Senior Cost Specialist - Baton Rouge, LA

Quanta Services; Baton Rouge (LA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base salary

Generous PTO & paid holidays

401(k) with generous match

Medical, dental, vision, life

Weekly pay

Career mentoring & growth

Job summary

QISG, Baton Rouge, seeks a Senior Cost Specialist to own project budgets and cost baselines across utility, power, and renewable energy projects in North America. You’ll develop budgets, track actuals, forecast final costs, and identify risks with Project Managers and Operations leaders.

You’ll turn financial data into actionable insights, support cost-recovery plans, apply EVM principles, and maintain cost-control processes using JDE, EcoSys, Procore, Excel, and Power BI.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience in project cost controls, cost management, project controls, or a related field
• Hands-on experience developing, controlling, planning, and forecasting project budgets
• Strong understanding of actuals vs. budget, forecasting, variance analysis, and cost-to-complete
• Ability to identify cost issues, analyze project financials, and recommend corrective actions
• Experience communicating project cost performance and risks to Project Managers and leadership
• Experience with EAC/ETC and change management ; EVM experience is highly preferred
• Strong Excel skills and experience with project cost or financial systems such as JDE, EcoSys, Procore, or similar tools
• Experience supporting EPC, construction, utility, energy, infrastructure, or other project-based environments preferred
• Willingness to travel up to 15% domestically

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and control project budgets and cost baselines
• Track actual costs, commitments, forecasts, and cost trends
• Perform EAC/ETC, variance, and cost-to-complete analysis
• Identify cost risks, deviations, and emerging issues and recommend corrective action
• Support change orders, budget transfers, and cost impact analysis
• Prepare clear cost reports, forecasts, dashboards, and project performance updates
• Communicate cost performance, concerns, and recovery plans to Project Managers and leadership
• Partner with project teams to align financial performance with execution plans
• Apply EVM principles to evaluate cost and schedule performance
• Use tools such as JDE, EcoSys, Procore, Excel, and Power BI
• Support consistent cost-control processes and continuous improvement across projects

Skills

Budgeting

Forecasting

Cost control

Variance analysis

EVM

Excel

Communication with PMs

Project cost management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Business, Finance, Engineering, or related field

Tools

JDE

EcoSys

Procore

Power BI

Excel

Job description

About Us

QISG leverages Quanta’s comprehensive resources to deliver collaborative solutions for our partners' energy infrastructure needs. We use in-house talent, expertise and resources to plan, design, engineer, manage, conduct maintenance on and construct projects.

Our turnkey service capabilities provide our customers with efficiency, consistency, attention to detail and safe execution. The QISG team brings together Engineering, Safety, Quality, Material Procurement, QA/QC, Right-of-Way Acquisition, Scheduling, Environmental Planning, Permitting, Title and Land Management expertise that ensure outstanding results for our clients.

About this Role

Senior Cost Specialist

Location: 8545 United Plaza Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70809 Schedule: Full-time, Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM–5:00 PM, in office Travel: Up to 15% domestic travel

Own the numbers behind projects that power the country.

As a Senior Cost Specialist, you’ll play a key role in the financial success of major utility, power generation, transmission, substation, and renewable energy projects across North America.

You’ll oversee project costs from budget through completion, developing and maintaining budgets, tracking actual costs and commitments, forecasting final costs, identifying risks and variances, and helping project teams stay on track. Working closely with Project Managers and Operations leaders, you’ll turn financial data into actionable insights and support cost recovery plans that keep projects financially sound.

What You'll Do

• - Develop, maintain, and control project budgets and cost baselines
• - Track actual costs, commitments, forecasts, and cost trends
• - Perform EAC/ETC, variance, and cost-to-complete analysis
• - Identify cost risks, deviations, and emerging issues and recommend corrective action
• - Support change orders, budget transfers, and cost impact analysis
• - Prepare clear cost reports, forecasts, dashboards, and project performance updates
• - Communicate cost performance, concerns, and recovery plans to Project Managers and leadership
• - Partner with project teams to align financial performance with execution plans
• - Apply EVM principles to evaluate cost and schedule performance
• - Use tools such as JDE, EcoSys, Procore, Excel, and Power BI
• - Support consistent cost-control processes and continuous improvement across projects

What You'll Bring

• - 6+ years of experience in project cost controls, cost management, project controls, or a related field
• - Hands-on experience developing, controlling, planning, and forecasting project budgets
• - Strong understanding of actuals vs. budget, forecasting, variance analysis, and cost-to-complete
• - Ability to identify cost issues, analyze project financials, and recommend corrective actions
• - Experience communicating project cost performance and risks to Project Managers and leadership
• - Experience with EAC/ETC and change management ; EVM experience is highly preferred
• - Strong Excel skills and experience with project cost or financial systems such as JDE, EcoSys, Procore, or similar tools
• - Experience supporting EPC, construction, utility, energy, infrastructure, or other project-based environments preferred
• - Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Business, Finance, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience
• - Willingness to travel up to 15% domestically

What You'll Get

Join QISG and grow your career!

• - Competitive base salary
• - Generous PTO & paid holidays to maintain work-life balance
• - 401(k) with a generous match to plan for your future
• - Comprehensive benefits – medical, dental, vision, and life insurance
• - Weekly pay for consistent, reliable compensation
• - Great mentoring & career growth opportunities – we invest in your development

At QISG, we don’t just offer a job—we offer a career where you can grow, learn, and be rewarded for your contributions.

Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex (including gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity), age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and/or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state or local law.We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status. We prohibit all types of discrimination and are committed to providing access and equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities. For additional information or if reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application, interview, or hiring processes or to perform the essential functions of a position, please contact us the Company’s Human Resources department.