Cost Control Engineer
Cost Control Engineer at Orenda builds and maintains defensible project budgets and governance systems for renewable energy storage projects, ensuring traceability and consistency from concept to execution.
- Compensation
- $120K–$170K / yr
- Location
- New York, New York, United States
- Work setup
- Onsite
- Seniority
- Not specified
- Employment
- Contract
- Experience
- 5+ years
- Category
- Industrial engineering
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Quantity Surveying, or a related field.
- Cost Modeling: Demonstrated ability to build and maintain unit-rate models and reconcile them to real market pricing.
- Experience: 5+ years of experience in cost engineering, estimating, project controls, or preconstruction for complex projects (energy, utility, industrial, or comparable).
- Commercial & Scope Rigor: Strong command of scope definition, cost-code structures, and bid leveling / normalization.
- Governance Mindset: High standards for assumptions hygiene, traceability, and document control; able to enforce standards without being the “doer” for every task.
- Communication: Ability to write concise decision-grade readouts: what changed vs baseline, what is uncertain, and what requires escalation.
- Tools: Strong Excel/Sheets capability. Comfortable adopting project controls platforms (Kahua/Procore equivalents) and structured document control practices.
Full description
Company
Orenda is on a mission to make the grid more efficient with renewable energy projects and proprietary asset management technology. We develop, build, own and operate battery energy storage projects in dense urban environments to bridge the gap between renewables and electricity consumption.
We are a dynamic, NYC-based startup at the forefront of a new industry. We are seeking highly motivated and incredibly talented individuals who wish to contribute to our important mission.
About the Team
Orenda’s Project Execution Division is responsible for taking projects from late-stage development through commercial readiness and into safe, predictable construction delivery. We own the operating system that makes delivery repeatable at scale: decision-grade scopes, standardized readiness artifacts, cost and risk narratives, and disciplined handoffs into construction.
We partner cross-functionally with Development, Construction, Procurement, and Finance to ensure project inputs are synchronized before mobilization and exceptions are explicit.
About the Role
Orenda’s Project Execution Division is responsible for designing, permitting, procuring equipment, and constructing distributed energy resources. We thoughtfully develop processes and manage third parties to bring these projects to life.
Orenda’s preconstruction function is responsible for turning early project concepts into contract-ready execution plans by defining scope, validating feasibility, and building defensible budgets.
We are seeking a Cost Control Engineer (Governance) to embed a true “owner’s check” inside the preconstruction team. This role owns the cost governance truth system used to keep budgets and scope assumptions consistent, traceable, and defensible as projects advance from concept into contract-ready execution. This role does not run procurement or contract execution. It owns the project budget baseline and the structured change-control mechanism as scopes and assumptions evolve. It makes sure the cost model and supporting assumptions are clear, consistent, and easy to audit. When inputs are missing or uncertain, the role flags what is unknown and what is needed to close the gap.
This role partners tightly with pre-construction, procurement, development/engineering, construction, and finance.
What you’ll do
- Project budget compilation (viability): Build and maintain the project-specific cost baseline used to assess commercial viability, using a standard reference design + quantified variances. Ensure the budget is complete, internally consistent, and decision-grade.
- Budget governance and change control: Maintain a structured log of potential cost increases/decreases as assumptions evolve. Periodically recommend budget adjustments, with clear rationale, traceability, and an audit trail.