Project Controls Supervisor (Cost)

Job Description

Job Description

Job Summary

The Project Controls Supervisor (Cost)  leads the cost-control function across capital projects, non-routine maintenance, and turnaround work. The role provides oversight for budgeting, forecasting, commitments, change control, accruals, financial reporting, and closeout, and establishes consistent cost-control practices across all three portfolios.

This role develops the cost team and provides independent assurance that cost information is accurate, current, and aligned with scope, schedule, contracting strategy, execution plans, and approved funding. The supervisor partners with Project Managers, Maintenance and Turnaround leaders, Planning, Engineering, Supply Chain, Finance, contractors, and budget holders to identify cost risks early, strengthen governance, and support timely business decisions.

Accountabilities & Responsibilities

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, coach, and develop Cost Engineers, Cost Analysts, and Cost Administrators; set priorities, clarify decision rights, and hold the team accountable for accurate and timely deliverables.
• Allocate capital, non-routine maintenance, and turnaround assignments based on complexity, risk, execution timing, and business priorities; provide coverage during vacancies and peak workload periods.
• Establish performance expectations, provide regular feedback, support development plans, and build succession and cross-training capability.
• Build team competencies and training plans to strengthen cost-control capability and elevate the cost team into effective business partners, particularly as the team continues to adapt through organizational changes.

Cost Control & Forecasting

• Own the site cost-control framework across capital projects, non-routine maintenance, and turnarounds, including budgets, commitments, actual costs, Value of Work Done (VOWD), cash-flow phasing, accruals, Forecast Final Cost (FFC), and Estimate at Completion (EAC).
• Review and approve project, maintenance, and turnaround forecasts and cost reports, challenging assumptions, schedule alignment, progress measurement, productivity, risks, and opportunities.
• Ensure forecasts are supported by current scope, schedules, work orders, contracts, purchase orders, invoices, and execution plans.
• Provide focused oversight for major, complex, high-risk, or troubled work and recommend corrective actions to operational, project, turnaround, and finance leadership.
• Lead applicable monthly, quarterly, semiannual, annual planning, budget rollover, forecast reset, event forecasting, and year-end close activities across the supported portfolios.

Change Control, Governance & Assurance

• Lead the cost component of change management for capital, non-routine maintenance, and turnaround work, ensuring approved and pending changes, trends, risks, threats, and opportunities are documented, governed, and reflected in forecasts.
• Ensure consistent use of approved WBS and work-order structures, cost coding, project-control systems, and required logs and registers.
• Provide assurance over purchase orders, contracts, invoices, estimates, and accruals
• Maintain audit-ready cost records and support internal controls and contractor or vendor audits.
• Partner with Finance to build, strengthen, and sustain financial controls relevant to projects and fixed assets, including timely capitalization, closeout, cost recovery, oversight of funding request updates, correct categorization of CAPEX versus REVEX, and compliance requirements.
• Escalate material cost, control, data-quality, or compliance concerns with clear impact and recommended actions.

Reporting, Systems & Continuous Improvement

• Oversee accurate and timely cost information in SAP, Primavera P6, and other project-control and reporting systems
• Present portfolio and event-level cost performance reporting, variance analysis, risk insights, and decision support to operational, project, turnaround, finance, and senior leadership.
• Define reporting standards and quality checks, and drive automation, data governance, and reporting improvements.
• Capture and maintain historical cost data to support benchmarking, estimating, lessons learned, and future project, maintenance, and turnaround planning.
• Continuously improve cost-control procedures, templates, workflows, handoffs, and training materials.

Contractor & Stakeholder Management

• Define and enforce contractor cost-control requirements and review contractor estimates, man-hour budgets, forecasts, changes, time sheets, invoices, and supporting documentation.
• Partner with Project Managers, Maintenance and Turnaround leaders, planners, Finance, Supply Chain, budget holders, and contractors to resolve cost issues and align decisions.
• Represent the cost function in project reviews, maintenance and turnaround reviews, governance forums, workshops, lookbacks, and leadership meetings.
• Support project and event closeout and final account settlement readiness through timely cost validation and issue resolution.

Key Challenges

• Balance team leadership with hands-on review of complex cost issues across capital projects, non-routine maintenance, and turnarounds in a demanding refinery environment.
• Maintain consistent controls and forecast quality across high-volume portfolios with work in different phases, execution windows, and levels of maturity.
• Deliver timely cost transparency during condensed monthly close cycles, turnaround planning, and turnaround execution.

Qualifications

• Leadership: Builds team capability, sets clear expectations, delegates effectively, and creates accountability for results.
• Cost Control: Demonstrates advanced knowledge of forecasting, change control, variance analysis, progress measurement, accruals, cash flow, event cost control, and closeout.
• Business Partnership: Builds credibility with project, maintenance, turnaround, Finance, Supply Chain, and contractor stakeholders and communicates cost implications clearly.
• Judgment & Problem Solving: Identifies emerging issues, challenges assumptions constructively, and makes or escalates decisions at the appropriate level.
• Governance & Controls: Applies disciplined project-control and financial-control practices and maintains audit-ready documentation.
• Communication & Influence: Presents complex cost information clearly, raises difficult issues professionally, and influences action across functions.
• Continuous Improvement: Simplifies processes, improves data quality and reporting, and promotes ways of working.
• Hands-On Approach: Willing and able to perform detailed cost, forecast, and assurance work when required.
• Flexibility: As part of a small cost team, this role may be required to support other cost or finance activities or projects across the department either temporarily or permanently, as business needs evolve.

Job Knowledge, Skills & Experience

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Engineering, Construction Management, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• 10+ years of progressive project controls or cost-control experience, preferably supporting refining, petrochemical, or other complex industrial capital projects, non-routine maintenance, and turnarounds.
• At least 3 years of formal or demonstrated team leadership, supervisory, or lead experience.
• Advanced experience with forecasting, change control, cost reporting, contracting, risk management, execution cost control, and financial closeout.
• Experience leading portfolio or event cost reviews and communicating cost performance, risks, and recommended actions to senior stakeholders.
• Proficiency with SAP and Microsoft Office; experience with Primavera P6 and project-control systems.
• Advanced Excel capability, including PivotTables, lookup formulas, complex formulas, graphs, and cost curves.
• S/4HANA, EPPM, EcoSys, Power BI, or similar digital reporting experience is a plus.

Physical and Work Requirements

• Hybrid schedule with a minimum of 3 days on-site per week.
• Occasional extended hours during planned and unplanned events, including turnaround execution and critical forecasting or close cycles.
• Must hold or be able to qualify for a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC).
• Must have legal authorization to work in the United States on a full-time basis.