Project Controls Manager (60499)

About LSB

LSB is committed to playing a leadership role in the production of low and no carbon products that build, feed and power the world. The LSB team is dedicated to building a culture of excellence in customer experiences as we deliver essential products across the agricultural and industrial end markets and, in the future, the energy markets. Join our team and help us develop innovative solutions that will improve the quality of life for current and future generations. Learn more about LSB at www.lsbindustries.com.

The Project Controls Manager is responsible for providing financial leadership, analysis, and decision support for the Company’s capital portfolio, including major capital projects, plant turnarounds, and significant maintenance outages. The role serves as a strategic finance partner to project managers, engineering, procurement, project controls, maintenance, operations, and accounting teams, providing financial leadership and project cost management expertise to ensure capital projects are effectively planned, accurately forecasted, financially controlled, and executed in alignment with approved budgets, capital governance requirements, project objectives, and business priorities.

The Project Controls Manager provides end-to-end financial stewardship for assigned projects throughout the project lifecycle, from initial planning and authorization through execution, forecasting, and final closeout. This role is responsible for project cost management, financial reporting, forecasting, variance analysis, capital portfolio reporting, and identifying financial risks and opportunities to support timely, informed decision-making by project leadership and senior management.

The role primarily supports capital finance activities while also providing limited support for broader Financial Planning & Analysis initiatives, including budgeting, forecasting, financial modeling, and special projects, as business priorities require.

Primary Responsibilities Include:

Project Cost Management

• Manage financial oversight for multiple concurrent capital projects, plant turnarounds, and major maintenance outages while balancing competing priorities and reporting requirements.
• Develop and maintain project cost management processes that provide accurate, timely, and actionable financial information throughout the project lifecycle.
• Monitor actual expenditures against approved budgets, forecasts, authorized funding, and project milestones.
• Review project financial setup, including project structures, work breakdown structures (WBS), cost coding, and general ledger alignment, to support accurate cost tracking and reporting.
• Track commitments, purchase orders, invoices, contractor costs, equipment rentals, materials, freight, and internal labor.
• Validate daily contractor timesheets, manpower counts, equipment rental logs, and field cost data during turnaround execution to support accurate daily cost reporting.
• Monitor committed versus actual costs and identify potential funding gaps, forecast deviations, and emerging financial risks.
• Analyze cost variances, trends, and project performance metrics and provide recommendations to project leadership.
• Support capital portfolio reporting by consolidating and analyzing financial performance across assigned projects.

Forecasting & Reporting

• Prepare daily (during turnaround and outage execution) weekly, monthly, and ad hoc financial reports, dashboards, and key performance indicators (KPIs) for project leadership, executive management, and other stakeholders.
• Develop and maintain Estimate at Completion (EAC), Estimate to Complete (ETC), total installed cost (TIC), and cash flow forecasts.
• Partner with project managers to validate forecast assumptions and improve forecast accuracy.
• Monitor contingency utilization, change impacts, emergent and discovery work, and projected budget requirements.
• During plant turnarounds and major outages, prepare and distribute daily cost reports comparing actual and committed costs, labor hours, and earned progress against the turnaround budget, including an updated daily forecast of final turnaround cost.
• Provide financial insights and recommendations that support project execution and investment decisions.
• Support annual capital budgeting, long-range capital planning, and periodic forecasting activities.
• Support monthly financial close activities, including project accruals, commitments, and project reporting.

Project Controls & Financial Governance

• Establish and maintain financial controls that ensure compliance with company policies, capital governance requirements, approval authorities, and capitalization guidance.
• Support project authorization requests, stage-gate reviews, budget revisions, supplemental funding requests, and investment approval processes.
• Review and evaluate project scope changes and change orders and assess financial impacts.
• Validate contractor billings, progress payments, commitments, and project expenditures.
• Monitor project financial and progress metrics to identify risks and opportunities.
• Maintain complete financial documentation to support internal and external audits.
• Recommend improvements to project cost management processes, financial controls, reporting, and governance practices.

Financial Analysis & Decision Support

• Perform detailed analysis of labor, contractor, material, equipment, freight, and indirect project costs.
• Evaluate productivity trends, project performance metrics, budget performance, and cost drivers.
• Perform scenario analysis and sensitivity modeling to support capital investment decisions and project execution strategies.
• Identify cost optimization opportunities and recommend corrective actions.
• Develop financial analyses supporting capital allocation decisions, operational improvements, and strategic initiatives.
• Identify emerging financial risks and recommend mitigation strategies to support successful project execution.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Serve as the primary finance business partner to Project Managers throughout the project lifecycle.
• Serve as a finance subject matter expert for project cost management practices, providing guidance and support to project teams.
• Partner with Engineering, Maintenance, Operations, Procurement, Construction, and Accounting teams to provide financial guidance and improve project execution.
• Coordinate with Accounts Payable and project teams to resolve invoice discrepancies, contractor billing issues, and payment challenges.
• Participate in project planning meetings, daily turnaround status and cost review meetings, forecast reviews, stage-gate discussions, and post-project evaluations.
• Support preparation of executive and Board reporting related to capital projects, financial performance, and investment decisions.
• Communicate financial risks, opportunities, and recommendations to project leadership and senior management.

Project Closeout

• Reconcile final project costs and ensure financial completeness.
• Confirm all commitments, purchase orders, invoices, and accruals have been appropriately resolved.
• Coordinate asset capitalization, asset-in-service transitions, and project closeout activities with Accounting.
• Prepare final project financial summaries, budget-to-actual analyses, and financial lessons learned to improve future project planning and execution.
• Archive project financial documentation in accordance with company policy.

Financial Planning & Analysis Support

• Partner with the FP&A team to incorporate capital project assumptions into budgets, forecasts, and long-range planning.
• Support enterprise financial modeling, management reporting, and special analyses as business needs require.
• Assist with executive presentations and financial analyses supporting strategic initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or related field required.
• Five or more years of accounting, financial analysis, project controls, cost accounting, or project finance experience, preferably supporting capital projects, industrial manufacturing, construction, engineering, or plant turnarounds.
• Strong understanding of project accounting, cost management, budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting.
• Experience developing and maintaining Estimate at Completion (EAC), Estimate to Complete (ETC), cash flow forecasts, and project cost reports.
• Knowledge of capital project lifecycle, work breakdown structures (WBS), project authorizations, change management processes, and capital governance.
• Understanding of U.S. GAAP related to capital expenditures, construction-in-progress (CIP), asset capitalization, and project closeout.
• Experience supporting multiple concurrent capital projects or turnaround events, including daily cost tracking and reporting during turnaround execution.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills with experience developing financial models and analytical reporting.
• Experience with ERP systems such as JD Edwards (preferred), SAP, Oracle, or similar financial systems.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and organizational skills with exceptional attention to detail.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to effectively partner with Engineering, Operations, Procurement, Accounting, and project leadership.
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously in a fast-paced industrial environment.
• Willingness and ability to travel for on-site assignments or business needs.