Cost Analyst

Job Description

Job Description

Cost Controls Specialist (in office)

Location: Boston, MA Area (Cambridge)
Experience: 5–10 Years 

Discipline: Project Controls / Cost Controls

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced Cost Controls Specialist to support capital project cost management activities in the Boston area. The successful candidate will have 5–10 years of project controls or cost controls experience, with strong hands-on experience working with SAP and Planisware.

The primary focus of this role will be supporting project teams with the collection, reconciliation, analysis, and reporting of project actual costs from SAP, while maintaining accurate cost and forecast information within Planisware.

Key Responsibilities

• Extract and review project actual costs, commitments, purchase orders, and other financial information from SAP.
• Reconcile SAP actuals against project cost reports, forecasts, and Planisware.
• Maintain accurate project cost information within Planisware, including actuals, forecasts, budgets, and commitments.
• Support monthly project cost reporting and financial close activities.
• Work with Project Managers and project teams to review cost performance and identify discrepancies between actual expenditures and forecasts.
• Assist with development and maintenance of project forecasts, Estimate at Completion (EAC), and cash flow projections.
• Track budget, commitments, actual costs, forecast, and variances throughout the project lifecycle.
• Investigate and resolve cost discrepancies in coordination with Finance, Procurement, Project Management, and other stakeholders.
• Support preparation of monthly cost reports, dashboards, and management reporting.
• Assist project teams with maintaining accurate cost coding and alignment between project controls and financial systems.

Qualifications

• 5–10 years of experience in project controls, cost controls, project finance, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience working with SAP, particularly extracting and reconciling project actual costs and commitments.
• Planisware experience required, including working with project cost and forecast information.
• Strong understanding of project cost management principles, including budgets, commitments, actuals, forecasts, EAC, cash flow, and variance analysis.
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills and ability to analyze and reconcile large amounts of cost data.
• Ability to work directly with Project Managers, Finance, Procurement, and project controls personnel.
• Strong attention to detail with the ability to identify and resolve cost discrepancies.
• Experience supporting capital projects preferred.
• Pharmaceutical, life sciences, biotech, or other highly regulated capital project experience is preferred.

Preferred Background

The ideal candidate has worked within a project controls organization supporting multiple capital projects and is comfortable moving between SAP, Planisware, Excel, and project cost reports to ensure that project financial information is complete, accurate, and aligned across systems.