Associate, Project Controls Cost

Invenergy is North America's largest privately held developer, owner, and operator of power infrastructure. With 25 years of trusted execution, we deliver reliable, affordable energy through a diverse portfolio that includes natural gas, solar, land-based wind, energy storage, transmission, and domestic manufacturing. Headquartered in Chicago, we develop, own, and operate large scale projects that power communities and support the energy future.

This position will be open for application for at least 3 calendar days from the posting date. This position will remain open for application based on business need, which may be before or after the 3-day posting window.

Job Description

Position Overview

As the Associate, Project Controls Cost, you will be heavily focused on project execution - developing construction plans, analyzing expenditures, cost forecasting, managing contingency, variance analysis reporting, tariff impact analysis, and creating detailed reports and dashboards to improve the execution of renewable energy projects.

Responsibilities:

* Conduct portfolio cost analysis and deliver monthly cost performance reports to leadership.

* Provide mentorship and oversight of Analysts to ensure execution of all project responsibilities and reporting.

* Support Project Managers in the full lifecycle of project cost management, ensuring all actuals, commitments, and forecasts are accurately captured, validated, and recorded in alignment with corporate standards.

* Provide cost input to project planning activities such as construction execution plans, estimate updates, procurement strategies, and risk-adjusted forecasting.

* Conduct commercial evaluations of vendor and contractor proposals to support change management, contract negotiations, and service agreement development.

* Review and validate supplier and contractor invoices, change orders, and claims; ensure alignment with contract terms and project budgets.

* Develop, maintain, and analyze project cost forecasts-including cash flow, contingency usage, committed cost tracking, and variance analysis-and clearly articulate drivers behind deviations.

* Maintain the project cost control framework, including the cost breakdown structure (CBS), budget allocations, work package tracking, and integration with schedule and procurement updates.

* Prepare both project and portfolio level reporting, which includes but is not limited to monthly cost reports, progress summaries, dashboards, and KPI updates for management review.

* Monitor project risks, trends, and potential deviations; collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to recommend mitigation actions and communicate cost impacts proactively.

* Manage financial controls processes-purchase requisitions, purchase orders, budget transfers, and commitment management-and ensure alignment across cost systems, accounting, and procurement.

* Ability to innovate our cost management system by piloting new concepts, scaling to the construction business group, and facilitate change management/training to have sustained process adherence.

* Provide ad-hoc cost studies, scenario analyses, and decision-support reporting as needed.

* Drive consistency and continuous improvement of cost control practices, tools, and reporting standards across projects.

Minimum Qualifications:

* Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction management, finance, accounting, or a related analytical discipline.

* 5+ years of experience in project cost control, project accounting, financial analysis, or related project controls functions.

* Strong analytical skills with the ability to develop forecasts, analyze variances, assess trends, and interpret cost, schedule, and commercial data.

* Experience reviewing invoices, change orders, commercial proposals, or contract terms for accuracy and compliance.

* Proficiency in project coordination across engineering, procurement, finance, and construction stakeholders.

* Advanced attention to detail, problem-solving capability, and ability to complete tasks with minimal guidance.

* 3+ years of experience with construction project cost & schedule integration

* Strong communication and collaboration skills,…