Senior Project Controls Manager

Buro Happold is seeking a Senior Project Controls Manager to strengthen project financial performance and improve forecasting, commercial decision-making, and operational consistency across its US business. The role partners with project and business leaders, provides expertise in Deltek Vantagepoint, and leads improvements in reporting, risk management, and project controls practices.

Responsibilities:

• Partner with Project Directors, Project Principals, Job Leaders, and Discipline Leaders to review project financial performance, identify risks and opportunities, and support informed commercial decisions
• Lead and support project and portfolio reviews focused on profitability, forecasting, fee performance, project health, contingency, invoicing, debt management, resourcing, and commercial risk
• Analyze project financial variances, identify root causes, recommend corrective actions, and escalate material concerns where appropriate
• Serve as a subject matter expert for Deltek Vantagepoint, including project setup, planning, billing, reporting, forecasting, invoicing, and project finance workflows
• Improve project data quality, reporting consistency, system utilization, and cross-functional collaboration between Project Operations, Finance, Legal, and project teams
• Develop and enhance dashboards, reports, templates, trackers, and management review materials using Deltek Vantagepoint, Excel, Power BI, and related tools
• Support the evolution of project reviews from retrospective reporting to proactive decision support focused on profit, risk, contingency, debt, invoicing, and resource planning
• Build trusted relationships with project leaders and provide clear, practical guidance on financial performance and project controls
• Coach and train project teams and Project Operations colleagues on forecasting, financial planning, invoicing, risk management, project controls, and effective use of project systems
• Lead process improvement initiatives including workflow analysis, documentation, stakeholder engagement, implementation, and adoption
• Identify opportunities to leverage automation, Power Platform solutions, and responsible AI tools to improve reporting, workflow efficiency, communication, and operational effectiveness
• Provide technical leadership, mentorship, quality assurance, and development support across the Project Operations team

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, Engineering, Project Management, or a related discipline; equivalent experience will also be considered
• 8+ years of experience in project controls, project finance, commercial management, project accounting, project operations, or project delivery support
• Experience within architecture, engineering, consulting, design, planning, construction, or another project-based professional services environment
• Deep working knowledge of Deltek Vantagepoint, including project setup, project financial management, forecasting, planning, billing, reporting, and invoicing
• Strong financial analysis skills with experience evaluating project profitability, utilization, revenue, forecasting, contingency, debt, invoicing, and commercial risk
• Advanced Excel skills and experience using Power BI or similar business intelligence and data visualization tools
• Demonstrated experience leading process improvement, workflow redesign, documentation, and change management initiatives
• Strong communication, facilitation, customer service, and stakeholder management skills, including experience influencing senior leaders
• Ability to communicate complex financial and operational concepts clearly and effectively
• Experience with automation tools, Power Platform, workflow technologies, AI-enabled solutions, or reporting automation
• PMP, PMI-SP, CCP, CPA, CMA, or similar professional certifications