Project Controls Specialist

Hydrostor

Houston, TX; California – Hybrid (3+ days/week in office)

Full-Time

Travel Requirement: Up to 25%

About the Role

The Project Controls Specialist supports cost management, forecasting, and performance reporting throughout the delivery of the Willow Rock Energy Storage Center (WRESC). This early-career role helps maintain project budgets, commitments, actual costs, forecasts, and financial performance data. The specialist collaborates with the EPCM contractor, Finance, Commercial, and Project Leadership teams to prepare accurate and timely cost information that supports project decision-making. The role assists with identifying cost risks and opportunities, validating assumptions, investigating variances, and improving reporting quality, forecast accuracy, and data governance.

Key Responsibilities

• Reports to the Senior Manager – Cost and Reporting, with guidance from senior project controls team members and functional interfaces to Finance and Accounting and Contracting and Procurement.
• Supports the Willow Rock Energy Storage Center (WRESC) Project by completing assigned cost engineering and general project controls activities under the direction of experienced team members.
• Learns and applies established project cost engineering processes, including relevant practices of the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE), to support project cost management and stakeholder reporting.
• Prepares routine meeting inputs and reports and assists with coordinating integrated WRESC reporting with Hatch, the project’s EPCM.
• Works with EPCM and field cost engineering resources to collect and validate cost data, follow up on reporting issues, and support project delivery.
• Assists with maintaining the project’s Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and related cost coding structures.
• Supports preparation of the WRESC Project Owner’s cost forecast, including staffing and third-party support costs.
• Updates the project’s Cost Management System (CMS, Procore), including cost reports and associated trend, change, contingency, commitment, and forecast logs, with guidance.
• Supports the incorporation of approved changes into cost budgets and forecasts and coordinates related schedule inputs with the scheduling team.
• Supports month-end reconciliation of project cost records with Finance and Accounting, including actual costs, accruals, and commitments.
• Assists Contracting and Procurement with processing project invoices, commercial changes, and claims.
• Coordinates with Hydrostor’s Finance, Accounting, and Strategic Supply Chain Management teams on assigned cost engineering, invoice processing, commitment management, forecasting, and Investment Tax Credit support activities.
• Performs initial reviews of contractor cost reports, forecasts, invoices, and supporting documentation against agreed contract terms and scopes of work.
• Participates in WRESC project cost and schedule risk workshops and assists with cost-risk modelling and maintenance of change and contingency management records.
• Assists with reviewing project cost information included in tender submissions for each project phase.
• Compiles cost engineering information for project assurance reviews and contractor audits.
• Gathers, organizes, and performs initial analysis of execution-phase benchmark data to support cost and schedule assurance processes.
• Assists with checking contractor cost reporting across various project scopes for alignment with integrated WRESC reporting requirements.
• Builds effective working relationships with contractor project controls and project management teams.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Industrial Engineering, Business Management, or a related technical field.
• Ability to travel up to 25%.
• Up to 5 years of relevant cost engineering, project controls, construction, finance, or analytical experience.
• Familiarity with ERP systems or project costing modules is an asset.
• Strong analytical aptitude.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills with consistent attention to detail, organization, and data quality.
• Ability to collaborate with project teams, contractors, Finance, and Supply Chain.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, is required.
• Exposure to earned value management, Primavera, Procore, or other project controls software is an asset.
• Interest in pursuing AACE certification or other relevant project controls professional development is preferred.

Qualifications

• An early-career engineering, construction management, business, or project controls professional with an interest in supporting large-scale capital projects.
• May bring internship, co-op, graduate, or initial professional experience in an EPCM, EPC, contractor, or Owner’s Team environment.
• Familiarity with project cost control, forecasting, budgeting, change control, or project reporting is beneficial.
• Ability to organize data, identify basic trends and variances, and communicate findings clearly.
• A collaborative and detail-oriented learner.
• Sound judgement, disciplined data management, and initiative.
• Willingness to learn established cost engineering processes.
• Strong problem-solving skills.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced major-project environment.
• Exposure to cost engineering activities during engineering, procurement, construction, or commissioning phases of a capital project is preferred.
• Experience involving cost reports, forecasts, accruals, commitments, change logs, or contingency records is preferred.