Cost Engineer II

Job Summary

The Cost Engineer II plays a crucial role in managing and controlling project costs, ensuring financial accuracy and timely payments. Requires a strong understanding of cost engineering principles, experience with cost reporting and analysis, and excellent communication skills to collaborate effectively with various project stakeholders. The Cost Engineer is responsible for real-time tracking of site expenses, labor, and materials on a dedicated project. Working directly from the project site, the engineer oversees raw cost data collection per project and generates daily cost reports. Key tasks include monitoring labor and material costs, validating subcontractor billing, and ensuring cost efficiency per site. This role ensures that construction, installation, and assembly processes adhere to plans and meet time, cost, and quality requirements. The engineer facilitates regulatory and legislative compliance while possessing strong problem-solving and interpersonal skills to coordinate across construction teams. On-site presence may vary between rotating or dayshift schedules.

Critical Work Functions and Key Tasks

Drive cost planning and control

• Prepare cost plans
• Prepare cost-in-use studies and life-cycle costing of building and installation and/or components
• Prepare periodic cost reports
• Conduct cost analyses
• Conduct cost checking during design development
• Prepare outline and detailed approximate cost estimates
• Prepare cash flow projections
• Conduct cost evaluation of alternative design or method of construction

Manage construction cost and resource procurement

• Coordinate communications with employer, consultants, statutory and services authorities
• Support information gathering for cost studies on site activities
• Support placing orders with sub-contractors and suppliers
• Conduct cash flow forecasting and monitoring
• Draft management reports on profitability

Cost Monitoring and Reporting

• Track and report actual versus budgeted project costs
• Prepare cost reports for assigned job numbers, ensuring proper expense allocation; monitor site productivity, ensuring accurate recording of labor, materials, and subcontractor costs

Daily Labor Distribution Report and Processing & Payroll Reconciliation

• Ensure accurate payroll processing by reconciling DLDR with actual timekeeping records
• Verify that all subcontractor costs align with approved budgets
• Coordinate with Field Engineers, FOG (Field Operations Group), and QC (Quality Control) for subcontractor accomplishment validation
• Process subcontractor progress billings, ensuring payments are based on actual work completed.

Subcontractor Billing and Cost Validation

• Verify that labor activities are correctly charged to the right cost codes and project packages
• Encode daily labor records into the Productivity Monitoring System (PMS); ensure timely processing of subcontractor invoices to avoid payment delays

Cost Report Preparation & Financial Review

• Identify pending recovery amounts and cost discrepancies in the project
• submit financial summaries to Finance and management for review
• prepare detailed cost reports per job number, tracking accomplishments versus costs incurred.

Productivity Monitoring & Cost Code Assignment

• Monitor and analyze productivity levels across project activities
• ensure labor and material costs are charged under the correct BOQ (Bill of Quantities) cost codes
• assign cost codes to activities, ensuring expenses align with the correct budget category.

Cost Management

• Develop and maintain project budgets
• Prepare and present cost reports to project management and senior leadership
• Collaborate with project teams to ensure cost-effective project execution
• Develop and implement cost control measures
• Conduct regular cost reviews with project stakeholders
• Conduct regular cost reviews with project stakeholders Resolve cost-related issues and discrepancies
• Maintain accurate cost records and documentation
• Proactively identify and mitigate potential cost overruns
• Contribute to the development of cost-effective project plans
• Support the preparation of proposals and bids
• Assist in the development of cost-estimating models

Job Qualifications

Education Level: Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering or related field or equivalent experience is usually required.

Experience: At least 1-3 years work experience in Cost Engineer.