Director of Project Controls

Job description

About us Pacifico Energy is a global energy infrastructure firm supporting complex, large load projects from development through to operations. The company serves as a trusted partner across engineering, financing, construction, and optimization, delivering tailored power solutions for large energy users, including data centers. With a proven international track record and over 15 years as a large-scale developer, Pacifico brings speed and knowledgeable oversight to projects from start to finish. We are seeking a Director of Project Controls to build, lead, and manage Pacifico's Project Controls team within the EPC organization, and to establish the corporate-level governance, standards, and systems for the controls function. This person will provide portfolio-level leadership across the four core disciplines of project controls — planning, scheduling, contract controls (budget and cost controls), and document controls — for Pacifico's portfolio of large-scale power generation for data centers. They will serve as the central authority for cost, schedule, contract, and reporting integrity, giving executive leadership objective oversight and decision support, and will be the controls point of credibility for investors, lenders, and customers. This role will report to our Head of EPC in our Dallas office. What you get to do: Team Build-Out & Leadership Build and lead the Project Controls function under EPC; define team structure, roles, responsibilities, and escalation paths across planning, scheduling, contract controls, and document controls. Hire, onboard, mentor, and manage controls staff (schedulers, cost/contract analysts, document control specialists, coordinators) as the portfolio scales. Set performance standards, workload allocation, and development paths for the team. Planning Lead front-end project planning: work breakdown structures, baseline schedules and budgets, and execution-strategy alignment with Development and EPC. Provide planning support from early development through construction and closeout, ensuring consistent methodology across the portfolio. Scheduling Own integrated project schedules (Primavera P6) and manage the critical path across all active projects in the portfolio. Establish schedule governance standards, baseline control, progress measurement, and variance/recovery planning. Provide schedule risk analysis and scenario planning to support executive decisions. Contract Controls (Budget & Cost Controls) Own cost forecasting and budgeting across the portfolio: earned value, cost-to-complete, contingency management, and variance analysis with corrective-action plans. Administer contract controls through the EPC build phase: change-order control, claims and liquidated-damages defense, and commercial compliance with contract terms. Support ITC-related schedule and financial compliance by aligning development, engineering, procurement, and construction activities. Document Controls Establish and own portfolio-wide document control standards and systems (e.g., Procore), transmittals, submittals, RFIs, drawing/document revisions, and records management. Ensure document traceability, version control, and audit-readiness to support lender, investor, and Independent Engineer reviews. Portfolio Oversight & Governance Provide end-to-end controls oversight across the power generation project portfolio. Establish and maintain portfolio-level governance frameworks for planning, schedule, cost/contract, and document controls. Ensure consistency, accuracy, and transparency of project data used for executive decision-making. Development-to-EPC Coordination Partner with Development on critical paths, milestones, and execution risks. Drive proactive de-risking during development to enable smooth handoffs to EPC/construction. Facilitate development-to-EPC transitions by aligning scope, schedule, cost, and contractual assumptions. Financing / Lender / Investor Interface Serve as the controls point of credibility for investors, lenders, and customers in diligence and financing. Interface with lenders and the Independent Engineer on draws and progress certification. Produce executive- and board-level reporting on cost, schedule, contract status, forecast, and risk. Cross-Functional Leadership Serve as the central coordination point across EPC, Development, Finance, Legal, Accounting, and executive leadership; resolve dependencies and manage interfaces. Translate complex technical, financial, contractual, and schedule information into clear executive-level insight and recommendations. Standards, Systems & Continuous Improvement Define, implement, and continuously improve controls standards, tools, and reporting frameworks across all four control disciplines. Own the controls toolset (incl. Primavera P6, Procore) at the portfolio level; improve systems, processes, and data governance to support scalable growth. 15+ years in project controls (incl. 5+ years leading a controls function), spanning planning, scheduling, contract/cost controls, and document controls, in power, energy, infrastructure, or large-scale EPC. Track record on GW-scale / $1b+ projects through construction and commercial operation (power generation, or comparable large-scale power infrastructure). People-management experience: has built, staffed, and managed a project controls team spanning multiple control disciplines (required). Deep expertise in scheduling (Primavera P6), cost control, contract/change management, portfolio forecasting, and earned value. Experience with document control systems and standards (e.g., Procore) at a portfolio level. Experience supporting project financing and investor/lender/Independent Engineer reporting. Strong understanding of EPC delivery models and contract-driven execution. Proven ability to partner with Development, Finance, Legal, and executive leadership. Bachelor's in engineering, construction management, or finance; PMP / PSP a plus. Full-time Dallas presence.