Projects Controls Professional (Intermediate)

This is not a project controls role where you wait for someone to hand you the numbers.

MacKay is looking for an intermediate Project Controls Professional who can build and maintain schedules, manage change, track cost and turn field information into reporting the Project Management team can actually act on.

You will support MacKay’s Mine Operations, reporting directly into the Project Management team. The work is active, equipment-intensive and constantly moving. Quantities change. Scope changes. Conditions change. The schedule and the forecast need to keep up.

Your job is to make sure the project team always has an accurate, current picture of where the work stands, where it is heading and what it will cost to finish.

The Work

MacKay delivers complex civil, mining and infrastructure work across Western Canada, with operations developing in the United States.

Mine Operations runs on production, equipment and timing. Small slips in progress or cost add up quickly when no one is watching them closely.

You will be dealing with schedules, change orders, cost reports, forecasts, quantities and field documentation, and connecting all of it so the numbers tell the same story as what is happening on site.

You will work closely with Project Managers, Superintendents, Site Supervisors, Estimating and Accounting.

This role needs someone who knows project controls well enough to run with it. You will be trusted to work independently, keep your own processes in order and bring issues forward without waiting to be asked.

What You’ll Own

Build and maintain the schedule.
Develop project schedules in Microsoft Project, set baselines and complete regular updates that reflect actual progress, logic changes and look-ahead requirements. The schedule should be a working tool for the site team, not a document that sits in a folder.

Manage change properly.
Track potential and approved changes from the moment they are identified. Build up the cost of each change, including labour, equipment, materials and subcontract, and analyze its schedule impact so the Project Management team can price, negotiate and document change with confidence.

Report cost clearly and accurately.
Prepare cost reports that compare actuals and commitments against the estimate, explain variances and produce a realistic forecast to complete and estimate at completion (EAC). The goal is not simply to report what was spent. It is to show where the job is heading early enough that something can be done about it.

Measure performance with earned value.
Calculate earned value and performance indices, including CPI, SPI and Productivity Index (PI), and use them to show the Project Management team how the work is truly performing against cost, schedule and productivity expectations.

Track trends before they become problems.
Monitor productivity, unit costs, quantities and schedule performance over time. Identify and properly log trends, flag emerging risks and help the team understand what is driving them.

Turn field documentation into progress reporting.
Review daily reports, timesheets, equipment logs, quantity records and other site documentation, then summarize them into accurate progress measurement and reporting for the Project Management team.

Bring structure and best practice.
Apply sound project controls practices consistently, including clear cost coding, disciplined change logs, reliable baselines and repeatable reporting, and help improve the tools and processes behind them.

This Is a Hands-On Project Controls Role

You will produce reporting that Project Managers and leadership rely on to make decisions.

But you also need to understand where those numbers come from.

There will be times when you need to reconcile quantities against a daily report, chase down a missing timesheet, trace an equipment charge to the right cost code or sit with a Superintendent to understand why progress does not line up with the schedule.

You will not be told how to do every step.

You do need to understand the work well enough to know when the numbers are right, when they are wrong and what needs to happen next.

You’ll Probably Fit Here If

You have worked in project controls long enough to know that a schedule or cost report is only as good as the information behind it.

You understand scheduling logic, baselines, progress measurement, change management, cost coding, earned value, estimate variance and forecast to complete, and how they all connect.

You are strongly analytical and detail-oriented, but you can also explain what the numbers mean in plain language to people who are focused on running the work.

You build good working relationships with field and office teams, and you can ask hard questions about progress or cost without creating friction.

You are comfortable working independently with little direction, managing your own priorities and following things through to the end.

Your experience includes:

• 3–5 years of project controls experience in construction, mining or another project-based industry.
• Schedule development and ongoing schedule updates using Microsoft Project.
• Change management, including cost build-up and schedule impact analysis.
• Cost reporting, including estimate variance, forecast to complete and trend tracking.
• Earned value management, including CPI, SPI, PI and EAC calculations.
• Progress reporting based on the review and summary of field documentation.
• A solid understanding of project controls best practices.
• Strong analytical and interpersonal skills.

Even Better If You Bring

Civil construction experience would translate well here, as would experience supporting mining or heavy equipment operations.

Experience with InEight is an asset, as is experience with construction ERP, job-costing or other project-control systems.

What You Can Expect From MacKay

You will work directly with the Project Management team and the people running Mine Operations.

You will be expected to challenge assumptions, bring problems forward early and contribute your perspective rather than simply report results after the fact.

This is an established business with real projects, significant equipment and an experienced leadership team. At the same time, there is meaningful work still to be done in strengthening project controls systems, reporting and processes, and room for you to help shape how that is done.

This is a contract position, with the opportunity to move into a full-time role for the right candidate. As the business grows, so will this role, and there is real opportunity to take on more responsibility and build a project controls career with MacKay.

The role will start on-site in Cranbrook, British Columbia. Once you have a strong grasp of the work and are delivering independently, there is the opportunity to move to a hybrid arrangement.

The schedule is 5 days on, 2 days off, working 8 hours per day. Travel to site will be required to review progress and work with field teams.

About MacKay

MacKay Contracting is a heavy civil, mining and aggregates contractor based in the Kootenays.

Since 1986, our teams have delivered challenging infrastructure, earthworks, mining and environmental projects across Western Canada. Today, MacKay continues to build its capabilities and operating footprint while staying focused on the fundamentals that built the company: practical problem-solving, accountable execution and strong people.

Our values are simple:

Be Safe Always
Unified as a TEAM
Integrity & Accountability
Lead with Innovation & Excellence
Drive Positive Impact

Interested?

If you are a project controls professional who wants to be close to the work, take ownership of schedules and cost, and help keep a busy mining operation on track, we’d like to hear from you.