Project Controls Specialist — Denver Metro, Colorado | Pacific Executive Search

Project Controls Specialist

(Job ID: 1963)

Denver Metro, Colorado

Hybrid

Direct Hire

Energy

$110,000 – $125,000 base

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Overview

Join a dynamic team as a Project Controls Specialist, where you will play a critical role in managing project financials and driving successful outcomes. This position offers the opportunity to collaborate with project managers and teams, ensuring that projects are delivered on time and within budget while fostering a culture of innovation and accountability. With a focus on professional growth, you will enhance your skills in project controls and financial management within a supportive and flexible work environment.

Responsibilities

Manage project financial controls, including budgets, forecasts, and cost tracking to ensure accurate revenue recognition.
Establish and maintain project control structures, including cost codes, WBS, and reporting frameworks to enhance project visibility.
Analyze cost-to-complete (CTC), earned value, cash flow, and margin forecasts to inform decision-making and risk management.
Collaborate with project managers to identify financial and schedule risks, developing proactive mitigation strategies.
Review and approve project cost transactions and commitments, ensuring compliance with accounting standards and contract terms.
Prepare monthly project reviews, executive dashboards, and variance analyses to communicate financial performance effectively.
Lead project close-out activities, including final cost reconciliation and documentation of lessons learned.

Qualifications

Must-Have:
Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Engineering, or a related field.
5+ years of experience in project controls, project accounting, or project finance within EPC, construction, or infrastructure environments.
Strong understanding of job cost accounting, forecasting, and project lifecycle management.
Proficiency in project management and financial systems (e.g., Oracle, SAP, Viewpoint, Deltek, Procore Financials).
Advanced skills in Microsoft Excel, with experience in developing resource-loaded and cost-loaded schedules.
Nice-to-Have:
Experience in renewable energy, utility-scale, or heavy civil projects.
Familiarity with Primavera P6 and schedule-driven forecasting.
Knowledge of EPC contract structures (lump sum, cost-plus, T&M).
Experience with Power BI or financial reporting dashboards.
CPA, CMA, or PMP certification is a plus.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do Accounting Manager hires fail?
Because companies hire for close execution when the real need is issue ownership and team leadership. Many candidates can manage a checklist. Far fewer can stabilize the function under pressure, improve weak processes, coach staff, and hold the line during audit, turnover, or reporting stress.
What are strong Accounting Manager candidates evaluating during the interview process?
They are usually trying to understand whether they are walking into a stable environment, a cleanup situation, or an under-resourced function. Strong candidates do not just evaluate title and compensation. They assess whether success is realistically achievable and whether leadership understands what the accounting team actually needs.
Why are finance and accounting roles in private equity-backed companies different?
Because the expectations are usually sharper. These environments often involve more pace, more visibility, more accountability, and more change than slower-moving businesses. Candidates are often expected to produce cleaner reporting, better discipline, and faster adaptation while operating under leadership that is highly focused on results. Pacific Executive Search's private equity insights explain why these environments require more specialized hiring.
Why does ERP experience matter so much in roles like this?
Because many accounting and finance roles are really process-and-systems roles disguised as job titles. A candidate may know the accounting, but if they cannot operate effectively inside the company's environment, ramp time becomes risk. Exact system match is not always mandatory, but comparable complexity often is.
How do strong candidates typically evaluate opportunities like this?
Strong candidates rarely evaluate a role based on title alone. They look at what the position actually owns, how the function is viewed internally, whether the environment is stable or in transition, and what success will realistically look like in the first 6 to 12 months. Many first discover a role through a posting, but the strongest career decisions usually come from understanding the context behind the opportunity, not just the job description. In accounting and finance hiring, that level of context is often what separates a lateral move from a meaningful one. Learn more about how strategic accounting and finance searches differ from transactional recruiting.
Is the CPA really required for roles like this?
Sometimes yes, and often functionally yes even when the posting says "preferred." At leadership levels especially, the CPA frequently acts as a credibility signal for hiring managers, auditors, lenders, investors, or boards. There are exceptions, but in many accounting searches it remains one of the clearest markers of technical foundation.

Project Controls Specialist

Overview

Responsibilities

Qualifications

Apply Now

Frequently Asked Questions

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