Senior Project Controls Specialist

Cockram; Durham, Northern (NC, KY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

FSA/HSA/HRA options

Life insurance

Short and long-term disability

401K with 4% match

3 weeks paid vacation

Paid sick time

8 paid holidays + 2 floating holidays

Wellness stipend

Job summary

Cockram Construction, Inc. in Wilson, North Carolina seeks a Senior Project Controls Specialist to deliver integrated reporting on invoicing, cost, schedule, and earned value.

You will transform large datasets into auditable, decision-useful visuals for Project Controls, PMO, and Site Leadership. The ideal candidate combines advanced data mining with construction and scheduling knowledge, supports Oracle Primavera Cloud, and develops concise Power BI dashboards and Excel models.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in a related field and 5+ years in project controls or analytics.
• Experience with invoice review, financial reconciliation, and schedule reporting.
• Working knowledge of construction terminology, earned progress, SPI/LPI, milestones, float erosion, and critical-path concepts.
• Pharma, life-sciences, manufacturing, engineering, or construction environment preferred.

Responsibilities

• Validate and reconcile invoices, cost codes, work packages, purchase orders, and documentation.
• Maintain logs, aging reports, and audit-ready records; coordinate with stakeholders.
• Extract and reconcile data from earned value, cost reports, dashboards, and schedules.
• Support Power BI dashboards, Excel models, and standard data visualizations.
• Identify data anomalies, forecast movement, and reconciliation gaps for leadership review.
• Support schedule data exports from Primavera Cloud or similar tools.
• Interpret high-level schedules and relationships between planned and earned progress.
• Ensure data quality and traceability across reports and sources.
• Document rules, data sources, calculations, and limitations for maintainability.
• Collaborate with Project Controls, Scheduling, Finance, and PMO to deliver timely analysis.

Skills

Excel

Power BI

Data analysis

Schedule analysis

Attention to detail

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Data Analytics, Engineering, Construction Management, Information Systems

Tools

Oracle Primavera Cloud

Microsoft Project

V-Planner

Perform

Job description

If you are unable to complete this application due to a disability, contact this employer to ask for an accommodation or an alternative application process.

Senior Project Controls Specialist

The Senior Project Controls Specialist provides integrated analytical and value-added reporting support for datasets including but not limited to invoicing, cost, schedule, earned field progress, and changes for the Bio NC program. The role converts large and often disconnected project datasets into accurate, auditable, and decision-useful information with visuals for Project Controls, Building Leads, the PMO, and Site Leadership.

Position Summary:

This position is expected to maintain strong discipline around invoice validation and financial reporting while also supporting schedule and earned field progress analytics. The role does not replace a Cost Lead, Scheduler, Estimator, or Construction Manager. Instead, the analyst provides data quality, integration (interdisciplinary relevance), first-pass analysis, reporting automation, succinct data visualization, and traceability needed for those functions to operate effectively.

An ideal candidate combines advanced data mining and analytical skills with enough construction and scheduling knowledge to interpret what the data means. The candidate should be comfortable working on different project management platforms and through ambiguity, identifying anomalies, improving processes, and experimenting responsibly with AI and automation tools.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the intake, review, tracking, and reconciliation of invoices, including validation of cost codes, work packages, purchase orders, supporting documentation, approval status, and alignment with contract and project requirements.
• Maintain invoice logs, aging reports, exception lists, approval status, and audit-ready supporting records; coordinate resolution of discrepancies with Project Controls, Finance, Procurement, contractors, and project stakeholders.
• Extract, clean, combine, validate, and reconcile data from earned field progress reports, cost reports, invoice systems, dashboards, schedules, spreadsheets, and other project-control sources.
• Support recurring Project Controls analytical tools and reporting products, including progress trend, SPI/LPI, work-package trajectory, exception, and executive key-findings outputs.
• Produce first-pass analysis that identifies anomalies, missing data, forecast movement, unfavorable trends, reconciliation gaps, and items requiring review by the Cost, Schedule, Progress, or PMO leads.
• Support routine schedule-data exports and reporting from Oracle Primavera Cloud, or similar tools as directed by the Scheduling Lead.
• Read and interpret high-level integrated schedules, work-package LOE activities, milestone dates, dependencies, float erosion, critical/near-critical concepts, and planned-versus-earned progress relationships.
• Support development and maintenance of succinct and value-focused Power BI dashboards, Excel models, PowerPoint management reports, and standardized data visualizations using approved project reporting conventions.
• Apply independent quality-control checks to confirm that reporting outputs reconcile to source data and that assumptions, formulas, dates, and mappings are clear and auditable.
• Document business rules, refresh steps, data sources, calculations, and limitations so recurring reports can be maintained consistently and transitioned without single-point dependency.
• Partner with Project Controls, Scheduling, Cost, Finance, Procurement, Building Leads, Construction Management, and external partners to clarify data needs and deliver useful, timely analysis.

Required Education

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Data Analytics, Engineering, Construction Management, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Five or more years of experience in project controls, project analytics, cost administration, construction data analysis, finance operations, scheduling support, or a related environment; large capital-project experience strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting invoice review, financial reconciliation, progress reporting, schedule reporting, dashboards, or project-control data processes.
• Working knowledge of construction-project terminology, work packages, earned progress, SPI/LPI concepts, milestones, float erosion, and critical-path concepts.
• Experience in a pharmaceutical, life-sciences, manufacturing, engineering, or construction environment preferred.

Required Experience, Skills, and Knowledge:

Required

• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
• Proficiency with Power BI or comparable business-intelligence and data-visualization tools.
• Ability to structure, reconcile, and analyze large datasets from multiple sources while preserving traceability to the originating records.
• Ability to read and interpret high-level project schedules and understand planned versus earned progress, schedule windows, milestones, dependencies, float erosion, and critical/near-critical concepts.
• Strong attention to detail, organization, written communication, and ability to explain analytical findings clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
• Demonstrated problem-solving, curiosity, and willingness to investigate unfamiliar tools, data sources, and business questions.

Preferred:

• Working experience with Oracle Primavera Cloud, Microsoft Project, V-Planner, Perform, or similar scheduling and progress systems.
• Practical experience using Microsoft Copilot or another approved AI tool for analysis, reporting, automation, or document development.
• Familiarity with earned-value concepts, cost forecasting, cash flow, accruals, invoice controls, change management, and audit-ready project records.
• Experience developing executive PowerPoint reporting, dashboards, and recurring management review products.

Additional Requirements:

Location of Role: Wilson, North Carolina, USA

Travel Requirements: This position will require 100% onsite presence

Join our team and contribute to exciting projects worldwide. Cockram Construction, Inc. offers competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, FSA/HSA/HRA options, life insurance, short and long-term disability, 401K with 4% match, 3 weeks paid vacation, paid sick time, 8 paid holidays + 2 floating holidays, $250 annual wellness stipend, and tuition reimbursement.

Cockram Construction, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities to minorities, women, veterans, and disabled individuals.