Cost Control & Planning Manager

• This document defines the minimum and preferred recruitment requirements for hiring a Cost Control & Planning Manager responsible for the integrated planning, scheduling and cost management of all active projects within the construction department, including utility-scale renewable energy projects (Wind and Solar PV) and industrial/commercial construction.
  

Integrated Project Controls Leadership

• Establish, maintain and enforce project controls procedures, standards and reporting frameworks across all construction and renewable energy projects.
  
• Oversee and unify the planning and cost control teams, ensuring full alignment between project schedules, resource plans and budget forecasts.
  
• Act as the primary escalation point for planning and cost-related disputes, delays, overruns and contractual control issues.
  
• Drive a project controls culture across the construction department, ensuring consistent methodology and data quality from all project teams.
  
• Ensure all project controls deliverables align with Owner requirements, contract obligations and company standards.
  

Master Scheduling & Progress Management

• Develop, review and approve baseline schedules at Level 1 through Level 4 in Primavera P6 and MS Project for all active projects.
  
• Ensure resource- and cost-loaded schedules are properly integrated with budget forecasts and procurement plans.
  
• Monitor critical path, total float, schedule performance index (SPI) and progress metrics across the full portfolio on a rolling basis.
  
• Direct forensic delay analysis including Time Impact Analysis (TIA), Windows Analysis and As-Planned vs. As-Built methodology for dispute resolution and claims preparation.
  
• Review schedule recovery plans and acceleration programmes proposed by contractors or internal project teams.
  
• Ensure that planning engineers maintain live, accurate schedules with progress updates, logic integrity and alignment with actual site conditions.
  

Financial Oversight & Cost Control

• Own the project budget framework: approve project budgets, cash flow forecasts, cost breakdown structures (CBS) and financial cost models.
  
• Validate and report Earned Value Management (EVM) metrics including Estimate at Completion (EAC), Estimate to Complete (ETC), Cost Performance Index (CPI), Schedule Performance Index (SPI) and budget variance analysis.
  
• Mandate and follow up on corrective actions where cost or schedule deviations exceed agreed thresholds.
  
• Lead cost benchmarking exercises for labour, materials and subcontractors across Wind, Solar PV and construction scopes.
  
• Identify and drive cost-saving and value engineering opportunities without compromising schedule, quality or contractual obligations.
  
• Prepare, review and present monthly cost reports and financial forecasts for executive and senior management.
  

Claims, Variations & Contract Compliance

• Supervise and technically lead preparation of Extension of Time (EOT) claims, variation orders and disruption analyses.
  
• Ensure timely submission of interim payment applications, milestone certificates and client certifications in accordance with contract provisions.
  
• Review all contractual correspondence related to schedule and cost matters to protect company interests.
  
• Maintain a comprehensive variation register and ensure all scope changes are formally notified, quantified and approved before execution.
  
• Coordinate with the legal and contracts team on claims strategy, dispute resolution and contractual risk mitigation.
  

Risk & Change Management

• Maintain a consolidated risk register covering schedule and cost exposures across all projects, with regular review and update cycles.
  
• Evaluate and approve mitigation strategies for identified risks including delays, overruns, procurement delays and scope changes.
  
• Lead change impact assessments to support client negotiations, variation pricing and schedule adjustment submissions.
  
• Provide quantified risk analysis input to management decision-making, including Monte Carlo or equivalent probabilistic methods where required.
  

Executive Reporting & Stakeholder Management

• Prepare and present executive-level status reports and dashboards integrating schedule performance, cost performance, earned value, risk and forecast data across all projects.
  
• Deliver concise, visually clear management presentations to senior leadership covering project health, financial forecast, recovery actions and decision points.
  
• Advise senior management proactively on recovery plans, acceleration strategies and financial forecasts before issues escalate.
  
• Liaise directly with clients, consultants, Owner’s Engineers and EPC contractors on all project controls matters.
  
• Represent the construction department in Owner and client project review meetings as the project controls authority.
  

Requirements

• Minimum 10 years of progressive professional experience in construction project controls, combining planning/scheduling and cost control functions.
  
• Minimum 5 years in a senior or managerial project controls role with direct team management responsibility.
  
• Minimum 5 years of direct experience on renewable energy projects, specifically Wind and/or Solar PV projects above 100 MW.
  
• Proven experience managing project controls across multiple simultaneous projects within a construction or EPC environment.
  
• Experience working with Owners, Owner’s Engineers, EPC contractors, IPPs or international engineering consultants.
  

Sector-Specific Experience

• Utility-scale renewable energy projects: Wind farm or Solar PV construction planning, cost control and commissioning phase controls.
  
• Industrial or commercial construction projects: factory, processing plant, large infrastructure or commercial development.
  
• Full project lifecycle coverage: from pre-contract baseline programme development through to final account close-out.
  
• Experience in multi-contract or Owner-managed project delivery environments preferred.
  
• Experience in Middle East, GCC or equivalent emerging market project environments is advantageous.
  

Planning & Scheduling

• Advanced Primavera P6: baseline development, resource loading, cost loading, progress update, logic review and schedule compression.
  
• MS Project: schedule integration, multi-project consolidation and reporting.
  
• Critical Path Method (CPM), network logic and schedule health analysis.
  
• Forensic delay analysis: Time Impact Analysis (TIA), Windows Analysis, As-Planned vs. As-Built, Collapsed As-Built.
  
• Look-ahead programme management (3-week and 6-week rolling programmes).
  

Cost Control & Financial Management

• Advanced Excel: financial modelling, macros, pivot tables, cost dashboards and automated reporting tools.
  
• Earned Value Management: EAC, ETC, CPI, SPI, BCWS, BCWP, ACWP and variance analysis.
  
• Budget preparation, cost breakdown structure (CBS) development and cost forecasting.
  
• Cash flow modelling and S-curve analysis.
  
• Subcontractor cost management, invoice verification and payment certification.