Director, Project Controls

Role Description

Terawatt's headquarters is located in San Francisco, CA; this is a hybrid role where candidates must live in the SF Bay area.

The Director, Project Controls serves as the primary audit, controls, and financial partner for Terawatt's Site Delivery organization. This role bridges construction operations and corporate finance - combining hands-on project controls expertise (cost tracking, schedule integration, change management) with FP&A-level rigor (auditing, variance analysis, rolling forecasts, capital planning, and executive reporting).

This role exists to ensure our project budgets, forecasts, and schedules are accurate and current across our nationwide portfolio. Managing project cost and schedule status across complex real estate acquisitions, utility interconnections, and high-voltage construction projects requires a high level of attention to detail, collaboration with many teams, and the ability to keep up with a large volume of changes. Assessing schedule and budget variances is of increasing importance given the scale of Terawatt's portfolio and capital deployment.

The Director, Project Controls will work in close collaboration with Terawatt's Site Delivery organization.

Core Responsibilities

Cost Management, Audit & Financial Controls

• Audit and reconcile project budgets, commitments, actual spend, work in progress (WIP), and forecast at completion (FAC) across all active development sites. Categorize budget variances by root cause (scope changes, vendor overruns, utility escalation, estimating errors, or carrying cost slips), rather than just flagging that spend is off.
• Establish and enforce review cadences, checklists, and sign-off gates. Maintain the Project Change Order log, pressure testing scope changes, budget impacts, and vendor proposals before routing for approval.
• Partner with FP&A and Accounting to reconcile site-level actuals, and prepare corporate reporting. Oversee development draw requests, manage review/coding of monthly contractor pay applications (AIA G702/G703 standards, lien waivers), and assist with cash flow projections and draw schedules.
• For identified budget, contract, and schedule discrepancies, ensure findings are addressed, escalated, and closed out on a defined timeline.

Schedule Integrity & Progress Tracking

• Own and maintain the Plan of Record (currently in Smartsheet) as the trusted single source of truth for project schedules.
• Design processes to surface schedule updates in near-real time, lead weekly project reviews and hold PMs accountable for schedule hygiene.
• Conduct regular schedule variance and critical path analyses to flag risks early, providing cross functional teams with updated information.
• Partner with Supply Chain/Procurement to monitor long-lead equipment deliveries (transformers, switchgear, fast-chargers) and balance internal/vendor resource demands to safeguard key milestones.

Reporting, Process & Enablement

• Develop and maintain real-time dashboards to keep leadership and Board informed with audit-ready reporting; prepare board-level and executive reporting packages.
• Develop and implement Site Delivery Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), RACI assignments, and Playbook documentation. Initiate cost/schedule benchmarking regimes based on audit findings.
• Design and deliver project controls training for new hires. Maintain unified communications on project budget and schedule status across Finance, Sales, BD, Technology, and Operations teams.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related quantitative field
• 9+ years of progressive experience in project controls, cost/schedule audit, capital project management, and/or financial analysis, FP&A, or corporate finance/cost accounting for complex capital projects
• Experience with construction accounting principles, project finance mechanics, AIA billing processes (G702/G703 standards), lien waivers, and EPC/GC contracting structures.
• Advanced-level budget building and tracking; ability to build, maintain, and track large-scale capital project budgets at the line item and overall portfolio levels, identifying and communicating variance drivers.
• Advanced Excel skills (data modeling, variance visualization). Experience working with modern construction and financial software platforms (e.g., Procore, Yardi, NetSuite, MRI, or Sage 300 CRE).
• Ability to translate complex financial and schedule variance data into plain-language actionable advice for non-finance operational partners (site engineers, project managers, and utility coordinators), helping them make better financial decisions.
• Experience using data visualization tools and dashboards to drive communication and reporting.
• You exercise independent judgment and can deliver unwelcome variance or audit findings to project owners and leadership clearly, and stand behind them under pressure.
• You have exceptional attention to detail and curiosity; you dig beneath high-level summaries into schedule logic and line-item actuals to identify root causes.
• You can get project managers and external vendors to adopt new processes and follow those we have.
• You take ownership and navigate ambiguity in high-growth, fast-paced environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Background in EV charging infrastructure, utility-scale power generation, data centers, renewable energy (solar, wind, storage), or heavy civil/commercial construction preferred
• Professional certifications such as Certified Cost Professional (CCP), Certified Cost Associate (CCA), Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP), PMP, CAPM, or AACE credentials.

$210,000 - $235,000 a year

Compensation for this role is determined by several factors, including the cost of labor in specific geographic markets, and these ranges are intended to provide a helpful reference. The actual compensation offer will be based on the candidate's location, skills, level of expertise and experience, and internal equity considerations. In addition to base salary, we offer a comprehensive benefits package and, where applicable, performance-based incentives.

We are building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. At Terawatt, we continuously strive to foster inclusion, humility, energizing relationships, and belonging, and welcome new ideas. We're growing and want you to grow with us. We encourage people from all backgrounds to apply.