Project Control Specialist Senior

Overview

This role applies senior project controls experience to develop project control standards of practice, create and maintain knowledge resources, and provide internal consulting in support of enterprise project execution. Work is performed within a hybrid PMO/Center of Excellence environment and includes collaboration with PM teams, project and program managers, project support specialists, and finance/accounting and contracts partners.

Responsibilities

Project Control State of Practice Documentation and Management (50%)

• Consolidate, coordinate, and publish project control standards of practice in the form of policy, process documentation, job aids, and an emerging digital handbook.
• Manage routine updates to published standards of practice resources.
• Apply professional experience, gather corporate best practices, and research industry standards to mature project control and financial analysis capabilities throughout operations.
• Work closely with Finance, Accounting and Contracts (FAC) and Operations project controls leads to prioritize and manage standards of practice changes through policies, procedures, job aids, tools, and training.

Professional Development Content and Delivery (20%)

• Develop and maintain tailored PCS training content for the PCS job family and professional development.
• Develop and maintain tailored project control related content for all PPM curricula.
• Support planning and execution of the annual Program Management conference.
• Support modification and maintenance of PCS job families, job descriptions, and skills development within the HR talent management activity.

Knowledge Management (10%)

• Maintain PPMCOE repositories for published content, work in progress, and archived sources.
• Curate and disseminate best practices from a portfolio of more than 100 projects to support cross-division learning and reduce redundant efforts.
• Support PM community of practice (COP) forums to share insights and solutions across decentralized business units.

Process Support and Continuous Improvement (15%)

• Follow and help mature internal PPMCOE processes related to knowledge resource development, execution, and maintenance.
• Collect feedback from project control specialists in the field, FAC, and project teams to refine PCS practice and address emerging needs.
• Participate in process improvement initiatives and non-conformance/corrective action efforts as required.
• Support the PPM COP with just-in-time content for field inquiries, support for lunch & learns, and announcements regarding state of practice changes.

Administrative and Reporting Duties (5%)

• Participate in PPMCOE team events, task tracking, and reporting.
• Support PPMCOE reviews and presentations at different levels of the enterprise.

Requirements

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in business, business analysis, finance, accounting, project management, or related field.
• Advanced degree preferred but not required.

Experience

• 7+ years of direct experience in project controls, financial analysis, or program support within government contracting environments.
• Demonstrated experience supporting large federal prime contracts (e.g., GSA), including management of multiple contract types such as CPFF, T&M, and FFP.
• Experience defining, implementing, and refining project control related methodologies.

Preferred Qualifications / Highly Beneficial

• Background in knowledge management, training development, or curriculum design.
• Experience working in or supporting a PMO, Center of Excellence, or corporate functional organization.
• Certifications such as PMP, CAPM, PMI-PBA, or EVMS certifications (desired but not required).

Skills

• Familiarity with PMI project management standards or equivalent frameworks.
• Hands-on proficiency with relevant project control systems, such as:
  • Deltek Costpoint
  • Excel (advanced level: pivot tables, advanced formulas, macros preferred)
  • Smartsheet
  • Workday Adaptive
  • Power BI (basic to intermediate reporting capability)
• Demonstrated ability to work within a distributed team in a dynamic, fast-paced business environment.
• Excellent organizational and communication skills to manage work and coordinate with decentralized teams.

Key Competencies

• Strong understanding of project financial lifecycle management, including project setup, budgeting, forecasting, variances, accruals, and revenue analysis.
• Ability to interpret and translate financial, accounting, and contractual requirements into project control practices and tools.
• Experience with federal contracting compliance and project reporting standards.
• Skilled in developing and improving processes, workflows, dashboards, and analytical tools.
• Ability to consolidate and standardize diverse project control practices into enterprise-level documentation.
• Skilled at converting highly technical content into digestible training, guides, templates, and job aids.
• Experience designing and facilitating training sessions, workshops, or conference content.
• Ability to curate best practices, maintain repositories, and ensure content quality and accessibility.
• Demonstrated ability to serve as a trusted advisor to Project Managers, Program Managers, Finance/Accounting, and Contracts teams.
• Ability to analyze complex data sets and deliver actionable insights.
• Ability to diagnose issues in processes, tools, or workflows and propose practical fixes.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to develop polished presentations and professional documentation.
• Ability to lead the development of standards, trainings, and enterprise guidance.

Performance Metrics

• Reduction in recurring PCS knowledge gaps as measured by training needs assessments or after-action reviews (target: year-over-year decrease).
• Number of validated process improvements adopted by FAC, Contracts, or Operations teams (target 3–5 per year).
• Improvement in project management process standard implementation (e.g., operational quality metrics).
• Stakeholder satisfaction score for COE-developed content (target ≥ 4.5/5 from FAC, Ops PCS Leads, and PM community).
• Team engagement through routine collaboration and team events.

Work Environment

• Operates within the PMO/Center of Excellence, collaborating with a lean central team and interacting with project/program managers embedded in business units across three divisions and infrastructure team members.
• May require occasional travel (up to 20%) to corporate sites for work sessions, in-person training, or workshops.
• Balances independent work with team collaboration.

Compensation & Benefits

• Not specified in the provided job description.