Senior Project Controls Engineer, Natrium

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Project Overview:

Bechtel is the licensing, engineering, procurement, and construction partner on TerraPower’s Natrium team. Selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, Natrium is participating in a DOE initiative to re-establish U.S. leadership in nuclear energy that provides matching funding to industry to design and build an operational advanced reactor.  TerraPower, a leading advanced generation technology company founded by former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, will be deploying its 345 MWe sodium fast reactor (SFR), called Natrium. The Natrium plant features an advanced, cost-competitive reactor design that is safer, simpler, easier, and less costly to construct, less expensive to operate, and able to provide energy that is competitive with fossil fuels. It also features an innovative molten salt energy storage system designed to be complementary to solar and wind power by evening out the peaks and valleys in production when the sun is not shining, or the wind is not blowing. With the reactor and energy storage output combined, the plant can produce more than 500 MWe of power.

Other Team Natrium partners include GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Energy Northwest, PacifiCorp, and Duke Energy, along with support from a number of national laboratories and universities.  This DOE program has the potential to be the largest funding program for advanced nuclear power in U.S. history and will shape the future of nuclear energy for decades.

We invite you to join our team for this very interesting opportunity!

Job Summary:

The Senior Project Control Engineer will perform cost estimating, analysis, control and reporting activities as well as planning and scheduling analysis and control activities including:

• Budget and forecast development, maintenance, monitoring, impact identification, and recovery planning.
• Cost control analysis and financial reporting including cost performance metrics.
• Support studies, forecasts and problem-solving exercises as required.
• Schedule development, maintenance, monitoring, impact identification, and recovery planning.
• Progress reporting and analysis including P6 quality metrics.
• Support planning studies, forecasts, problem-solving exercises as required.

This role is in our Reston, Virginia office and will require successful applicants to be either local or to relocate permanently to the Reston area.

Major Responsibilities:

Cost Control Responsibilities:
•    Prepares and presents financial reporting information to management.
•    Prepares detailed staffing plans for cost engineering activities.
•    Obtains vendor information to update the cost data file.
•    Applies material unit rates to quantities. Maintains cost data files.
•    Interfaces with designated management and client counterparts for specific cost presentations.
•    Participates in discussions with vendors.
•    Plans, organizes, and supervises project cost budgets.
•    Prepares cost trend estimates in support of project cost trend programs.
•    Performs cost recording, monitoring, and reporting practices for compliance with applicable standards accuracy and consistency.
•    Investigates requirements for cost control data for a specific discipline or other specialty applications.
•    Coordinates information input into specific studies. Responsible for integration of activities and total work scope identification.

Evaluates study results and recommends conclusions for project team consideration and discussion.

Performs data analysis, identifies problems, and makes recommendations.     

Planning and Scheduling Responsibilities:
•    Performs schedule data analysis, identifies problems, and assists with recommendations.
•    Plans and supports the effort to establish milestones for the total project or major portions of the project. Reviews project work activities to ensure support of project milestones.
•    Performs schedule resource loading and leveling. Development/status/report of all bulk commodity release and installation curves.
•    Maintains open communications with other organizations to support schedule maintenance and reporting. Identifies schedule restraints.
•    Monitors and reports critical path and schedule performance. Performs schedule analysis and studies of problem areas to determine the criticality of scheduled activities.
•    Identifies alternatives for schedule improvement to the project team for discussion and/or decision.
•    Prepares schedule recovery plans when required.
•    Integrates interdisciplinary schedule requirements and constraints to establish logical work sequences for assigned disciplines or specialties.
•    Establishes and implements methods for determining activity durations within assigned disciplines or specialties. Assists in determining leveling decisions. Performs quantity, personnel, and cost resource loading for assigned schedules. Performs performance monitoring and control functions.
•    Determines critical-path activities for assigned discipline or specialties and identifies significant activities supporting interdisciplinary requirements.
•    Monitors schedule deviation for assigned disciplines or specialties including subcontractor submittals and recommends corrective action/workaround solutions for project considerations.
•    Develops and writes the schedule commentary that appears in the monthly progress and similar reports.
•    Provides analysis and recommendations to the project.

Education and Experience Requirements:

• Must possess at least a bachelors’ (BS/BA) degree from an accredited university and at least 5-8 years of professional experience, or in lieu of a degree, a high school diploma or equivalent and at least 9-12 years of professional experience.
• Possess the legal right to work and remain in the United States without sponsorship now and in the future.
• Must be able to complete and pass a pre-employment drug screen and background check including verification of employment, education, and travel.

Required Knowledge and Skills:

• Experience in performing, monitoring, and reviewing cost engineering functions, including cost estimating, cost control, financial reporting systems, and cost analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to plan, organize, direct, perform, review, and present cost engineering and cost estimating products. This includes preparation of financial reporting products independently with minimal supervision using a high level of professional judgment and knowledge related to technical cost engineering skills and engineering design and construction practices.
• Experience in preparing, monitoring, and reporting schedule information.
• Advanced proficiency in using software applications such as Excel, Access, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Demonstrated capability with Primavera (P6) and experience in its application on complex engineering and construction projects.
• Demonstrated ability to plan, organize, perform, review, and present planning and scheduling products. This includes the preparation of the products independently with minimal supervision using a high level of professional judgment and knowledge related to technical planning and scheduling skills and engineering design and construction practices.
• Skilled in oral and written communication.
• Knowledge of engineering and construction management customarily acquired over time through specialized instruction or practical experience.
• Demonstrated ability to work with people of varied backgrounds and objectives.
• Knowledge of current industry and technical developments.
• Knowledge of engineering and construction management customarily acquired over time through specialized instruction or practical experience.
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Total Rewards/Benefits:

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