to review invoices versus contractually agreed upon terms and conditions.
• Assist in initiatives to include standardization of processes and tools, participate in the deployment and evolution of standard HPM solutions, support the networking with HPM project controls community to share knowledge and resources across the corporation, support development of project controls best practice within HPM, and potentially working with a vast group of stakeholders.
• Assist in supporting project teams, primarily in the planning, and execution phases of projects, including training as needed to support the needs of HPM project teams.
• Author/draft reports for clients based on technical analysis of costs, timelines, site inspections, and other information available.
• Conduct accrual analysis and coordinate with payment processing teams to track the status of vendor payments.
• Develop Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) and assist with the development of Cost Breakdown Structures (CBS).
• Develops and produces weekly, monthly, and special reports in a timely manner for the client and PM staff to monitor progress and status of the project, including input from contractor.
• Ensures adequate funding availability by maintaining accurate records of expenditures, directing preparation of expenditure projections, and submitting timely requests for additional funding as required.
• Manage project cost and timelines, including budget, forecast, commitments, accruals, Work-In-Place, milestones, WBS, project progress, risks, contingency and KPIs.
• Manage the project change control process and maintain the schedule baseline and current budget to reflect approved changes. Perform earned value analyses for early identification of risks related to schedule performance and cost variances. Utilize cost-loaded schedules when possible.
• Perform tracking and reporting activities related to budget transfers, uncommitted costs and project contingencies.
• Present and discuss findings with client with clear, concise, and logical articulation. Promote open communication and collaboration between all parties to ensure that projects are completed with minimal disruptions and delays.
• Provide monthly project status report (cost, risk, manpower, etc.) Ability to clearly communicate financial status from multiple building sites to PM team.
• Provides cash flow projections and forecasts to assist in managing to available capital and client cash outlay planning. Compare actuals to forecasts for early identification of risks related to schedule performance.
• Reviews, analyzes, and assists project teams with reconciliation of project cost to ensure accuracy of project cost reporting.
• Sets up cost control system that monitors and controls costs and timelines on contracts requiring validated cost/schedule control system.
• Support claims and variance analysis reporting with MS Project, Access, Primavera, and Excel skills.
• Support Senior Project Controls Manager with data management for various project sites.
• Support the initial formalization of a project controls function in support of a large design project.
• Utilize and maintain historical cost databases through input of budgets, commitments, work-in-place, invoices, and forecasts.

Preferred Experience

• 5-10 years of project cost controls experience or of extensive project management experience in large, complex facility construction and on-site experience in the management of new construction and the renovation of existing assets.
• Strong technical knowledge in construction contracts and cost management.
• Strong analytical skills for estimate analysis, bid evaluations, budget monitoring, cash flow analysis, risk analysis and benchmarking project costs.
• Strong skills in leadership, communication and problem solving. Experience working on various projects to include coordinating and executing project issues.
• Good understanding of all types of estimating from conceptual through definitive construction estimates.
• Specific experience in CPM Scheduling with Primavera P6, cost engineering functions, including cost control, change management and cost projection analysis.
• Experience in project controls, commercial operations, with emphasis on project controls and financial issues.
• Proficient computer skills using MS Office tools and with Excel Macro level, Databases (MS Access), Power BI and dashboard development.

Preferred Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Building Science, Construction Management, Civil Engineering, Business Admin

About HPM?

HPM is a national capital program management firm that partners with owners to lead complex capital improvement programs from early planning through execution. Founded in 1997 as a division of Hoar Construction, HPM brings a builder’s perspective while serving as the owner’s advocate—providing leadership, oversight, and advisory services that help clients manage risk, control cost, and successfully deliver complex projects.

Today, HPM has more than 200 employees and serves clients across industries including industrial and advanced manufacturing, aviation and aerospace, education, technology, municipal, hospitality, and sports and entertainment. HPM is intentionally expanding its presence in technically complex sectors, with aviation and aerospace representing an important area of strategic growth.

HPM’s people are central to its value proposition. Team members are expected to become trusted advisors to their clients—combining deep construction expertise with integrity, strong communication, proactive problem-solving, and the ability to influence project outcomes from the owner’s perspective.