WWPS is seeking a Cost Engineer - Electrical to join our growing team in Peoria, Arizona. This onsite position will serve as part of the owner's representative team supporting a major semiconductor construction project. The successful candidate will provide independent cost oversight for electrical construction packages and will have experience with cost engineering, forecasting, earned value management, bid evaluation, change management, subcontract administration, payment validation, and procurement.
The role requires a strong understanding of electrical construction means and methods, the ability to evaluate contractor pricing and installed quantities, and the judgment to identify commercial risk before it affects the owner's budget or forecast. The successful candidate must possess strong technical, analytical, organizational, and communication skills and must be able to work effectively in a fast-paced project environment.
Local candidates are highly preferred due to the onsite nature of the project.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Serve as the owner's representative cost engineer for assigned electrical construction packages and provide independent validation of contractor estimates, commitments, forecasts, progress, and final costs.
- Develop and maintain accurate monthly cost reports that identify variances in commitments, value of work completed, actual costs, accruals, approved changes, pending changes, and forecast at completion against the approved budget.
- Reconcile project controls data with the owner's fiscal and financial control systems, including purchase orders, work orders, commitments, accruals, invoices, and change orders.
- Analyze project funding requirements through estimates, cost forecasts, trend analysis, cash flow projections, and accrual of actual costs.
- Maintain realistic cost forecasts and clearly communicate emerging risks, scope growth, productivity concerns, procurement exposure, and potential overruns.
- Review contractor and trade partner estimates for completeness, reasonableness, labor assumptions, material pricing, equipment pricing, markups, escalation, schedule effects, and scope alignment.
- Support bid phase management, request for proposal development, bid leveling, commercial evaluation, subcontractor selection, and recommendation of award for electrical trade packages.
- Review, negotiate, and document change orders involving the owner, general contractor, electrical contractors, vendors, and equipment suppliers.
- Validate contractor payment applications by comparing billed progress with installed quantities, field status, approved schedule of values, stored materials, and contract requirements.
- Perform cost validation and quantity surveying using construction drawings, specifications, BIM models, schedules, field observations, contractor backup, and procurement records.
- Maintain change logs, trend logs, contingency drawdown records, budget transfers, commitment reports, cost reports, charts, graphics, and supporting documentation.
- Apply a risk-based approach to cost contingency development and quantify the potential cost impact of design development, incomplete scope, schedule delays, rework, and procurement constraints.
- Present cost analyses, forecasts, commercial recommendations, and decision support information to project leadership and the owner in a clear and concise manner.
- Coordinate closely with project controls, engineering, construction management, procurement, scheduling, commissioning, finance, and project accounting teams.
- Develop and track performance metrics for cost, labor hours, quantities, productivity, commitments, changes, invoice aging, and forecast accuracy.
- Participate in contractor, supplier, owner, and project team meetings and communicate cost expectations, required backup, open issues, and action items.
- Assist with project control and enterprise resource planning systems such as SAP, Oracle, EcoSys, Prolog, or similar platforms.
ELECTRICAL COST CONTROL RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Provide cost oversight for medium-voltage and low-voltage electrical systems serving semiconductor fab, cleanroom, subfab, central utility plant, process utility, support, office, warehouse, and site infrastructure areas.
- Evaluate scope and cost for utility service, substations, transformers, switchgear, switchboards, motor control centers, panelboards, generators, automatic transfer switches, uninterruptible power supply systems, battery systems, busway, and power distribution equipment.
- Review quantities and pricing for cable tray, conduit, wire and cable, feeders, branch circuits, grounding and bonding, lightning protection, lighting, lighting controls, receptacles, disconnects, heat trace power, and equipment connections.
- Understand and evaluate electrical scope associated with semiconductor process tools, tool installation, tool hook up, manufacturing equipment, process utility equipment, mechanical equipment, controls, and owner-furnished equipment.
- Interpret electrical one-line diagrams, plans, specifications, equipment schedules, cable schedules, raceway layouts, grounding plans, details, and BIM or VDC models to confirm scope, quantities, and cost assumptions.
