Principal Project Controls Manager - Major Capital Projects (EPC)

KBR, Inc.•Huntsville, AL

About The Position

KBR ISA (Integrated Solutions Americas) provides integrated engineering, procurement, and construction management services across refining, LNG, midstream, chemicals, petrochemicals, oil and gas, power, and industrial infrastructure, as well as proprietary technology, consulting, and energy transition. The Principal Project Controls Manager provides enterprise-level leadership for integrated cost, schedule, change, risk, and performance management on major, complex capital projects from FEL/FEED through engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and closeout. The role establishes a reconciled source of truth for project performance, advises senior project and business leadership, and provides an early, quantified view of project outlook. It is accountable for project controls strategy, governance, assurance, and execution across the discipline. The manager leads and develops senior planning, cost, change, risk, and reporting professionals; influences project directors, clients, partners, and executive stakeholders; and independently challenges forecasts, recovery plans, and commercial positions. Success is measured by forecast credibility, timely identification of deviations, strong governance and assurance, and defensible commercial positions.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Quantity Surveying, Finance, or a related discipline; equivalent experience with strong technical grounding will be considered.
At least 18 years of progressive project controls experience on major EPC or EPCM capital projects.
At least 8 years leading integrated project controls functions on complex projects or programs exceeding $1B.
Recognized subject-matter expertise in cost engineering, planning and scheduling, change management, risk, forecasting, and performance reporting, with the ability to independently challenge complex project positions.
Proven ownership of change control and contingency management on a project through closeout.
Expert command of earned value management, forecasting methodology, and progress measurement in a contractual EPC setting.
Extensive experience leading large, geographically dispersed, multidisciplinary project controls teams.
Ability to influence senior stakeholders across owner, EPC contractor, joint venture, and executive governance environments.

Nice To Haves

Sector experience in oil and gas, LNG, chemicals, nuclear, power and renewables, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, or data centers.
AACE, PMI, or equivalent professional credentials.
Hands-on capability with Primavera P6, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, and Power BI.
Experience with FIDIC, LSTK, reimbursable, or alliance contract forms and associated delay and quantum analysis.
Familiarity with advanced work packaging, systems completion methodologies, and stage-gate/FEL governance frameworks.
Prior experience in a joint venture environment.

Responsibilities

Own the project budget architecture, including the Cost Breakdown Structure, control accounts, contingency and management reserve structures, and mappings between CBS, WBS, and the general ledger.
Establish and maintain the cost control baseline; govern budget transfers, contingency drawdown, and reserve release.
Produce monthly cost reports covering commitments, accruals, actuals, value of work done, and variances against budget by control account.
Deliver documented, challengeable Estimate at Completion and Cost to Complete forecasts using trend-based methodology.
Oversee cash flow forecasts, funding drawdown profiles, and currency and escalation exposure reporting.
Set planning standards and hold the Planning Manager accountable for schedule integrity, critical path credibility, and baseline control.
Ensure cost and schedule are integrated, resource-loaded, time-phased, and reconciled to the same scope and progress data.
Review and challenge forecast completion dates, translate schedule slippage into cost impact, and reflect the impact in the EAC.
Own the end-to-end project change control process, including identification, impact quantification, review, approval routing, and baseline incorporation.
Chair or provide secretariat support to the Change Control Board and ensure proposed scope changes have documented cost, schedule, and risk impacts.
Maintain the trend register and drive early identification of potential changes.
Maintain the project risk register with the Risk Manager or Project Director, ensuring risks are quantified for cost and time.
Conduct quantitative cost and schedule risk analysis, including Monte Carlo analysis, to set P50/P80 positions and size and defend contingency.
Track risk drawdown against contingency consumption and report divergence.
Define the reporting calendar, KPI set, and dashboard suite for project leadership and other stakeholders.
Implement earned value management, including rules of credit, progress measurement, SPI and CPI trending, and performance-based forecasting.
Produce an integrated monthly project report with reconciled and consistent cost, schedule, and risk narratives.
Provide ad hoc analysis for investment decisions, recovery planning, and scope trade-offs.
Provide project controls input to tender evaluation, contract schedules and exhibits, milestone payment structures, incentives, and liquidated damages mechanisms.
Review contractor cost and schedule submissions for contractual compliance and drive resolution of non-compliance.
Support assessment and defence of variations, claims, extension-of-time submissions, and disruption arguments with Commercial and Legal teams.
Coordinate with Procurement and Supply Chain on commitment tracking, purchase order status, and vendor payment milestones.
Own the project controls toolset and data architecture, including Primavera P6, SAP, and Power BI, and ensure data integrity, coding discipline, and system interfaces.
Develop and enforce project controls procedures, templates, and standards, and promote consistency across the capital portfolio.
Prepare and defend submissions for stage gates, independent project reviews, internal audits, and partner or lender assurance processes.
Build, resource, and develop the project controls team across planning, cost, estimating, and reporting, aligning team structure with project phase.
Mentor discipline leads to become credible advisors to package managers and the Project Director.
Manage controls work performed by contractors, consultants, or a PMC, including deliverable quality and staffing adequacy.