{"id":3970721,"url":"https://alion.io/job/recruitment-legends-project-cost-controller","title":"Project Cost Controller","company":{"id":4496099,"name":"Recruitment Legends","domain":null,"url":"https://alion.io/company/recruitment-legends","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":true,"employer_type":"agency","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":null,"truth_index":null},"role":"Finance","role_family":"Finance","seniority":null,"employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Cape Town, South Africa"],"countries":["ZA"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":30000,"max":45000,"currency":"ZAR","period":"month","gross":true,"usd_annual":32724},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Microsoft Excel","optional":false},{"name":"Microsoft Project","optional":false},{"name":"Power BI","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-11-09T15:53:44Z","employer_posted_date":null,"last_verified_at":"2026-11-09T15:53:44Z","board_verified":false,"closed_at":null,"days_open":0,"trust":{"level":"not_scored","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":0},"description":"Introduction\nPROJECT COST CONTROLLER - Vanderbijlpark - R 45 000 a month CTC\n\nLocation: Vanderbijlpark\n\nEmployment Type: Full-time\n\nIndustry: Rail Engineering | Heavy Manufacturing | Engineering Projects\n\nSalary: R30,000 – R45,000 CTC per month, depending on experience and Excel/accounting capability\n\nABOUT THE COMPANY\n\nOur client is an established South African engineering and manufacturing business operating within the heavy-haul railway and rolling-stock sector.\n\nThe company operates across rail engineering and manufacturing, including the design, manufacture, refurbishment and lifecycle support of railway equipment such as rolling stock, wagons, bogies and locomotives.\n\nThe organisation operates in a technically demanding environment where projects involve significant expenditure on engineering, steel, fabrication, machining, components, labour, subcontractors, procurement and manufacturing resources.\n\nThe business is seeking a Project Cost Controller to strengthen financial and commercial control across its engineering and manufacturing projects. The client is open to a slightly more junior candidate than originally specified, provided the candidate has a solid accounting background and exceptional Excel proficiency.\n\nThis is a key project-controls position responsible for ensuring that management has accurate, timely and forward-looking visibility of project budgets, actual costs, committed costs, forecasts, variances, risks and profitability.\n\nTHE ROLE\n\nThe Project Cost Controller will be responsible for the financial control and monitoring of projects from initial budget through procurement, engineering, manufacturing and project completion.\n\nThe successful candidate will work closely with Project Managers, Engineering, Production, Procurement, Finance, Supply Chain and senior management to ensure projects remain financially controlled and commercially viable.\n\nThe role is particularly suited to someone who understands that effective project cost control is not simply recording expenditure after it occurs.\n\nThe successful candidate must be able to identify:\n\n What has already been spent.\n\n What has been committed.\n\n What remains to be spent.\n\n What the project is ultimately expected to cost.\n\n Whether the project remains within budget.\n\n Why variances have occurred.\n\n What impact engineering or scope changes will have.\n\n Where future cost risks exist.\n\n Whether corrective action is required.\n\n How current project performance will affect the final project margin.\n\nThe ideal candidate will therefore combine a solid accounting/financial background with strong analytical ability and practical project understanding. Engineering-sector experience is advantageous but is not essential if the candidate has the required accounting and Excel capability.\n\nDuties & Responsibilities\nKEY RESPONSIBILITIES\n\n1. Project Cost Control\n\n Take ownership of project cost-control activities from project commencement through to completion.\n\n Establish and maintain project cost structures.\n\n Monitor project expenditure against approved budgets.\n\n Track actual costs against planned costs.\n\n Track committed costs and outstanding purchase commitments.\n\n Monitor labour, materials, subcontractors, procurement and other project-related expenditure.\n\n Ensure costs are correctly allocated to the appropriate project, work package, cost code or cost centre.\n\n Identify cost overruns at the earliest possible stage.\n\n Maintain accurate project cost records.\n\n Ensure project financial data remains complete, accurate and auditable.\n\n Monitor project expenditure against approved financial baselines.\n\n Ensure project teams understand their cost position and financial responsibilities.\n\n2. Project Budgeting\n\n Assist Project Managers and Finance in preparing detailed project budgets.\n\n Develop project cost breakdown structures.\n\n Establish appropriate cost codes and work-package structures.