Cost Control Engineer

About the role

Orenda’s preconstruction function is responsible for turning early project concepts into contract-ready execution plans by defining scope, validating feasibility, and building defensible budgets. This role owns the project budget baseline and the structured change-control mechanism as scopes and assumptions evolve.

Responsibilities

• Project budget compilation (viability): Build and maintain the project-specific cost baseline used to assess commercial viability, using a standard reference design + quantified variances. Ensure the budget is complete, internally consistent, and decision-grade.
• Budget governance and change control: Maintain a structured log of potential cost increases/decreases as assumptions evolve. Periodically recommend budget adjustments, with clear rationale, traceability, and an audit trail.
• Reference design + variance engine: Build and maintain standardized reference cost models by configuration and the quantified variance drivers used to price deltas off schematic inputs (including subsurface and site diligence inputs as available).
• Allowance & confidence scoring discipline: Enforce explicit allowances for uncertainty (no hidden contingency in unit rates) and maintain a standardized confidence scoring rubric as scope maturity increases.
• Bid-to-BoQ normalization: Normalize contractor proposals into a standard BoQ/cost code structure so bids are comparable apples-to-apples and can be cleanly mapped into the budget model.
• Estimate-to-actual reconciliation: Reconcile model outputs to quotes, bids, and awards. Update unit rates and variance logic so the system compounds over time.
• Change sensitivity (“delta pricing”): Maintain a library of common scope-change drivers and unit-rate deltas to enable rapid “what does this change do to cost?” analysis.
• Escalation of unknowns: When a cost package is not complete, document gaps and required follow-ups. Flag what is unknown and what is needed to close the gap.
• Artifact traceability: Maintain a clean audit trail for assumptions, sources, and model updates, including a change log for the unit-rate and variance libraries.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Quantity Surveying, or a related field.
• Cost Modeling: Demonstrated ability to build and maintain unit-rate models and reconcile them to real market pricing.
• Experience: 5+ years of experience in cost engineering, estimating, project controls, or preconstruction for complex projects (energy, utility, industrial, or comparable).
• Commercial & Scope Rigor: Strong command of scope definition, cost-code structures, and bid leveling / normalization.
• Governance Mindset: High standards for assumptions hygiene, traceability, and document control; able to enforce standards without being the “doer” for every task.
• Communication: Ability to write concise decision-grade readouts: what changed vs baseline, what is uncertain, and what requires escalation.
• Tools: Strong Excel/Sheets capability. Comfortable adopting project controls platforms (Kahua/Procore equivalents) and structured document control practices.

Preferred Qualifications (Bonus)

• Experience estimating or managing civil/GC scopes in dense-urban environments.
• Experience with BESS projects and NYC constraints (DOB / FDNY / Con Edison).
• Experience creating base case configurations and variance libraries for repeatable product types.
• Experience implementing cost controls systems and integrations (ERP, cost code structures, dashboards).

Skills and Attributes

• Extremely organized and process-oriented; low tolerance for ambiguity left un-owned.
• Strong judgment and ability to identify where the estimate is fragile and how to de-risk it.
• Comfortable challenging assumptions and clearly calling out uncertainty.
• Collaborative partner who can work cross-functionally without creating drag.
• Bias to durable artifacts and repeatable mechanisms over one-off estimates.

Work Environment

This is a full-time, in-office position requiring work from our headquarters (Brooklyn, NY) five days a week, with periodic travel to project sites and vendor/factory visits as needed.

Benefits

• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) plan
• LifeTime Fitness corporate membership
• Monthly commuter stipend
• Learning and education stipend
• Flexible Paid Time Off (PTO) policy

Company Culture

You’ll join a mission-driven culture that values ownership, accountability, continuous learning, high performance, and genuine collaboration. We work hard, move quickly, and enjoy doing it together.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Orenda Inc. is an equal opportunity employer committed to fair and inclusive hiring and employment practices in accordance with federal, New York State, and New York City law. We do not discriminate in any aspect of employment—including hiring, promotion, compensation, or termination—on the basis of any protected characteristic, including race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by law.