Project Services Cost Lead

Talos Energy•Houston, TX

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Project Services Cost Lead (Lead Cost Engineer) provides cost engineering leadership for major capital projects across Facilities and project portfolios, accountable for establishing and maintaining cost baselines/control budgets, commitments, actuals, accruals (VOWD), and forecasts (ETC/EAC/FTC) from FEL through closeout. The role integrates cost, schedule, and risk insights to deliver decision-ready reporting, leads close and reconciliation routines with Accounting/Finance, supports disciplined change control, and interfaces with Project Management, Engineering, Construction, Supply Chain, IT/system owners, and EPC/contractors. The position also supports implementation of Omega 365, including governance-ready reporting packs, cutover and hypercare support, data ownership (RACI), and KPI-based data quality and adoption controls.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Construction Management, Finance, Accounting, or a related discipline; equivalent experience considered.
Minimum 10 years of cost engineering experience on capital projects, turnarounds, or integrated project portfolios.
Minimum 5 years of experience within an oil and gas operator organization (Owner/Operator environment preferred).
Minimum 1-2 years in a Lead Cost Engineer (or equivalent) role, providing functional guidance and coordination across planning resources.
Significant experience in cost engineering/cost control for major capital projects, including Facilities and/or Pipeline scopes (EPC, construction, fabrication/installation, commissioning/start-up).
Major project experience across subsea, facilities, and mega projects, including complex interfaces, long-lead procurement, and multi-contractor execution.
Demonstrated competency in establishing control budgets, time-phased forecasts, accruals/VOWD, and ETC/EAC forecasting with clear basis and traceability.
Proficiency with cost management and reporting tools (Omega 365 preferred) and advanced Excel skills; ability to manage, validate, and reconcile cost data across multiple source systems.
Working knowledge of contract/commercial fundamentals (POs, progress payments, change orders, invoice validation, contract exposure) and change management controls.
Strong facilitation and stakeholder management skills; able to drive alignment on cost coding/structures, challenge assumptions, and present cost insights to leadership.

Nice To Haves

AACE certification (CCP/CEP), PMP, or equivalent professional credential.
Hands-on experience implementing and governing Omega 365 (or similar cost management system), including configuration workshops, data migration/loading, integration testing (SIT/UAT), training, cutover planning and execution (data freeze, reconciliation sign-offs, go/no-go criteria), hypercare support and stabilization, definition of data ownership/RACI and controls, and KPI development/tracking for adoption, close performance, and data quality.
Experience with systems integrations and reconciliation controls across scheduling, procurement, accounting, and accrual systems (e.g., P6, COUPA, BOLO, EFM, SiteView/WellView, OneStream).
Experience with earned value management (EVM) and performance-based forecasting (CPI/SPI trending) for major projects, where applicable.
Experience performing cost risk analysis, contingency development, and estimate assurance/reviews (FEL/stage-gate, peer/assurance reviews).
Experience developing management reporting and dashboards (e.g., Power BI) and automating recurring reporting packs for portfolio governance.

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain the project cost baseline/control budget for Facilities and Pipeline major projects, aligned to approved AFE scope, WBS/CBS, estimate basis, and contract strategy.
Establish and govern cost coding structures (WBS/AFE/cost elements) and reporting standards to enable consistent rollups across projects and portfolio views.
Own cost performance management for assigned projects: commitments, actuals, accruals/VOWD, estimate-to-complete (ETC), estimate-at-completion (EAC), and forecast-to-complete (FTC), with traceability between baseline, current, and forecast.
Lead monthly cost close routines and reconciliations (Accounting/Finance): validate accruals, confirm costs reflect work performed (not invoice timing), reconcile source systems, and maintain audit-ready documentation.
Partner with GOA Operations to support turnover/handover readiness and cost closeout: align on operability/maintainability inputs, validate cost impacts of operations-driven requirements, and ensure closeout documentation supports transition to operations.
Develop time-phased forecasts and cash flow projections (including partner cash calls where applicable); identify funding risks, trends, and EAC drivers; recommend corrective and recovery actions.
Perform cost variance and trend analysis against baseline and prior forecasts; produce concise narratives explaining drivers (scope, productivity, quantities, rates, market escalation, execution changes) and quantify remaining risk exposure.
Support change management and claims/avoidance: evaluate cost impacts, maintain change logs, validate contractor change orders, and ensure approved changes are incorporated into budgets and forecasts.
Validate EPC/contractor cost reports, progress claims, and backup documentation; ensure alignment to contract terms, payment milestones, and agreed coding and reporting requirements.
Coordinate with Supply Chain to manage commitments and contract exposure (POs, contracts, change orders), and with Engineering/Construction to validate progress measurement and remaining work.
Integrate cost and schedule insights with Planning (P6) and Risk Management to improve forecast accuracy, establish early-warning indicators, and support scenario planning.
Omega 365 implementation & governance: support solution design and rollout for cost management and establish governance-ready reporting and controls, including: Define required structures and workflows, reporting packs and narratives, and audit/traceability requirements. Lead data readiness (WBS/AFE mapping, data cleansing), pilot loading, and reconciliation. Coordinate SIT/UAT and role-based training. Develop and execute cutover plans (data freeze/cut-off rules, cutover checklists, communications, and go-live readiness). Support hypercare stabilization with triage, defect prioritization, and release planning. Establish data ownership and RACI (data stewards, approvers, and system admins) and BAU operating model/runbooks (owners, cadence, controls, exception handling). Define and track KPIs (data quality, close timeliness, reconciliation exceptions, user adoption) with ongoing governance routines.
Cost controls documentation & governance artifacts: prepare and maintain cost control documentation (cost basis/narratives, assumptions and constraints log, change and trend logs, reconciliation sign-offs, meeting minutes/action registers) and ensure controlled handoffs for approvals, baselines/forecasts, and closeout archives to keep cost deliverables audit-ready.
System integration stewardship: partner with IT, system owners, and the Omega 365 implementation team to define, test (SIT/UAT), and stabilize integrations and reconciliations (e.g., P6, COUPA, BOLO, EFM, SiteView/WellView, and OneStream if applicable), including refresh cadence, cut-off rules, mapping logic, reconciliation packs, and data quality controls.
Coach and mentor cost engineers/analysts; standardize templates, dashboards, and reporting packs; capture lessons learned to improve Facilities and Pipeline cost management practices.