Cost Manager / Quantity Surveyor – Data Center Construction

Turner & Townsend•Columbus, OH

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Turner & Townsend is seeking a Cost Manager/Quantity Surveyor to support construction cost services for a large-scale, multi-year data center campus development. The role supports a diverse portfolio of construction projects from early planning through closeout and works with project stakeholders across multiple construction phases, including planning, procurement, commissioning, and closeout. It is primarily site-based, with regular presence required at the project site in Miami County, Ohio, approximately 80 minutes from Columbus. On-site requirements may change depending on client needs. The role covers procurement and vendor selection, estimating, cost reporting and control, invoicing, commercial risk, final accounting, post-contract audits, and account closeout. It also involves producing project procedures and lessons-learned materials, benchmarking performance, and using bid analysis, change control, estimating, and take-off tools. SOX control responsibilities may apply where relevant.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in construction management, cost management, quantity surveying, engineering, or a construction-related field.
Minimum 3–5 years of relevant experience in a construction-industry cost management role.
Experience supporting cost management on medium- or large-sized construction projects.
Good knowledge of construction-industry technical matters, including procurement routes, value management, and value engineering.
Strong communication skills.
Ability to meet the regular on-site presence requirement at the project site in Miami County, Ohio.

Nice To Haves

RICS accreditation or working toward it.
Experience supporting large-scale campus developments, mission-critical, commercial, industrial, or other major capital construction projects.
Construction consultancy experience (strongly preferred).

Responsibilities

Advise the client on procurement strategies; manage vendor prequalification; assess proposals, bids, and bid-levelling documents; make recommendations; chair bid interviews; and manage vendor appointments.
Manage project estimating, including developing estimates for construction, fees, direct work, and other costs; reviewing junior team members’ estimates; presenting estimates and value-engineering recommendations to the client; assessing risks; validating and challenging vendor costs; and using benchmarks from other projects.
Manage cost reporting by establishing schedules, reviewing and presenting cost reports and forecasts, reviewing budgets and spend forecasts with the client, maintaining a commercial risk register, and hosting periodic meetings with the project team and vendors.
Manage cost control by reviewing payment application assessments prepared by junior team members, liaising with project managers on contractor entitlements, reviewing vendor change-order requests and making recommendations, and applying dispute prevention, management, and resolution procedures to payment requisitions, changes, and contractual disputes.
Manage and monitor the invoicing process.
Benchmark performance against other successful commissions.
Manage final accounting, post-contract audits, and account closeouts.
Conduct post-contract reviews with the client, document lessons learned, and apply lessons to create a training manual.
Develop procedures governing project handover.
Prepare or use Bid Analysis Sheets, Change Control Forms, cost estimating software, and take-off software to perform the duties above.
Support cost management activities across construction phases from planning and procurement through commissioning and closeout.
Adhere to applicable SOX control responsibilities.