Cost Controls Manager

Cost Controls Manager

Phoenix, Arizona, United States

About the Position

We're seeking a Cost Controls Manager to support large, heavy-civil infrastructure programs, including highways, roads, bridges, transit (both rail and bus), water, and airport projects delivered through both traditional and alternative methods. This role requires close collaboration with project teams to monitor financial performance, maintain budget discipline, and drive cost efficiency, ultimately supporting the on-time, on-budget delivery of complex infrastructure projects.

This is a full-time, long-term, hybrid position (2-3 days per week on-site) in Phoenix, AZ.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain integrated cost-management plansbudget baselines, work-package structures, coding standards, and change-control workflows.
• Produce rolling forecasts, cash-flow curves, and earned-value metrics; highlight variances and recommend corrective actions.
• Coordinate with project controls, scheduling, estimating, and legal teams to quantify impacts, ensure alignment among cost, schedule, and risk registers, and recommend commercial risk mitigation actions.
• Lead monthly cost reviews with owner leadership, prepping dashboards, trend analyses, and scenario models.
• Validate contractor cost reports, payment applications, and contingency drawdowns against contract requirements and progress data.
• Support reporting and external audits for local, regional, state, and federal funding agencies, ensuring that all documentation and audit trails meet applicable compliance and regulatory standards.
• Champion continuous improvement by standardizing templates, automating data pipelines, and mentoring project staff in cost-control best practices.
• Contribute to claims defense and forensic analyses by supplying time-phased cost data and change order histories.

Attributes

• Sharp analytical thinker who turns raw data into concise, persuasive narratives for executive audiences.
• Detail-oriented guardian of fiscal discipline who sees the "big picture" of scope, schedule, and commercial risk.
• Collaborative, low-ego communicator who is comfortable guiding multidiscipline teams.
• Adaptable mindset suited to fast-moving, politically visible mega projects.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction management, finance, business, or related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 10+ years of hands-on cost management or program controls experience on large (>$500M), complex, heavy-civil highways, roads, bridges, transit (including rail and bus), utilities, and/or airport projects.
• Experience with alternative delivery methods (e.g., DB, CM/GC, P3, CMAR) and associated risk-allocation mechanisms.
• Demonstrated success building and managing detailed budgets, change-order logs, and cost forecasts.
• Proficiency in financial modeling and reporting.
• Experience interfacing with industry standard scheduling systems, cost systems, and contract platforms to ensure alignment (e.g., Primavera's P6, Portfolio Planner, Cloud Schedule, Unifier, Aconex, and Kahua; PMWeb, Prism, e-Builder, etc.).
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite/Office 365 (e.g., Outlook, Teams, Word, PowerPoint, etc.).

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in engineering, construction management, finance, or business.
• Active professional certifications such as CCM (CMAA), MRICS/FRICS (RICS), PMP (PMI), or CCA (AACE).
• Prior experience overseeing cost controls on programs exceeding $1 billion.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Power BI, Oracle Cloud Analytics, Oracle Construction Intelligence Cloud, or other dashboard KPI reporting software.

Compensation Details

Expected Salary: $140k-$180k/year ($67-$86/hour). Luster provides the salary range that the company in good faith believes it might offer for this position based on the successful candidate's level of experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, education, certifications, licenses, geographic location, etc. Luster reserves the right to ultimately pay more or less than the posted range depending on circumstances not related to any status protected by local, state, and/or federal law.

Just LOOK at the Benefits We Offer!

• Unlimited flexible time off
• Paid holidays
• Paid parental leave
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Flexible spending accounts (healthcare and dependent or elder care)
• Long-term disability insurance
• Short-term disability insurance
• Life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment
• 401(k) plan with guaranteed employer contribution
• Formal career planning and development program
• $2,500 annually toward professional development
• Wellness program with monthly wellness stipend
• Company cell phone or cell phone plan reimbursement
• Free personalized meal planning and nutrition support with a registered dietitian
• Free personal financial planning services
• Employee assistance program
• Employee discounts
• Employee referral bonus

Specific plan details and coverage for each benefit noted above will be provided upon offer.