Program Controls Specialist – Utility Field Safety Operations

Program Controls Specialist – Utility Field Safety Operations

Location: Somerset, NJ

Job Type: Full-time

Schedule: Monday through Friday, with field support as needed

Anticipated Assignment: Utility field safety program support; contingent upon client award or notice to proceed

Travel: Local travel to utility field locations as needed

About Us

CARIAN is a purpose-driven, woman-owned consulting and advisory firm dedicated exclusively to the power sector. We partner with leading electric and gas utilities to provide strategic advisory and disciplined execution across program management, business intelligence, and field execution oversight. Guided by integrity, trust, excellence, and accountability, our team helps deliver complex capital programs and build the resilient energy infrastructure that communities depend on.

Position Overview

CARIAN is seeking a Program Controls Specialist – Utility Field Safety Operations to support cost, schedule, forecasting, manpower planning, workforce deployment tracking, reporting, and program controls for utility field safety operations.

This role provides visibility into field coverage, staffing demand, labor hours, utilization, schedule changes, open issues, training readiness, and program performance. The Program Controls Specialist will work closely with the Program Manager, field supervisors, operations coordinator, safety leadership, and internal stakeholders to maintain accurate reporting and support informed decision-making.

This is not a pure cost analyst or desk scheduler role. The successful candidate must be comfortable working with field-driven data, manpower plans, workforce forecasts, schedule changes, and operational reporting in a utility or construction environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Support cost, schedule, manpower planning, workforce forecasting, deployment tracking, and program reporting

• Maintain staffing plans, field coverage trackers, manpower forecasts, labor-hour reports, utilization summaries, and deployment dashboards

• Track planned versus actual field coverage, schedule changes, staffing gaps, open positions, replacement needs, and upcoming resource demand

• Develop and maintain weekly and monthly program reports for internal leadership and client stakeholders

• Support forecasting of field personnel needs by region, work location, schedule, shift, classification, and anticipated workload

• Track issue logs, action items, risks, schedule impacts, staffing constraints, and follow-up items through closure

• Coordinate with the Program Manager and field supervisors to validate field updates, schedule changes, hours, and coverage status

• Coordinate with the Program Operations Coordinator to align reporting with onboarding, credentialing, training, badging, and access-readiness status

• Review labor-hour trends, staffing utilization, overtime, inactive time, redeployment needs, and resource availability

• Support invoice, timesheet, expense, and reporting reconciliation as needed

• Build and maintain Excel-based trackers, dashboards, charts, and management reports

• Identify data inconsistencies, reporting gaps, and operational trends that require management attention

• Provide clear, timely, and accurate information to support program decisions, client updates, and workforce planning

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in project controls, program controls, workforce planning, scheduling, PMO support, field operations reporting, or related analytical roles

• Experience tracking cost, schedule, labor hours, manpower, staffing forecasts, resource plans, or field deployment data

• Strong Excel skills, including formulas, pivot tables, data validation, charts, and structured reporting

• Ability to organize field-driven data into clear dashboards, trackers, reports, and management summaries

• Strong analytical skills with attention to detail, accuracy, and follow-through

• Ability to work with program managers, field supervisors, safety teams, recruiting, HR, finance, and client stakeholders

• Strong written and verbal communication skills

• Ability to support fast-moving field operations with changing schedules, staffing needs, and reporting priorities

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Excel, Outlook, Teams, and PowerPoint

• Ability to work from the Somerset, NJ office and travel locally to field locations as needed

Preferre