Project Controls Engineer III (Risk Management)

AACE International; Gaithersburg (MD); On-site; USD 85,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

AACE International in Gaithersburg, MD seeks an experienced Project Controls Specialist to support program and project leaders in planning, scheduling, cost, estimating and change management. The role documents project plans, tracks performance, and reports key metrics to leadership.

The successful candidate will lead risk analysis activities, maintain risk registers, and develop risk-adjusted forecasts and EACs, ensuring accurate budgets and timely reporting across multiple programs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related field.
• Typically 5+ years of experience in engineering, project management, or related industry.
• Experience with planning and scheduling, cost management, estimating, and change management.
• Experience using project management software applications.
• Advanced skills with on-screen takeoff and estimating tools.
• Ability to derive quantities from engineering documents.
• Familiarity with multiple construction and project disciplines.
• Strong MS Word and Excel skills.
• Capable of producing risk analyses and performance reports.

Responsibilities

• Provide project controls and risk management support to project teams.
• Lead quantitative risk analysis activities including SRA, CRA and probabilistic modeling.
• Develop and maintain risk registers across cost, schedule, technical, and programmatic domains.
• Conduct risk-informed analysis of schedules and cost baselines.
• Produce technical reports and executive summaries with Monte Carlo results.
• Create dashboards and KPIs to track risk exposure and mitigation.
• Support risk-adjusted forecasts and EAC development.
• Assist in developing and maintaining project schedules with integrated risk analysis.
• Track budgets and cost forecasts with risk-driven variance analysis.
• Prepare periodic risk assessment reports for leadership.
• Perform quantity surveys using on-screen takeoff tools.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Skills

Planning and scheduling

Cost management

Estimating

Change management and trends

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Tools

Project management software

On-screen takeoff

Estimating tools

Job description

This role is responsible for providing project controls support to program and project leadership in one or more of the areas of planning and scheduling, cost, estimating, and change management/trends across a variety of programs/projects. This role documents and captures the project plan developed by program/project leadership, monitors and measures performance against the plan, and reports on key data metrics back to program/project leadership.

Job Profile Tasks/Responsibilities

• Provide project controls and risk management support to project teams.
• Lead quantitative risk analysis activities including schedule risk analysis (SRA), cost risk analysis (CRA), and probabilistic modeling to assess project uncertainties and confidence levels.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive risk registers, ensuring timely identification, assessment, quantification, and tracking of project risks across cost, schedule, technical, and programmatic domains.
• Conduct risk-informed analysis of project schedules and cost baselines, integrating risk mitigation strategies and contingency planning into project controls processes.
• Produce technical reports and executive summaries documenting risk analysis findings, including probability distributions, sensitivity analyses, and Monte Carlo simulation results.
• Create and distribute risk metrics, dashboards, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to program/project leadership, tracking risk exposure trends, mitigation effectiveness, and emerging risk areas.
• Support the development of risk-adjusted forecasts and Estimates at Completion (EAC), incorporating quantitative risk assessment results into financial analyses and project performance reporting.
• Assist in the development and maintenance of project schedules with integrated risk analysis, ensuring accurate timelines, resource allocation, and critical path identification.
• Track and monitor project budgets, expenses, and financial forecasts with emphasis on risk-driven cost variance analysis and contingency burn-down tracking.
• Prepare periodic risk assessment reports and performance analyses for program/project leadership, translating complex quantitative data into actionable insights.
• Maintain professional demeanor and behavior at all times in all forms of communication.
• Execute the core tasks and responsibilities listed in the Job Profile Task/Responsibilities section of this document, with minimal supervision.
• Based on assigned project, could perform detailed quantity surveys using on screen takeoff tools.
• Perform other duties as assigned by manager.

Job Profile Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering is required.
• Typically, five plus years’ experience in engineering, project management or related industry experience.
• Experience utilizing the industry-known best practices in at least one of the areas below: Planning and scheduling; Cost management; Estimating; Change management and trends.
• Experience using project management software applications.
• Advanced software skills using on screen takeoff and estimating tools.
• Experience writing the basis of estimate documents.
• Knowledge of several construction and project disciplines.
• Basic understanding of engineering documents and derive quantities from them.
• Basic software application skills (i.e. Microsoft Word and Excel).
• Execute the core tasks and responsibilities listed in the Job Profile Task/Responsibilities section of this document, with minimal supervision.
• Based on assigned project, could perform detailed quantity surveys using on screen takeoff tools.