Position Summary The Cost Controller is responsible for cost control, budget monitoring, forecasting, cost reporting, and financial governance during the construction of IREN’s Badajoz Data Center. The role ensures that project expenditure, commitments, actual costs, accruals, forecasts, and changes are accurately tracked, analyzed, and controlled against approved budgets, contracts, procurement activities, construction progress, and project objectives.
The role provides accurate and timely cost visibility to the Construction and Project Management teams, supporting effective decision-making and maintaining financial control across the delivery of a large-scale, renewable-powered data center project.
This role contributes to the successful delivery of the Badajoz Data Center by maintaining project cost baselines, tracking commitments and vigente expenditure, preparing forecasts and Estimate at Completion (EAC), analyzing cost variances and trends, supporting change and contingency management, monitoring contractor and supplier cost information, and coordinating with Project Management, Construction, Procurement, Commercial, Project Controls, and Finance teams.
The Cost Controller also supports the reconciliation of budgets, purchase orders, contracts, invoices, accruals, and approved changes, ensuring that project cost information is accurate, traceable, and consistently reflected in project reporting. Through disciplined cost control and reporting, the role enables early identification of cost risks and deviations and supports the delivery of the project within approved financial targets.
Responsibilities
Reporting to the Technical Office Manager, the Cost Controller is responsible for:
- Maintain and control the project cost baseline by ensuring that approved budgets are correctly structured, coded, allocated, and maintained across construction packages, contracts, purchase orders, disciplines, and cost categories in alignment with the project Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS).
- Monitor project costs and financial performance by tracking budgets, commitments, actual costs, accruals, forecasts, approved changes, pending changes, and remaining cost exposure and by ensuring that cost information is accurate, complete, and up to date.
- Prepare and maintain project cost forecasts and Estimate at Completion (EAC) by analyzing current expenditure, commitments, construction progress, procurement status, contractor forecasts, trends, changes, risks, and remaining scope to provide an accurate view of expected final project cost.
- Perform budget versus actual and forecast variance analysis by identifying deviations, trends, emerging cost pressures, and potential savings and by providing clear explanations and recommendations to Construction and Project Management teams.
- Track project commitments by monitoring contracts, purchase orders, amendments, variations, and other financial commitments and ensuring that these are accurately reflected within project cost reports and forecasting systems.
- Monitor actual project expenditure by reconciling invoices, payments, purchase orders, contracts, and financial records with the relevant Finance, Procurement, Commercial, and project stakeholders.
- Prepare and manage project accruals by identifying work performed but not yet invoiced, coordinating with contractors and package owners, and ensuring that monthly cost reporting accurately reflects the financial status of construction activities.
- Support contractor payment and progress validation by coordinating with Construction, Commercial, Procurement, and package owners to ensure that contractor invoices and payment applications are consistent with contractual terms, approved progress, purchase orders, and project records.
- Support project change control by tracking potential and approved changes, variations, change orders, scope adjustments, and associated cost impacts and by ensuring that approved changes are incorporated into the project budget and forecast in a controlled and traceable manner.
- Maintain the project change and cost registers by ensuring visibility of approved, pending, forecast, and potential cost changes and providing timely information regarding their impact on budget, contingency,
and Estimate at Completion.
- Monitor project contingency usage by tracking approved drawdowns, potential exposures, remaining contingency, and cost risks and supporting the appropriate governance and reporting of contingency throughout the construction phase.
- Identify cost risks and opportunities by analyzing project trends, contractor performance, procurement status, construction progress, change exposure, claims, and other cost drivers and by supporting the development of appropriate mitigation actions.
- Monitor construction package cost performance across CSA, Electrical, Mechanical, BMS, Security, utilities, infrastructure, and other project packages by providing clear visibility of budget, commitments, actuals, forecast, changes, and variances by package.
- Coordinate cost information with construction progress and project schedules by working with Planning, Construction, and Project Controls teams to ensure that cost forecasts reflect actual project progress, key milestones, procurement activities, and expected completion dates.
- Support procurement and contracting activities from a cost control perspective by providing budget information, validating available funding, monitoring purchase requisitions and purchase orders, and ensuring that procurement commitments remain aligned with approved project budgets.
- Support Commercial and Contracts teams by providing accurate cost data for the assessment of variations, claims, contract amendments, and commercial negotiations while maintaining clear separation between cost control and contractual/commercial ownership.
- Prepare periodic project cost reports including budget status, commitments, actual expenditure, accruals, forecasts, EAC, variances, changes, contingency, risks, and key cost trends for review by the Technical Office Manager, Construction Management, and Project Management.
