US Project Controls Lead

 

Arcadis is the world's leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets.

We are more than 34,000 people, in over 30 countries, dedicated to improving quality of life. Everyone has an important role to play. With the power of many curious minds, together we can solve the world’s most complex challenges and deliver more impact together.

Role description:

The Project Controls Lead, manages and develops the project controls function across a portfolio of capital projects, managing the Cost Management, Scheduling, and Project Controls team members. As the Project Controls Lead, you will be responsible for Capital Project Controls deliverables (estimating, cost management, planning/scheduling, risk management, change management and contract & commercial). This role is accountable for establishing and enforcing controls governance, ensuring high-quality cost and schedule performance reporting, driving consistent tool usage and best practices, and providing proactive insights that improve project outcomes for clients and project teams.  You will provide support to the team to ensure targets are met and liaise directly with the Program manager and leadership team, working on an account for a world-class pharmaceutical client. 

 

Role accountabilities:

This role requires someone who works well in a fast-paced environment and can react to client requests quickly and efficiently as well as leading a team of project controls professionals. The ideal candidate will have cost, financial, commercial, procurement and schedule experience, ideally within the commercial sector and have experience of being a line manager and / or leading a team. The successful candidate will have a minimum of 5 - 10 years’ experience and must be capable of executing technical and analytical functions and be well organized with strong communication skills.

 

Specific Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead and develop the project controls team (cost, schedule, project controls), including goals, performance management, mentoring, and career development.
• Plan team resourcing and workload to meet portfolio deliverables and deadlines.
• Establish and enforce project controls governance and standards (estimating, cost, schedule, risk, change), ensuring consistent, compliant, audit-ready delivery.
• Own cost control across the portfolio: budgets, forecasts (EAC), cash flow, accruals, pay application workflows, and change order tracking/reconciliation.
• Own schedule management and QA: integrated CPM schedules (e.g., P6), baselines, coding, progress updates, delay/impact analysis, and recovery planning.
• Lead risk integration: facilitate reviews, maintain risk registers, and ensure cost/schedule risk analysis informs forecasts and mitigation plans.
• Lead change management across contractors, suppliers, and professional services; capture, evaluate, negotiate as needed, and communicate scope/schedule/cost impacts.
• Deliver accurate performance reporting (KPIs, risk, financials); validate data, surface trends, and escalate issues early with recommended actions.
• Partner with project managers and client representatives to align scope, cost, schedule, and risk assumptions and support capital planning.
• Manage stakeholder relationships to improve cross-discipline collaboration, drive efficiencies, and maintain high client satisfaction.
• Champion controls tools and data governance: administer setups/budgets/access, prevent manual workarounds, and drive standardized workflows.
• Quality assure estimates and analyses, including scope/quantity/unit cost reconciliations and contractor/subconsultant proposal reviews.
• Provide contract and commercial support, ensuring contract requirements are reflected in controls processes, reporting, and negotiations as needed.
• Support procurement activities as needed (RFPs, bid analysis, vendor coordination, and annual contract extensions).
• Verify progress through site walks and coordination with field teams to align schedule status, pay applications, and documentation.
• Promote a strong health and safety culture; ensure controls activities support safe, compliant delivery.
• Drive continuous improvement through gap assessments, standardization, training materials, and targeted coaching.

 

Qualifications & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline (Construction Management, Quantity Surveying) or equivalent work experience, is desired
• 5 – 10 years of relevant experience

Desired skills and experience:

• Lead and develop project controls teams; set standards/governance across estimating, cost, schedule, risk, change, and reporting