Project Controller

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Project Engineer based in the United States. As a Project Engineer, you will play a critical role in managing project controls for a complex biopharmaceutical manufacturing capital project, ensuring that schedules, costs, changes, and risks remain aligned with strategic objectives. You will oversee the integrated project schedule, cost baselines, progress measurement, and performance reporting across engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, qualification and validation (CQV), automation, and operational readiness. Working closely with the client project manager, general contractor, vendors, and specialist partners, you will provide the insights needed to make informed decisions and maintain project performance. You will lead forecasting, change management, and risk mitigation activities while ensuring transparency across all project workstreams. This remote-first opportunity offers the chance to contribute to a highly regulated, technically demanding environment where precision, accountability, and collaboration are essential. The role is based remotely, with periodic travel to the client site in Minneapolis, Minnesota, of up to approximately 25%.

Integrated Project Scheduling: Develop, maintain, and manage the integrated project schedule in Microsoft Project, aligning activities with the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), including durations, dependencies, constraints, resources, and cost loading across all workstreams. Schedule Baseline and Progress Monitoring: Establish and maintain the approved baseline schedule, manage baseline change control, document revisions, and collect weekly progress updates across engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, automation, CQV, technical transfer, and operational readiness. Critical Path and Schedule Risk Analysis: Perform critical path and total float analysis, prepare three-week and six-week look-ahead schedules, and develop scenario analyses and recovery plans to anticipate delays and support timely corrective action. Contractor and Vendor Schedule Integration: Integrate contractor and vendor schedules into the master project schedule, validate activity logic and progress, and maintain supporting schedule documentation. Cost Management and Forecasting: Establish and maintain the project cost baseline and control budget, structured by WBS and Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS), including major equipment, commitments, actual costs, accruals, and projected expenditures. Procurement and Financial Coordination: Coordinate purchase requisitions, purchase orders, invoice reviews, and approval workflows with procurement and finance teams, ensuring timely processing from statement of work submission through purchase order approval. Cost Reporting and Earned Value Management: Prepare monthly cost reports covering budgets, committed and incurred costs, estimates to complete (ETC), estimates at completion (EAC), cash flow forecasts, and spending trends. Apply Earned Value Management metrics, including CPI, SPI, CV, SV, and VAC, where required, and recommend corrective actions for cost and schedule variances. Change and Contingency Management: Maintain the project change log, prepare Project Change Notices (PCNs), assess cost and schedule impacts, track contingency usage, and route changes for approval according to established financial thresholds. Risk and Issue Management: Maintain the project risk register and issues log, facilitate recurring risk workshops, assess probability and impact, assign risk owners, and monitor mitigation actions and deadlines. Conduct quantitative schedule and cost risk analyses, including Monte Carlo simulations or quantitative schedule risk analysis (QSRA), when required. Executive Reporting and Governance: Prepare the monthly project Steering Committee reporting package, covering executive summaries, capital expenditure (CAPEX) phasing, master schedules, milestones, progress, change control, procurement, risks, and action tracking. Requirements: Relevant Experience: At least five years of project controls experience on capital projects, with direct responsibility for both schedule and cost management. Industry Knowledge: Professional experience in pharmaceutical or life sciences environments, preferably involving biotechnology or other regulated manufacturing capital projects. Microsoft Project Expertise: Demonstrated experience owning and maintaining a resource- and cost-loaded integrated project schedule in Microsoft Project, including baseline management, baseline change control, and contractor and vendor schedule integration. Experience exclusively with Primavera P6 does not meet this requirement. Earned Value Management: Ability to calculate, interpret, and communicate key performance indicators, including CPI, SPI, cost variance (CV), schedule variance (SV), estimate to complete (ETC), estimate at completion (EAC), and variance at completion (VAC). Cost Control and Financial Forecasting: Proven ability to develop and maintain cost baselines structured by WBS and CBS, reconcile commitments, actuals, and accruals, and prepare cash flow forecasts and expenditure reports. Change Control Experience: Practical experience administering project change control processes, preparing formal change notices, assessing financial and schedule impacts, and managing approval workflows against defined thresholds. Risk Management: Experience maintaining project risk registers, facilitating risk identification and assessment workshops, coordinating mitigation plans, and reporting risk exposure to project governance stakeholders. Technical Skills: Strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel for cost tracking, financial forecasting, Earned Value Management, and project register maintenance. Regulated Project Delivery: Experience with commissioning, qualification and validation (CQV), technical transfer, and operational ramp-up within pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or other regulated manufacturing environments is preferred. Advanced Analytical Tools: Familiarity with Monte Carlo simulations or quantitative schedule and cost risk analysis is preferred. Experience with Power BI is also an advantage. Education: A bachelor's degree in engineering, construction management, or a related discipline is preferred. Communication and Collaboration: Strong analytical, organizational, and communication skills, with the ability to coordinate multiple stakeholders, explain project performance clearly, and support data-driven decisions in a complex project environment. Benefits: Competitive Salary: Annual salary range of $130,000–$160,000, depending on relevant qualifications and experience. Remote-First Flexibility: Work remotely, with periodic travel to the client site in Minneapolis, Minnesota, of up to approximately 25%. Health Coverage: Health, dental, and vision insurance. Retirement Savings: Access to a 401(k) program. Paid Time Off: Paid time off (PTO) and paid holidays. Professional Development: Training and professional development support to strengthen technical expertise and advance career growth. Collaborative Project Environment: Direct engagement with client project teams, general contractors, automation suppliers, and CQV partners. Meaningful Project Impact: The opportunity to contribute to the successful delivery of a complex biopharmaceutical manufacturing project through rigorous planning, financial control, and proactive risk management.