Cost Control Engineer

The Civil Cost Control Engineer is responsible for monitoring, analysing and controlling the costs associated with civil construction activities throughout the project lifecycle. The role will establish and maintain project cost baselines, monitor actual expenditure against approved budgets, analyse cost variances, prepare cost forecasts and provide accurate financial information to support project decision-making. The position will work closely with the Project, Planning, Commercial, Procurement, Finance and Site teams to ensure effective cost management and protection of project profitability.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain project cost budgets for civil construction works.

• Review contract BOQs, drawings, specifications and project budgets

• Develop and maintain the Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS) and cost codes.

• Allocate approved budgets across work packages, activities, materials, labour, plant, subcontractors

• Monitor committed costs, actual costs and forecast costs.

• Identify cost overruns, potential budget risks and adverse cost trends at an early stage.

• Analyse cost performance and recommend appropriate corrective actions.

• Identify potential cost exposure and provide early warnings to Project and Commercial Management.

• Review forecast assumptions with Planning, Commercial and Construction teams.

• Ensure forecasts accurately reflect current project performance and anticipated final costs.

• Analyse variances relating to labour productivity and material consumption

• Highlight negative cost trends and recommend mitigation measures.

• Monitor productivity and resource consumption against planned quantities.

• Support the validation of subcontractor and supplier claims against actual site progress.

• Ensure quantities used for cost reporting are accurate and supported by appropriate documentation.

• Track purchase orders, commitments and invoices against approved budgets.

• Support procurement teams in evaluating the cost impact of supplier and subcontractor quotations.

• Track material price fluctuations and assess their impact on project forecasts.

• Support value engineering and cost optimisation initiatives.

• Coordinate with Finance to ensure project cost information is properly reconciled.

• Provide management with reliable and timely cost information for decision-making.

• Identify potential margin erosion and recommend corrective action.

• Reconcile cost information with Commercial and Finance records.

• Monitor Cost Variance (CV), Schedule Variance (SV), Cost Performance Index (CPI)

Desired Candidate Profile

• Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering is preferred.

• A degree in Quantity Surveying, Construction Management or a related discipline

• Professional qualifications such as MRICS, CCP, PMP or equivalent would be an advantage.

• Minimum 5–8 years of relevant experience in construction cost control, preferably within the UAE.

• Strong experience in building construction, civil infrastructure or major contracting projects.

• Previous experience as a Civil Cost Control Engineer, Project Controls Engineer, Cost Engineer or similar position. strong understanding of civil construction methods, BOQs, quantity measurement

• Experience with subcontractor cost control, procurement, variations and project forecasting.

• UAE construction experience is strongly preferred. Current UAE market postings commonly specify around 5–8 years for comparable cost-control positions.