Senior Transportation Project Accountant

HDR, Inc.; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 134,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee ownership

Job summary

HDR, Inc. in Irvine, CA, seeks a Senior Transportation Project Accountant to perform detailed project controls, invoicing, budgeting, and cost management for mobility projects that enhance safety, efficiency, and sustainability.

The role requires a Bachelor’s or Associate degree with 10+ years’ experience, strong communication, and proficiency with MS Office; HDR emphasizes collaboration, inclusion, and employee ownership.

Qualifications

• Associate degree in a closely related field or combination of education and relevant experience.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience; an advanced degree may offset years of experience.
• Understanding the scope of work to sufficiently build and status schedules, cost plans, spend plans within a variety of project controls tools
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills 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
• Proficiency with MS Office including Word and Outlook

Responsibilities

• Provide detailed analysis and reporting on project or program status within an established system of project controls
• Be responsible for analysis, developing and reporting associated with various project controls job duties, such as project baseline, work package agreements, cost control, cost estimation, earned value management (EVM), projections, variance analysis, schedules, project/program/portfolio integration or technical project reviews
• Work autonomously on client invoicing, collections management and project budgeting
• Accurately contract documentation, administration and maintenance, including fee and budget entry
• Work with section and project personnel to provide timely contract performance data and resolve financial issues
• Read and understand client and internal contracts
• Coordinate the project accounting system within the department and work with technical staff to ensure compliance with contractual requirements
• Be responsible for using knowledge and experience in project controls, support the technical project management team in project management activities
• Serve as the centralized point of contact to internal and external business
• Team with technical staff, project leads and managers to make recommendations to influence key decision-makers within the scope of project controls (work breakdown structure, schedule, and budget/cost)
• Utilize information management, access controls management, configuration management, program integration and communications and risk management processes to support project teams
• Assist with customer interactions, including arranging and documenting periodic reviews and tracking project management deliverables and presenting project management status to external or internal customers
• Analyze, prepare, validate and maintain cost estimates, detailed baseline budgets, work package agreements, and monthly cost variance reports
• Utilize earned value management techniques or other management techniques to understand relationships between planned work, executed work, and actual costs
• Analyze the schedule, including ensuring that schedule logic is consistent and maintained, analyzing what-if scenarios, reviewing critical-path reviews (including secondary or tertiary critical-path, where applicable) as required
• Work with technical leads and/or project managers to ensure that risks and opportunities are integrated with schedule and budget and that goods and services of the proper quality are obtained when needed by the project, according to the project schedule
• Supervise and mentor junior project accountants as needed
• Complete tasks autonomously
• Perform other duties as needed

Skills

Communication skills

Multitasking

Self-motivated

Detail-oriented

Confidential information handling

Education

Associate degree in a closely related field

Bachelor's degree in Accounting

Tools

MS Office (Word, Outlook)

Job description

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we foster a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves: What is our impact on the world?

Watch Our Story: ' https://www.hdrinc.com/our-story'

Each and every role throughout our organization makes a difference in our ability to change the world for the better. Read further to learn how you could help make great things possible not only in your community, but around the world.

We believe transportation is more than movement, it's the foundation of connected, thriving communities. As part of HDR's Transportation Business Group, you'll help shape the systems that move people and goods safely, efficiently, and sustainably. From designing resilient highways and iconic bridges to advancing transit, passenger and freight rail, aviation, federal transportation ports and marine infrastructure, your work will directly support economic vitality, public safety, sustainable and resilient communities and quality of life. We bring together planners, engineers, architects, construction management staff, environmental, strategic communications, economists, management consultants and specialists across disciplines to solve complex mobility challenges with innovation, technical excellence, and a deep understanding of community needs. Whether you're modernizing aging infrastructure or pioneering next-generation transportation solutions, your contributions will help define the future of mobility. This isn't just a job, it's a chance to lead progress, drive meaningful impact, and leave a legacy of smarter, more connected transportation networks. We are all employee-owners at HDR, which is the foundation of our collaborative culture that connects employees around the world.

