Project Controls Lead

Greater Manchester, United KingdomPosted Oct 9, 2026

Job description

Costain’s strong pipeline of work and strategic growth ambitions for the CEL capability has led to an emerging opportunity for a Project Controls Lead to join Costain Engineering Limited (CEL), who provide in-house engineering and design services across the entire project lifecycle for all Costain Sectors (Energy, Defence & Nuclear, Water, Roads, Rail and Aviation & Ports).

To ensure CEL has full autonomy and control of engineering delivery performance, this role will be responsible for building, maintaining and operating a suite of engineering project control systems and processes. The required systems will be built from the ground up, to facilitate efficient monitoring and accurate reporting of cost, budget and schedule performance across CEL’s portfolio of engineering services.

The engineering project controls shall offer standalone insight into CEL’s engineering delivery performance and offer the potential to be integrated with wider sector or client delivery project reporting to satisfy project specific requirements. This role will report to the Engineering Operations Leader and offers a hybrid working arrangement predominantly based in Manchester, London or Aberdeen with an occasional requirement to travel to project locations throughout the UK should contracts require.

#LI-MR1 Responsibilities Act as the primary point of contact for all engineering project controls matters, liaising with CEL delivery teams, CEL management and sector/client teams to identify engineering project controls requirements and priorities Build and maintain a digital suite of engineering project control systems from the ground up, which will enable the effective monitoring and reporting of engineering delivery performance and Earned Value Management metrics, including accurate progress measurement, cost reporting, and schedule control Establish appropriate monitoring and reporting requirements in conjunction with CEL delivery teams to meet project requirements whilst ensuring project controls processes remain streamlined and adaptable Creation of clear and concise reporting outputs and dashboards for efficient and accurate reporting of performance metrics aligned to the required audience, at both project level and to the wider CEL management team for overall capability performance Overall management of the data quality and integrity which is used for project controls and reporting Continuous improvement and development of CEL project controls systems, identifying areas of improvement and lessons learned Managing the interface and integration of engineering project controls where required to input into wider sector or client project reporting Knowledge, Skills, and Experience A proven record of leading project controls initiatives and teams within an engineering or professional services environment Ability to independently develop effective digital project control systems for monitoring and reporting of key performance and EVM metrics, without pre-determined scope, and with limited supervision or direction Proven communication skills with the ability to communicate project delivery performance metrics in a clear, credible and concise manner relevant to the audience, (delivery team, senior management, clients / stakeholders) Data and systems driven, with a keen focus on data quality and accurate reporting outputs Innovative thinker with a solution-oriented approach and aptitude for continuous improvement Sound judgment and flexibility in balancing multiple project requirements and deadlines to ensure reporting for all projects is undertaken in line with expectations and on schedule Experience of proactively engaging with other project controls professionals and teams to overcome interface challenges, and identify / progress areas of improvement Collaboration and leadership qualities with evidence of building and maintaining strong relationships with internal and external team members and project stakeholders Eligibility to achieve UK Security Clearance

  • British National or UK residency for 5 years Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in relevant field (desirable) APMG membership and project controls/planning qualification (desirable)

Description copied from Costain's careers page. Read the full posting before you apply.

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