DCE Project Controls Manager

Mission:

Serve as the VP of Construction's direct tactical eyes and ears on the ground, governing daily project financial defense, variance tracking, change validation, schedule integration, and project controls reporting processes.

Core Focus:

Ensure active field execution matches contractual billing, provide immediate visibility into cost variances, defend the portfolio contingency against erosion, establish reporting frameworks used across projects, and audit multi-project bookkeeping

Scope:

Strategic tracking of multiple concurrent live builds, utility campus infrastructure projects, and active operational retrofit/repair construction projects while maintaining ownership of project controls processes, reporting standards, and portfolio-level financial visibility.

Key Responsibilities and Essential Job Functions

Cost Tracking & Project Bookkeeping Controls

• Establish and maintain project controls reporting frameworks, financial tracking standards, and performance metrics to ensure consistent portfolio-level visibility and decision support.
• Maintain active site sub-ledgers and execute daily cost-code accounting using MasterFormat/Uniformat standards, ensuring all field commitments are logged accurately.
• Review, verify, and process monthly progress billings and pay applications from the General Contractor, cross-referencing all billings against physical on-site work-in-place verification.
• Collect, audit, and log conditional and unconditional lien waivers from all sub-tier trades to eliminate financial, legal, and title risks.
• Monitor delivery timelines, tax exemptions, and milestone payments for critical Owner-Furnished Equipment (OFE) once items transition to the field.
• Isolate, track, and bookkeep distinct budgets for large operational repair or retrofit builds to prevent cost blending with standard facility maintenance budgets.

Field Estimating & Change Management

• Command the change order defense process; review incoming Subcontractor Change Orders (PCOs/COs) for strict contractual entitlement.
• Verify contractor material quantities and labor rates against original contract baselines and regional labor indexes.
• Execute rapid, first-principles quantity takeoffs for field variations to negotiate fair value with contractors before work begins.
• Monitor early warning indicators on labor productivity, material waste, and design gaps to flag cost overruns before they impact the ledger.

Schedule Integration & Reporting

• Integrates project budgets with active master schedules using critical path methodology to calculate schedule and cost performance indexes (SPI/CPI) via Earned Value Management (EVM).
• Build and update monthly site-level and portfolio-level Work-in-Progress (WIP) forecasts and cash drawdown curves for direct review by the VP of Construction.
• Develop, maintain, and continuously improve project controls reporting standards, dashboards, and portfolio performance metrics utilized by leadership and project stakeholders.
• Provide unfiltered weekly financial health updates, early-warning risk logs, and contingency drawdown status reports to leadership.
• Lead coordination across project teams, contractors, consultants, and internal stakeholders to drive alignment on project controls, forecasting, cost management, and schedule performance.
• Advise the VP of Construction on portfolio-wide contingency liquidity and cash velocity to optimize capital deployment.
• Support long-range portfolio planning activities through multi-project forecasting, capital deployment analysis, and projected financial performance reporting.

Document Coordination & Audit Support

• Audit and process final contract closures, retention reconciliations, and sub-tier ledger settlements upon project commissioning.
• Enforce strict compliance with corporate budget boundaries, contractual frameworks, and Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) structures.
• Identify opportunities to improve project controls processes, reporting methodologies, financial controls, and compliance practices across the portfolio.
• Support corporate financial and compliance audits by providing clean, unassailable financial records of site expenditures, signed waivers, and progress history.

Required Qualifications

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Finance, Civil/Mechanical Engineering, or Accounting.
• 5–8 years of experience in project controls, cost engineering, or construction accounting on heavy industrial or utility-scale commercial projects.
• At least 2–3 years working directly on mission-critical or data center construction projects with a clear understanding of heavy MEP cost profiles.

Technical Skills:

• Advanced proficiency utilizing enterprise construction PMIS tools, relational spreadsheet applications, and critical-path scheduling software.
• Strong understanding of open-book cost reviews, shared savings clauses, and multi-tier contract mechanics.
• Comfortable splitting time between the office and the active construction field to verify work-in-place alongside superintendents.

Base Pay Range:

The annual salary range offered for this position is estimated to be $135,000 - $150,000. However, the actual pay range depends on each candidate’s experience, location, and qualifications.

Variable Pay:

Discretionary annual bonus, based on personal and company performance.

Work Location:

This position follows Flexential's hybrid and remote work model flexibility. In-office collaboration typically occurs on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when located within a commutable distance from Flexential’s office / hub locations including: Denver, CO (HQ) | Hillsboro, OR | Dallas, TX | Atlanta, GA | Charlotte, NC | Collegeville, PA. Candidates located outside of a reasonable commuting distance can be considered for a remote work based on role requirements, business needs, and hiring manager approval.

#LI-Hybrid