Project Controls Manager

ENGIE, a global leader in low-carbon energy and services, is expanding its team and seeks a Project Controls Manager to join an important onsite project in Abu Dhabi. The company operates with a clear purpose: accelerate the transition to a carbon-neutral world while delivering competitive, environmentally responsible solutions. The role is a permanent, full-time position that will report to the Construction Director of the project company and sit on site, with travel flexibility within the region.

The role suits a seasoned project planner who thrives in a high-stakes industrial setting and can keep complex schedules aligned with progress and risk. It’s a chance to contribute to a major energy and industrial program, coordinating with EPC contractors and ENGIE’s project leaders to ensure schedules, baselines and progress reporting stay accurate and actionable.

In short, this is for someone who combines deep scheduling expertise with practical, hands-on coordination skills and a practical mindset for solving problems on large-scale construction sites.

Day To Day Responsibilities For The Project Controls Manager

The Project Controls Manager leads the review, tracking and updating the EPC Contractor’s schedule to reflect all major activities from design through commissioning and testing, including coordinating design, permitting, interface work, fuel supply and testing milestones. They work with the EPC contractor, ENGIE TPM(E), and other project resources to establish and monitor the project baseline, key performance indicators and the associated reporting framework, ensuring timely quality updates that highlight deviations for mitigation by the contractor.

They proactively monitor progress with tools like S-curves and look-ahead schedules to spot potential impacts on the critical path and the overall progress curve. They run weekly planning meetings with the EPC Contractor to stay aligned on progress, discuss issues and help resolve schedule constraints, while supporting the Construction Director and team in developing recovery schedules and mitigation plans when needed.

Preparation of management, shareholder, lender and insurer reports and presentations is part of the role, done in collaboration with the Construction Director. The position also involves contributing to the development and maintenance of project risk registers and taking ownership of actions related to planning and reporting. There is involvement in supplier and contractor payment assessments with input from the construction team, and in advancing internal project control processes and document management systems in line with industry practice. The role supports engineering integration and coordination and liaises on the Procore Project Management system and its integration into project reporting. When engineering or technical issues arise, they coordinate with the engineering/technical team to determine practical solutions during the engineering and implementation phases.

Ideal Profile For The Project Controls Manager Role

• University degree in Civil, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering
• Thorough proven experience of project scheduling theory, practice and techniques
• Minimum 10 years construction experience in thermal power plant or complex industrial process plant

• Strong planning and interpersonal skills, excellent communication, negotiation and coordination skills
• Total familiarity and ability to use Primavera and Microsoft Project, project planning software
• Total familiarity with a range of software packages including the complete MS Office suite, PowerBI and industry-standard EDMS
• Fluent in written and spoken English; Arabic language skills a plus
• Based on site in Abu Dhabi, UAE, with flexibility to travel throughout the region

Guidance For Applicants On This Project Controls Manager Opportunity

Lead with your degree and a decade of construction scheduling experience on large-scale power or industrial projects. In your resume, place a strong emphasis on your experience with design through commissioning schedules and the ability to track progress against a baseline, using tools such as S-curves and look-ahead schedules, and your familiarity with Primavera and MS Project.

When you describe your must-have skills, share concrete examples where you reviewed and updated an EPC contractor’s schedule, highlighted deviations, and contributed to recovery schedules and mitigation strategies. Include details of how you collaborated with construction teams to assess payments and manage documentation through EDMS and Procore.

In interviews, be prepared to discuss how you have led weekly planning meetings with an EPC contractor, how you’ve supported risk registers and reporting to executives or lenders, and how you’ve balanced progress with risk while keeping stakeholders informed with clear reporting packages.

Ask a targeted question about how Procore Project Management is integrated into project reporting and what KPIs are used to measure progress and risk on this project. A good question shows you understand both the tools and the governance framework ENGIE uses on site in Abu Dhabi to drive timely, safe delivery.