Director, Project Controls

Terawatt Infrastructure • San Francisco, CA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

Terawatt Infrastructure develops, finances, owns, and operates charging solutions for electric and autonomous vehicle fleets. The Director, Project Controls serves as the primary audit, controls, and financial partner for the Site Delivery organization, bridging construction operations and corporate finance. The role combines project controls expertise in cost tracking, schedule integration, and change management with FP&A-level auditing, variance analysis, rolling forecasts, capital planning, and executive reporting. It ensures budgets, forecasts, and schedules are accurate and current across a nationwide portfolio involving real estate acquisitions, utility interconnections, and high-voltage construction projects.

This is a hybrid role based at Terawatt's San Francisco headquarters, and candidates must live in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Director works closely with Site Delivery and cross-functional teams to maintain dependable cost and schedule information, identify and address variances, and support sound capital deployment decisions.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related quantitative field.
• At least 9 years of progressive experience in project controls, cost or schedule audit, capital project management, financial analysis, FP&A, or corporate finance/cost accounting for complex capital projects.
• Experience with construction accounting principles, project finance mechanics, AIA billing processes (G702/G703 standards), lien waivers, and EPC/GC contracting structures.
• Advanced ability to build, maintain, and track large-scale capital project budgets at both line-item and portfolio levels and identify and communicate variance drivers.
• Advanced Excel skills, including data modeling and variance visualization.
• Experience with modern construction and financial software platforms such as Procore, Yardi, NetSuite, MRI, or Sage 300 CRE.
• Ability to translate complex financial and schedule variance data into actionable plain-language advice for operational partners, including site engineers, project managers, and utility coordinators.
• Experience using data visualization tools and dashboards for communication and reporting.
• Ability to exercise independent judgment, clearly deliver and defend variance or audit findings to project owners and leadership, including under pressure.
• Exceptional attention to detail and curiosity, including the ability to examine schedule logic and line-item actuals to identify root causes.
• Ability to gain project manager and external vendor adoption of new processes and adherence to existing processes.
• Ability to take ownership and navigate ambiguity in a high-growth, fast-paced environment.
• Must live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Nice To Haves

• Background in EV charging infrastructure, utility-scale power generation, data centers, renewable energy (solar, wind, or storage), or heavy civil/commercial construction.
• Professional certifications such as Certified Cost Professional (CCP), Certified Cost Associate (CCA), Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP), PMP, CAPM, or AACE credentials.

Responsibilities

• Audit and reconcile project budgets, commitments, actual spend, work in progress (WIP), and forecast at completion (FAC) across active development sites.
• Identify and categorize the root causes of budget variances, including scope changes, vendor overruns, utility escalation, estimating errors, and carrying cost slips.
• Establish and enforce review cadences, checklists, and sign-off gates.
• Maintain the Project Change Order log and review scope changes, budget impacts, and vendor proposals before routing them for approval.
• Partner with FP&A and Accounting to reconcile site-level actuals and prepare corporate reporting.
• Oversee development draw requests; manage review and coding of monthly contractor pay applications using AIA G702/G703 standards and lien waivers; and assist with cash flow projections and draw schedules.
• Ensure identified budget, contract, and schedule discrepancies are addressed, escalated, and closed out on a defined timeline.
• Own and maintain the Plan of Record in Smartsheet as the trusted source of truth for project schedules.
• Design processes to surface schedule updates in near real time, lead weekly project reviews, and hold project managers accountable for schedule hygiene.
• Conduct schedule variance and critical path analyses, flag risks early, and provide updated information to cross-functional teams.
• Partner with Supply Chain and Procurement to monitor long-lead equipment deliveries and balance internal and vendor resource demands to safeguard key milestones.
• Develop and maintain real-time dashboards and prepare audit-ready board-level and executive reporting packages.
• Develop and implement Site Delivery SOPs, RACI assignments, and Playbook documentation.
• Initiate cost and schedule benchmarking based on audit findings.
• Design and deliver project controls training for new hires.
• Maintain consistent communication about project budget and schedule status across Finance, Sales, Business Development, Technology, and Operations.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package.
• Performance-based incentives, where applicable.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director