Lead Cost Engineer

About Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. is dedicated to addressing critical global challenges across various sectors, including urban development, environmental resilience, and scientific discovery. The company focuses on transforming conceptual ideas into tangible solutions that contribute positively to the world.

Role Overview: Lead Cost Engineer

Jacobs is seeking a Lead Cost Engineer for a full-time position in Saudi Arabia, with locations in Neom and Riyadh. This role is central to managing cost reporting and control for the closeout portfolio. The Lead Cost Engineer will oversee budgets, accruals, commitments, cash flow, funding, and forecasts, providing clear financial insights to the Project Controls Manager and senior stakeholders regarding current cost positions, forecast final costs, and closeout funding requirements. A minimum of 10 years of experience is required for this position.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage cost reporting across the portfolio, defining the monthly cost control cycle, data requirements, and review timetable.
• Administer approved budgets, allocations, transfers, and cost coding across multiple contracts and workstreams.
• Develop and maintain detailed forecasts, forecast-at-completion positions, and closeout cost projections.
• Oversee the monthly accrual process, including validation, reconciliation, aging review, and clearing of unsupported or duplicate accruals.
• Track commitments, actual costs, pending liabilities, settlements, and remaining exposure through contract closure.
• Prepare cash flow forecasts and funding requirements for termination, demobilization, preservation, settlement, and closeout.
• Reconcile data from SAP, Oracle Unifier, commercial records, and project reporting, resolving material differences.
• Lead cost inputs for weekly reports, monthly portfolio reports, closeout reports, preservation cost reports, dashboards, and presentations.
• Provide cost substantiation and supporting records for claims, disputes, settlement discussions, and final account reviews.
• Establish cost reporting templates, controls, and data checks, ensuring a clear audit trail for assumptions and forecast changes.
• Explain movements in budgets, commitments, accruals, actuals, cash flow, and forecasts.
• Support the Project Controls Manager in portfolio reviews and senior stakeholder discussions.

Qualifications and Experience

• A minimum of 20 years of experience in cost engineering or a related field.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex cost reporting and control processes.
• Proficiency in financial systems such as SAP and Oracle Unifier.
• Strong analytical skills for forecasting, reconciliation, and financial substantiation.

Work Environment at Jacobs

Jacobs fosters a culture of care, promoting diversity and inclusion. Employees benefit from global and local connections, leveraging diverse perspectives for collective strength. The company emphasizes collaboration, mutual support, and flexibility, offering arrangements that maximize individual potential. Jacobs operates with a hybrid working policy, allowing employees to divide their work week between Jacobs offices/projects and remote locations. Onsite employees are expected to attend a Jacobs Workplace on a full-time basis as required by their role.