Director of Project Accounting and Controls

Position Overview

The Director of Project Accounting and Controls plays a critical role in managing financial oversight, cost control, and budget alignment for a large-scale natural gas power plant construction project. This position ensures accurate tracking of project costs, supports capital planning, and integrates financial systems with field operations. A key responsibility includes aligning the Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS) with the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to ensure cost and schedule integration across development, construction, and commissioning phases.

Key Responsibilities:

Financial Oversight & Reporting

• Coordinate, develop, and maintain detailed project budgets, incorporating input from all business owners and management.
• Monitor and track project budgets, actuals, and work-in-progress (WIP) to ensure financial accuracy and transparency.
• Analyze committed costs, actuals, and variances; create journal entries and month-end close processes.
• Develop and lead month-end project close processes, including:
• Reviewing and posting cost accruals for open POs, services performed, and goods received.
• Reconciling project-cost subledgers (A/P, PO, internal labor) to the general ledger.
• Ensuring all transactions are properly coded before ledger close
• Updating CIP and percent-complete actuals in line with capitalization rules.
• Validating committed cost balances and clearing outdated or invalid commitments.
• Preparing month-end cost reports, variance explanations, and financial packages for leadership team.
• Forecast future project costs and identify budget risks using real-time data and updates.
• Reconcile accounts and ensure alignment with contracts, PO’s, and change orders.
• Develop and execute project reporting (for example: earned value, variance analysis, spending summaries, progress reports (% complete), etc)

Cost & Schedule Integration

• Ensure all costs are aligned from CBS to WBS to ensure financial tracking is synchronized with the project schedule.
• Support integration of cost and schedule data into project controls platforms for real-time visibility.
• Participate in project meetings to assess financial impacts of schedule changes, scope shifts, and risk events.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with cross-functional business owners to align financial and contractual data.
• Support capital planning and long-term financial modeling for plant construction and commissioning phases.
• Collaborate with leadership to maintain transparency around cash flow, funding alignment, and project financial status.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Engineering, Construction Management, or related field.
• 10 years of experience in project controls, cost control, or project accounting for large capital projects.
• Experience with EPC, energy, utility, or industrial construction strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with DOE loan requirements or other federally funded capital projects is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in a fast-paced, highly dynamic project environment and embrace complex challenges with confidence and resilience.
• Proven skill in assessing current workflows, identifying what processes are needed, defining what “good” looks like, and helping build, refine, and implement effective solutions
• Ability to collaborate effectively with diverse technical and operational teams.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary commensurate with experience
• Comprehensive benefits package including:Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Paid time off (PTO) and holidays
• Professional development support and tuition assistance
• A collaborative, mission-driven work environment with opportunities for career growth