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Luster National · 1 month ago

Cost Controls Manager

Houston, TX

Full-time

Onsite

Senior Level, Lead/Staff

$120K/yr - $190K/yr

10+ years exp

Luster National is seeking Cost Controls Managers to support large, heavy-civil infrastructure programs. The role involves collaboration with project teams to monitor financial performance, maintain budget discipline, and drive cost efficiency for complex infrastructure projects.

ConstructionManagement ConsultingProject Management

Growth Opportunities

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain integrated cost-management plans—budget baselines, work-package structures, coding standards, and change-control workflows

Produce rolling forecasts, cash-flow curves, and earned-value metrics; highlight variances and recommend corrective actions

Coordinate with project controls, scheduling, estimating, and legal teams to quantify impacts, ensure alignment among cost, schedule, and risk registers, and recommend commercial risk mitigation actions

Lead monthly cost reviews with owner leadership, prepping dashboards, trend analyses, and scenario models

Validate contractor cost reports, payment applications, and contingency drawdowns against contract requirements and progress data

Support funding agency reporting (e.g., FTA, FRA, FAA, etc.) and external audits; ensure audit trails meet federal and state compliance standards

Champion continuous improvement by standardizing templates, automating data pipelines, and mentoring project staff in cost-control best practices

Contribute to claims defense and forensic analyses by supplying time-phased cost data and change order histories

Qualification

Cost managementFinancial modelingBudget managementAlternative delivery methodsProject controls experienceMicrosoft Office SuiteKPI reporting softwareAnalytical thinkingCollaborative communicationProfessional certificationsDetail-orientedAdaptable mindset

Required

Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction management, finance, business, or related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience

10+ years of hands-on cost management or program controls experience on large (>$500M), complex, heavy-civil infrastructure projects

Experience with alternative delivery methods (e.g., DB, CM/GC, P3) and associated risk-allocation mechanisms

Demonstrated success building and managing detailed budgets, change-order logs, and cost forecasts

Proficiency in financial modeling and reporting

Experience interfacing with industry standard scheduling systems, cost systems, and contract platforms to ensure alignment (e.g., Primavera P6, PMWeb, Prism, Aconex, Unifier, e-Builder, etc.)

Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite/Office 365 (e.g., Outlook, Teams, Word, PowerPoint, etc.)