Director Project Controls - Life Sciences Construction

Turner & Townsend is a global professional services company with over 22,000 people in more than 60 countries. 

Working with our clients across real estate, infrastructure, energy and natural resources, we transform together delivering outcomes that improve people’s lives. Working in partnership makes it possible to deliver the world’s most impactful projects and programmes as we turn challenge into opportunity and complexity into success. 

Our capabilities include programme, project, cost, asset and commercial management, controls and performance, procurement and supply chain, net zero and digital solutions. 

We are majority-owned by CBRE Group, Inc., the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm, with our partners holding a significant minority interest. Turner & Townsend and CBRE work together to provide clients with the premier programme, project and cost management offering in markets around the world. 

Turner & Townsend are seeking an experienced Director-Project Controls to join our team. The ideal candidate has a proven track record of successful client delivery and managing project control teams. This individual will lead project controls services for major client accounts and will help with wider business initiatives as needed.   

 

The Project Controls Director (PCD) will lead the project controls function on a major/mega  capital project. The Project Controls Director role is a project steering team level role responsible for driving consistency through rigorous administration of  global control standards and processes. The ideal candidate should have experience as an owner's representative, be action-oriented, and able to think strategically as well as participate in direct execution. This position requires a leader who can develop and manage a project controls team with limited supervision. This is a high-impact leadership role requiring on-site presence at least four days per week (80%+).

The PCD will have responsibility for developing comprehensive project control plans, including cost, risk, change, invoice, and performance management plans. Such plans should be fit for the scale of multi-billion-dollar capital projects across the full project controls lifecycle, including estimating and cost planning, stage gate (capital value) process, budget appropriations, budget allocation, commitments management, cost control, commercial management and contracting strategy and administration, quantitative risk management, Critical Path Method, resource loaded schedule management, scope management and change control, earned value management, and advanced financial accrual process, cashflow management, forecasting, and data analysis.

The PCD will develop the project control Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS), identifying critical project control roles and on-boarding timelines that consider phases of the project delivery lifecycle.

The PCD will be a champion of the adoption and use of the GFD Project Management Information System (Oracle Unifier Accelerator (UA)). The PCD will ensure that UA is properly configured for the project and is being used to manage all estimates, commitments, expenditures, changes, risks, forecasts and reporting.

The PCD will closely coordinate with the PCO to drive consistent application of project controls standards and procedures and to inform a continuous improvement process.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead all project controls lifecycle functions including funding appropriations, capital value/stage gating, estimating, value engineering, budget and cost control, vendor invoice management, change and risk contingency management, schedule and earned value management, and scope management.
• Represent project controls on program/project steering teams.
• Plan and implement project controls structure, resources, and timing for each project phase in alignment with the PCO.
• Establish and enforce governance processes aligned with PCO procedures, systems, and tools.
• Oversee cost, schedule, change, and risk assurance processes.
• Implement standardized data gathering and reporting across all project phases.
• Ensure quality and timeliness of all project reports (e.g., Executive Steering Committee, Monthly Reports, Contractor Reports).
• Develop and maintain comprehensive project controls plans (cost, schedule, change, risk, earned value, invoice validation, communications, document management).
• Collaborate with Capital Procurement on contract and commercial strategy.
• Ensure project controls requirements are embedded in all contracts.
• Define and support procurement of project controls services and resources.
• Support onboarding and training of control personnel.
• Lead and mentor the project controls team, fostering a collaborative culture.
• Perform additional duties as assigned by the PCO or project leadership.
• SOX control responsibilities may be part of this role, which are to be adhered to where applicable. 

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, or related field, or equivalent work experience
• Willing to travel or relocate for minimum 80% on-site presence (4 days/week)
• Deep understanding of capital project lifecycles from concept to handover
• Proven leadership in complex corporate environments and stakeholder engagement
• Hands-on project project controls experience on mega capital projects ($3B+)
• Strong team leadership, coaching, and communication skills
• Self-starter with ability to operate independently
• Proficient in English (written and verbal)
• Knowledgeable in Primavera P6, Oracle Unifier (or similar), and Power BI
• Experience building and managing large, multi-organization project project controls teams
• Advanced knowledge in estimating, budgeting, forecasting, earned value, contracts, invoice and change validation, risk management, and reporting for mega projects ($3B+)
• Comfortable presenting to executive leadership

Preferred Attributes:

• Strategic, proactive, and hands-on leader
• Experience in life sciences or pharmaceutical manufacturing
• Skilled in stakeholder engagement and cross-functional collaboration
• Preferred certifications: MRIQS, PMP, CCP (AACE), or equivalent
• Experience in senior project leadership roles
• Expertise in implementing new technologies
• Familiarity with GMP environments and life science project delivery
• Understanding of pharmaceutical project lifecycles and key drivers, including Commissioning, Qualification, and Validation

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

• Establishment of baseline schedule and cost tracking systems within the first 120 days.
• Timely and accurate delivery of monthly and executive reports.
• Successful recruitment and onboarding of project controls team.
• Demonstrated cost and schedule performance improvements over project lifecycle.
• Demonstrated contractor compliance with project control requirements

Scope of accountability:

• Accountable to PCO
• Direct Reports:  10-30 FTE
• Size of Capital: $1B or greater

*On-site presence and requirements may change depending on our clients' needs.*

Our inspired people share our vision and mission. We provide a great place to work, where each person has the opportunity and voice to affect change.

We want our people to succeed both in work and life. To support this we promote a healthy, productive and flexible working environment that respects work-life balance. 

Turner & Townsend is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and actively encourage applications from all sectors of the community.

Please find out more about us at www.turnerandtownsend.com/

Turner & Townsend does not accept any speculative or unsolicited CV’s that have been sent to our internal recruitment team or hiring managers from agencies outside of our preferred supplier list or that have not followed due process. Any speculative or unsolicited CV’s will be treated as a direct application.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

 

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