\n\n Assist with project cost estimates and baseline budgets.\n\n Ensure budgets are aligned with project scope, engineering requirements and production plans.\n\n Validate budget assumptions with Project Management, Engineering and Procurement.\n\n Identify unrealistic or incomplete budget assumptions.\n\n Establish appropriate budget controls before project execution.\n\n Maintain approved project budgets throughout the project lifecycle.\n\n3. Forecasting\n\nA major responsibility of the role will be to provide an accurate Estimate at Completion (EAC).\n\nThe successful candidate will:\n\n Prepare regular project cost forecasts.\n\n Update forecasts based on actual expenditure and current project progress.\n\n Assess remaining project costs.\n\n Analyse committed and uncommitted expenditure.\n\n Forecast labour requirements.\n\n Forecast procurement and material expenditure.\n\n Forecast subcontractor costs.\n\n Identify emerging cost pressures.\n\n Assess expected final project cost.\n\n Compare forecast final cost against the approved budget.\n\n Highlight potential margin erosion.\n\n Work with Project Managers to develop recovery strategies where required.\n\nThe objective is to ensure that management knows where the project is going financially, not simply where it has been.\n\n4. Variance Analysis\n\n Perform detailed analysis of actual costs versus budget.\n\n Identify material cost variances.\n\n Investigate the causes of adverse variances.\n\n Distinguish between genuine cost overruns and approved scope changes.\n\n Identify timing differences versus permanent cost increases.\n\n Analyse labour, material, subcontractor and overhead variances.\n\n Prepare clear variance explanations for management.\n\n Work with Project Managers to establish corrective actions.\n\n Track corrective actions through to resolution.\n\n Identify recurring sources of project cost variance.\n\n Recommend improvements to future project estimating and budgeting.\n\n5. Committed Cost Management\n\nThe role must provide clear visibility of committed costs, not just invoices already received.\n\nResponsibilities include:\n\n Monitor purchase orders against project budgets.\n\n Track committed procurement expenditure.\n\n Monitor subcontractor commitments.\n\n Identify open purchase orders.\n\n Reconcile commitments with actual expenditure.\n\n Identify commitments that have not yet been invoiced.\n\n Ensure commitments are accurately reflected in project forecasts.\n\n Identify potential exposure from outstanding commitments.\n\n Monitor changes to supplier pricing and scope.\n\n Ensure procurement commitments are aligned with approved project requirements.\n\n6. Project Reporting\n\nPrepare accurate and timely project financial reports for Project Managers, Finance and senior management.\n\nReporting should include, where appropriate:\n\n Approved budget.\n\n Actual expenditure.\n\n Committed expenditure.\n\n Forecast expenditure.\n\n Estimate at Completion.\n\n Variance to budget.\n\n Project margin.\n\n Cost-to-complete.\n\n Cash-flow position.\n\n Procurement commitments.\n\n Change orders.\n\n Project risks.\n\n Cost opportunities.\n\n Contingency utilisation.\n\n Forecast final project result.\n\nThe successful candidate must be able to turn complex financial information into clear management information that supports decision-making.\n\n7. Change Control\n\n Monitor changes to project scope.\n\n Ensure approved engineering and commercial changes are reflected in project cost forecasts.\n\n Evaluate the financial impact of scope changes.\n\n Track variations and change orders.\n\n Ensure project budgets are updated following approved changes.\n\n Distinguish between approved changes and unauthorised scope creep.\n\n Monitor the cost impact of engineering changes.\n\n Ensure changes are appropriately documented.\n\n Support Project Managers in assessing commercial implications.\n\n Identify potential margin impacts before changes are implemented.\n\n8. Cost Risk Management\n\n Identify potential future project cost risks.\n\n Maintain project cost-risk registers where required.\n\n Monitor high-risk cost areas.\n\n Identify procurement, labour, material and production risks.\n\n Quantify potential financial exposure where possible.\n\n Escalate significant emerging risks.\n\n Work with Project Managers to develop mitigation strategies.\n\n Monitor risk mitigation actions.\n\n Identify opportunities to reduce project costs.\n\n Ensure project contingencies are appropriately monitored.\n\n9. Project Cash Flow\n\n Assist with project cash-flow forecasting.\n\n Monitor expected project expenditure against forecast.\n\n Track major procurement payments.\n\n Monitor project billing and milestone requirements where applicable.\n\n Identify potential cash-flow pressures.\n\n Compare forecast versus actual cash flows.\n\n Support Finance and Project Management with project cash-flow reporting.\n\n Ensure major financial commitments are visible in advance.\n\n10. Procurement & Supply Chain Cost Control\n\nWork closely with Procurement and Supply Chain to ensure that project purchasing remains within approved financial parameters.