- Develop and maintain cost dashboards and management information that provide clear, concise, and actionable visibility of project financial performance and enable early identification of deviations from approved targets.
- Ensure consistency between project and corporate financial information by regularly reconciling project cost records with Finance systems, Procurement records, purchase orders, invoices, and other relevant financial information.
- Maintain accurate cost control documentation and audit trails by ensuring that budgets, forecasts, changes, approvals, reconciliations, cost reports, and supporting documentation are appropriately recorded, controlled, and traceable.
- Support monthly project reporting and governance cycles by providing timely and accurate cost information, explaining key movements and variances, highlighting emerging risks, and preparing information required for project reviews and management decisions.
- Support cash flow forecasting by providing expected expenditure profiles based on construction schedules, procurement plans, contractor forecasts, committed costs, and anticipated project activities.
- Collaborate with Construction, Project Management, Project Controls, Procurement, Commercial, Finance, Engineering, and other project stakeholders to maintain a consistent and integrated view of project financial performance.
- Support project close-out and final cost reconciliation by ensuring that contracts, purchase orders, variations, invoices, accruals, outstanding commitments, and final account information are appropriately reconciled and reflected in the final project cost position.
- Promote continuous improvement in project cost control by identifying opportunities to improve cost structures, reporting, forecasting accuracy, data quality, controls, processes, and tools and by supporting the standardization of cost management practices across IREN’s data center projects.
Requirements
- At least 5–8 years of experience in cost control, project controls, project finance,
construction cost management, or a related discipline, preferably within data centers, mission-critical facilities, industrial construction, energy, infrastructure, EPC projects, or other large-scale capital projects
- Degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Quantity Surveying, Economics, Finance, Business Administration, or a related discipline; relevant certifications in project controls, cost engineering, project management, or construction cost management are well regarded.
- Strong understanding of construction project cost control, including budgets, commitments, actuals, accruals, forecasts, Estimate at Completion (EAC), cash flow, contingency, change management, cost trends, and variance analysis.
- Experience managing and maintaining project cost baselines, Cost Breakdown Structures (CBS), Work Breakdown Structures (WBS), cost codes, control accounts, and construction package budgets within large and complex capital projects.
- Demonstrated ability to prepare accurate monthly cost reports, forecasts, EAC calculations, variance analyses, cost dashboards, and management reporting and to clearly explain key cost movements and financial risks.
- Experience monitoring contracts, purchase orders, contractor invoices, payment applications, variations, change orders, commitments, and accruals within a construction or project delivery environment.
- Good understanding of construction contracts, procurement processes, contractor payment mechanisms, variations, claims, and change control, with the ability to assess their impact on project costs and forecasts.
- Ability to interpret and correlate cost information with construction progress, schedules, procurement plans, contracts, and project scope, ensuring that financial forecasts accurately reflect the status and expected evolution of the project.
- Strong analytical and numerical skills, with high attention to detail and the ability to identify inconsistencies, cost trends, financial risks, and emerging deviations across large volumes of project data.
- Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including the ability to manage and analyze large datasets, build cost models, perform reconciliations, and prepare structured management reporting.
- Experience with ERP, procurement, cost management, or project controls systems used to manage budgets, commitments, purchase orders, invoices, forecasts, and project financial information; experience with data visualization and reporting tools such as Power BI is well regarded.
- Familiarity with data center construction, mission-critical infrastructure, or technically complex construction projects is highly valued, including an understanding of major CSA, electrical, mechanical, controls, and infrastructure construction packages.
- Strong understanding of project governance and financial control principles, including budget authorization, approval workflows, change governance, cost traceability, data integrity, and audit requirements.
- Ability to work effectively across multiple functions, including Construction, Project Management, Project Controls, Procurement, Commercial, Finance, Engineering, contractors, and suppliers, and to consolidate information from different sources into a reliable project cost position.
- Fluent in English, with strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to operate effectively in an international, multidisciplinary project environment, including coordination with contractors, suppliers, consultants, and internal stakeholders.
- Structured, analytical, proactive, and results-driven profile, with strong communication, organization, problem-solving, reporting, and stakeholder management skills and the ability to manage multiple cost packages, priorities, deadlines, and reporting cycles in a fast-paced construction environment.
Compensation
Compensation will be determined based on factors such as experience, qualifications, and market data for the region.
- Total Compensation package may be inclusive of annual incentive bonus, and equity (long-term incentive)
Health & Wellness
- Medical, dental and insurance coverage.
- Wellhub: access to gyms, fitness classes and wellness services.
- Pluxee: flexible benefits for meals, transportation and childcare expenses.
📌 Cost Controller (Badajoz)
🏢 IREN
📍 Badajoz