Senior Project Controls Specialist

About the role

This Senior Project Controls Specialist role focuses on supporting complex construction and infrastructure projects by leading scheduling, cost control, and performance reporting activities. You will work on a wide range of projects, including infrastructure, mission critical facilities, industrial, electrical, and civil works, with values ranging from $5 million to $1 billion. Starting with smaller assignments and progressing to larger, more complex programs, you will help implement consistent project controls standards and provide clear, data-driven insights that support successful project delivery.

Responsibilities

• Support the Project Controls Manager in implementing project controls standards, processes, and reporting practices across multiple projects.
• Develop, maintain, and manage detailed project schedules in Primavera P6, including bid schedules built directly from project plans and specifications.
• Break down estimates into work packages, load costs and resources, and create cost- and resource-loaded schedules using Critical Path Method (CPM) techniques.
• Track and analyze project performance using earned value management metrics such as Planned Value (PV), Earned Value (EV), Cost Performance Index (CPI), and Schedule Performance Index (SPI).
• Communicate key performance indicators and project status clearly to project teams and leadership to support timely decision-making.
• Monitor project progress, update schedules with actual performance data, and identify schedule and cost impacts resulting from delays, scope changes, or emerging risks.
• Perform schedule variance and cost variance analysis, and prepare change order impact assessments and forecasts for schedule and budget outcomes.
• Collaborate closely with Project Managers and Field Supervisors to develop and maintain work breakdown structures (WBS) and resolve discrepancies between schedule, cost, and field progress.
• Identify, assess, and help mitigate schedule and cost risks by providing early warnings and recommending corrective or preventive actions.
• Prepare accurate and timely project controls reports, dashboards, and status updates, proactively flagging conditions that could impact project objectives.
• Aid in training and mentoring project teams on project controls tools, processes, and best practices to improve consistency and quality of project data.
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously, balancing priorities and meeting deadlines while also supporting special initiatives as needed.
• Cook up with document control and project coordination functions to ensure project data, drawings, and records are accurate, complete, and properly maintained.
• Support cost control and cost analysis activities, including tracking budgets, commitments, and expenditures, and assisting with financial reporting using relevant software.
• Contribute to quality control of project controls deliverables, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and alignment with organizational standards.

Essential Skills

• 10–15 years of experience in project controls with a mix of scheduling and cost control responsibilities.
• General construction experience across a variety of project types, such as infrastructure, industrial, electrical, and civil projects.
• Proficiency in Primavera P6 for developing, maintaining, and analyzing project schedules, including bid schedules.
• Strong background in project scheduling using Critical Path Method (CPM), including cost- and resource-loaded schedules.
• Hands-on experience with cost control, cost analysis, and project controls reporting.
• Solid understanding of earned value management, including use of PV, EV, CPI, and SPI to evaluate project performance.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, especially Microsoft Excel, for data analysis, reporting, and dashboard creation.
• Experience with project coordination, document control, and data entry related to project controls.
• Ability to interpret construction plans and specifications and translate them into detailed schedules and work breakdown structures.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain complex schedule and cost information clearly to project teams and leadership.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, or an equivalent technical field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Experience working with financial or project-related software for tracking budgets, costs, and project performance.
• Knowledge of electrical construction or projects involving electrical systems.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience with quality control processes related to project controls deliverables and reporting.
• Background in inventory control and inventory-related data tracking for construction projects.
• Familiarity with project scheduling and controls for a broad range of facilities, such as commercial buildouts, healthcare facilities, data centers, universities, hotels, laboratories, government facilities, and office buildings.
• Ability to mentor and train project teams on project controls tools and best practices.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail when managing multiple concurrent projects.
• Comfort working in a fast-paced project environment with evolving priorities.
• Willingness and ability to travel occasionally throughout the Midwest region, including Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan, as needed for project site support.