In the role of Senior Transportation Project Accountant, we'll count on you to:

• Provide detailed analysis and reporting on project or program status within an established system of project controls
• Be responsible for analysis, developing and reporting associated with various project controls job duties, such as project baseline, work package agreements, cost control, cost estimation, earned value management (EVM), projections, variance analysis, schedules, project/program/portfolio integration or technical project reviews
• Work autonomously on client invoicing, collections management and project budgeting
• Accurately contract documentation, administration and maintenance, including fee and budget entry
• Work with section and project personnel to provide timely contract performance data and resolve financial issues
• Read and understand client and internal contracts
• Coordinate the project accounting system within the department and work with technical staff to ensure compliance with contractual requirements
• Be responsible for using knowledge and experience in project controls, support the technical project management team in project management activities
• Serve as the centralized point of contact to internal and external business
• Team with technical staff, project leads and managers to make recommendations to influence key decision-makers within the scope of project controls (work breakdown structure, schedule, and budget/cost)
• Utilize information management, access controls management, configuration management, program integration and communications and risk management processes to support project teams
• Assist with customer interactions, including arranging and documenting periodic reviews and tracking project management deliverables and presenting project management status to external or internal customers
• Analyze, prepare, validate and maintain cost estimates, detailed baseline budgets, work package agreements, and monthly cost variance reports
• Utilize earned value management techniques or other management techniques to understand relationships between planned work, executed work, and actual costs
• Analyze the schedule, including ensuring that schedule logic is consistent and maintained, analyzing what-if scenarios, reviewing critical-path reviews (including secondary or tertiary critical-path, where applicable) as required
• Work with technical leads and/or project managers to ensure that risks and opportunities are integrated with schedule and budget and that goods and services of the proper quality are obtained when needed by the project, according to the project schedule
• Supervise and mentor junior project accountants as needed
• Complete tasks autonomously
• Perform other duties as needed

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting
• Experience supervising other financial professionals beneficial

Required Qualifications

• Associate degree in a closely related field or combination of education and relevant experience
• A minimum of 10 years of experience; an advanced degree may offset years of experience
• Understands the scope of work to sufficiently build and status schedules, cost plans, spend plans, within a variety of project controls tools
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills 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
• Proficiency with MS Office including Word and Outlook
• An attitude and commitment to being an active participant of our employee-owned culture is a must

What We Believe

HDR is our company. Together, we build on each other's life experiences and perspectives to make great things possible every day. This shapes our collaborative culture, encourages organizational trust and connects us closer to the clients and communities we serve.

Our Commitment

As employee owners, we all have a role in creating an inclusive environment where each of us is welcomed, valued, respected and empowered to bring our authentic selves to work every day.

Our eight Employee Network Groups (Asian Pacific, Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), LGBTQ+, People with Disabilities, Veterans, Women, Young Professionals) help create a sense of belonging and foster a supportive environment where everyone is empowered to engage and contribute. Each group has an executive sponsor and is open to all employees.

We provide a comprehensive benefits package that promotes employee ownership, employee health, performance, and success, which includes medical, dental, vision, short and long-term disability, life insurance, an employee assistance program, paid time away, parental leave, paid holidays, a retirement savings plan with employer match, employee referral bonus and tuition reimbursement. The expected compensation range for this position is $90,000 - $134,000 and depends upon skills, experience, education and geographical location. (Stated benefits are for full-time regular positions. Temporary and part-time roles eligible for limited benefits.)

Primary Location: United States-California-Irvine

Other Locations: United States-California-Los Angeles, United States-California-Long Beach, United States-California-Rancho Cucamonga, United States-California-Riverside

Industry: Transit

Schedule: Full-time

Employee Status: Regular

BusinessClass: Marketing and Admin

Job Posting: Sep 17, 2026