\n\nResponsibilities include:\n\n Review purchase commitments against project budgets.\n\n Monitor supplier quotations and purchase orders.\n\n Track material cost changes.\n\n Monitor subcontractor expenditure.\n\n Identify procurement-related cost variances.\n\n Monitor long-lead and high-value items.\n\n Identify potential cost-saving opportunities.\n\n Ensure procurement decisions are reflected accurately in project forecasts.\n\n Support Project Managers with procurement-related financial analysis.\n\n11. Engineering Cost Control\n\nGiven the technical nature of the business, the Project Cost Controller will work closely with Engineering to understand the financial implications of technical decisions.\n\nResponsibilities include:\n\n Assess cost implications of engineering changes.\n\n Monitor engineering-related project expenditure.\n\n Identify cost impacts arising from design changes.\n\n Track additional material and manufacturing requirements.\n\n Work with Engineering to understand project scope.\n\n Support make-versus-buy analysis where appropriate.\n\n Assist in assessing manufacturing and fabrication cost implications.\n\n Identify opportunities for value engineering.\n\nEngineering-sector experience will therefore be strongly preferred.\n\n12. Manufacturing & Production Cost Control\n\nThe successful candidate should develop an understanding of how engineering projects translate into manufacturing costs.\n\nThis includes monitoring:\n\n Direct labour.\n\n Materials.\n\n Steel.\n\n Components.\n\n Machining.\n\n Fabrication.\n\n Welding.\n\n Assembly.\n\n Subcontracting.\n\n Consumables.\n\n Production hours.\n\n Overtime.\n\n Rework.\n\n Scrap.\n\n Manufacturing overheads.\n\n Equipment utilisation.\n\nThe candidate should be able to identify where manufacturing performance is creating an adverse financial impact on a project.\n\n13. Project Margin Monitoring\n\n Monitor project profitability throughout the project lifecycle.\n\n Track gross margin against original budget.\n\n Identify margin deterioration.\n\n Analyse the causes of margin changes.\n\n Forecast final project margin.\n\n Highlight projects at risk of becoming less profitable.\n\n Identify opportunities to protect or improve margins.\n\n Work with Project Managers and Finance to develop recovery plans.\n\n Ensure management receives early warning of material margin risks.\n\n14. Systems & Data Integrity\n\n Maintain accurate project financial data.\n\n Ensure project transactions are correctly coded.\n\n Reconcile project information between financial and operational systems.\n\n Maintain project cost databases.\n\n Ensure reporting data is reliable.\n\n Develop and maintain Excel-based cost-control models where required.\n\n Use ERP/project-management systems effectively.\n\n Improve data visibility and reporting processes.\n\n15. Continuous Improvement\n\n Identify opportunities to improve project cost-control processes.\n\n Improve forecasting accuracy.\n\n Improve project reporting.\n\n Standardise cost-control procedures.\n\n Improve project coding structures.\n\n Develop better cost dashboards and management reports.\n\n Reduce manual reporting where possible....","description_format":"text","description_chars":16878,"description_truncated":true,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":[],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-11-09T15:57:00Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":52,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.516,"p_room":1,"age_days":0,"expected_fill_days":25,"reasons":["seen:0","agency","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-11-09T19:10:45Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":32724,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/recruitment-legends-project-cost-controller","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/recruitment-legends-project-cost-controller.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-09T19:10:45Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":4696,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-10T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":4496099},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=4496099"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Frecruitment-legends-project-cost-controller"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":2,"usd":0.2},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Frecruitment-legends-project-cost-controller"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Frecruitment-legends-project-cost-controller"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/recruitment-legends-project-cost-controller\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Frecruitment-legends-project-cost-controller"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3970721}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":4496099,"detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3970721},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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