- Develop or validate quantity takeoffs for conduit linear footage, cable and wire linear footage, cable tray, busway, terminations, equipment counts, panels, transformers, devices, lighting fixtures, grounding points, and related installation materials.
- Evaluate electrical labor productivity, crew composition, planned labor hours, overtime, shift work, installation sequence, congestion factors, cleanroom protocols, and access constraints.
- Analyze scope boundaries and potential gaps among base build electrical, facility systems, process systems, instrumentation and controls, fire alarm, telecommunications, security, equipment vendors, and tool installation contractors.
- Review contractor pricing for temporary power, permanent power, early energization, phased turnover, testing, inspection, startup, commissioning, integrated systems testing, and final acceptance.
- Track long-lead electrical equipment and evaluate the cost and schedule effects of switchgear, transformers, generators, UPS equipment, busway, specialty cable, and other critical procurement packages.
- Validate material escalation, freight, taxes, storage, handling, expediting, vendor supervision, factory testing, field service, spare parts, and warranty costs included in electrical estimates and change requests.
- Review requests for information, design bulletins, field directives, nonconformance resolutions, value engineering proposals, and revised construction documents for electrical cost impact.
- Assess change order entitlement and pricing by confirming the contractual basis, original scope, design responsibility, quantity delta, labor productivity, equipment cost, schedule impact, and allowable markups.
- Track owner-furnished and contractor-installed electrical equipment to ensure correct budget allocation, receipt documentation, installation cost, and payment treatment.
- Coordinate with electrical construction managers, field engineers, inspectors, commissioning teams, and contractors to confirm actual field progress and support accurate earned value and forecast reporting.
- Support closeout through reconciliation of final quantities, remaining commitments, unresolved changes, punch list costs, testing and commissioning costs, spare parts, claims, and final account settlement.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Minimum of 5 to 7 years of related experience in cost engineering, estimating, quantity surveying, project controls, procurement, or commercial management for electrical construction.
- Demonstrated experience supporting electrical construction packages on semiconductor, microelectronics, advanced manufacturing, data center, pharmaceutical, cleanroom, mission critical, or complex industrial projects.
- Working knowledge of electrical construction means and methods, estimating practices, labor productivity, material takeoffs, equipment procurement, and subcontract administration.
- Ability to read and interpret electrical one-line diagrams, construction drawings, specifications, equipment schedules, cable schedules, and contractor scope documents.
- Experience reviewing estimates, bids, schedules of values, payment applications, change orders, labor reports, installed quantities, and forecast data.
- Ability to develop and apply earned value management, cost trending, variance analysis, forecasting, and contingency management techniques.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint. Experience with Power BI is preferred.
- Experience with cost management or enterprise systems such as EcoSys, SAP, Oracle, Prolog, GSAP, or similar platforms.
- Strong analytical, written, verbal, negotiation, and presentation skills.
- Ability to work onsite and collaborate with multidisciplinary owner, engineering, construction, contractor, vendor, and project controls teams.
REGISTRATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS PREFERRED:
- CCEA, CCP, CEP, CCC, MRICS, AACE certification, or equivalent cost engineering or quantity surveying credential.
- Professional Engineer registration, electrical trade experience, or relevant construction certification is beneficial but not required.
EDUCATION:
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Construction Management, Quantity Surveying, Engineering, or another construction-related discipline. Equivalent electrical construction and cost estimating experience will also be considered.
This is a full-time position with World Wide Professional Solutions. We offer excellent benefits starting Day One, including:
- Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance.
- Life, Short-Term, and Long-Term Disability.
- Company-Matched Retirement Plan.
- Paid Holidays and Time Off.
Join a fast-moving, high-performance team making a real impact on cutting-edge semiconductor construction projects.
This is a full-time position for World Wide Professional Solutions. We offer excellent benefits including medical, dental, vision, life, short term disability, long term disability, and a company match retirement plan. All benefits begin the first of the month following your start date.
