Risk Manager

Luster National•Los Angeles, CA

10d•$125,000 - $200,000

About The Position

Luster is seeking Risk Managers for future roles supporting large, complex heavy civil infrastructure programs, including highways, roads, bridges, transit, aviation, and water/wastewater projects delivered through traditional and alternative delivery methods. This is a talent-pool posting rather than a specific current opening; candidates are interviewed in advance of hiring needs and notified first when a suitable project need arises. The Risk Manager will lead risk management for an assigned program, maintaining a reliable risk register, quantifying cost and schedule exposure, and setting defensible contingency positions for funding agencies, oversight bodies, and boards. The work emphasizes substantial experience in scheduling, estimating, or construction management. The role also involves coordinating risk across third-party interfaces and operating facilities, aligning risk with cost and schedule outcomes, and communicating findings through dashboards, written briefs, funding submittals, and oversight reviews.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, construction management, construction engineering, engineering management, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
10 or more years of risk management experience on large (over $500 million), complex heavy-civil infrastructure projects.
Experience facilitating risk workshops and building and maintaining a program risk register across the project lifecycle.
Experience performing quantitative cost and schedule risk analysis and converting results into contingency and mitigation recommendations.
Working knowledge of CPM scheduling and cost forecasting practices sufficient to assess whether program schedule and cost positions reflect risk-register exposure.
Experience with industry-standard risk analysis and scheduling software, such as Primavera Risk Analysis, Deltek Acumen Fuse, @Risk, or Primavera P6.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite/Office 365, including tools such as Outlook, Teams, Word, and PowerPoint.
Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills.
Excellent multitasking and organizational skills.
Collaborative mindset that fosters teamwork, trust, and positive relationships.
Curiosity, problem-solving ability, and commitment to continuous improvement.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in civil engineering, construction management, construction engineering, or engineering management.
Active professional certifications such as PMI-RMP or PMP from PMI, and/or DRMP or CCP from AACE.
Experience leading the owner’s risk management function on a program exceeding $1 billion in construction value.
Experience setting and defending contingency levels before executive boards, funding agencies, and independent oversight or audit bodies.
Experience evaluating contractor delay claims and time impact analyses, including concurrent delay, and supporting the owner’s negotiation position.
Experience managing risk on bridge and structures packages, water and wastewater facilities, or third-party interfaces involving railroads, utility owners, and airport or transit operations groups.
Experience establishing a risk management process on a program that did not have one and coaching project teams to use it.
Proficiency with Microsoft Power BI, Oracle Cloud Analytics, or other dashboard KPI reporting software.

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain the program’s risk management plan, processes, and governance framework in alignment with contract requirements and funding agency standards.
Facilitate risk identification and assessment workshops with program staff, designers, and contractors, and maintain a current program risk register of ranked threats and opportunities.
Quantify cost and schedule exposure using Monte Carlo or comparable simulation and turn results into contingency recommendations tied to a stated confidence level.
Analyze baseline schedules and monthly updates for logic, calendar, and float integrity, and assess whether the schedule reflects the exposure identified in the risk register.
Track mitigation actions through closure, hold action owners to committed dates, and escalate stalled mitigation.
Evaluate change proposals, delay claims, and time impact analyses for program exposure, and support negotiation positions with quantified cost and schedule findings.
Review risk allocation in procurement and contract documents and recommend terms that assign each risk to the party best able to carry it.
Reconcile risk positions against cost forecasts, schedule updates, and change logs, and report exposure through dashboards and written briefs.
Coordinate risk across third-party interfaces, including utility owners, railroads, adjacent contracts, and active facilities that must remain operational during construction.
Prepare risk and contingency sections of funding submittals, board packages, and independent oversight reviews, and defend the underlying assumptions.
Calibrate models against actual program outcomes, benchmark contingency draw against comparable programs, and improve risk processes based on lessons learned.