Cost Estimation Director

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Job Description

HS2 Ltd endeavours to ensure everyone working for us and with us feels included, thrives and achieves their full potential. In practice, this means we are positive and inclusive about making adjustments, providing flexible working, encouraging our staff networks to flourish and providing personal and professional development opportunities.

As a Cost Estimation Director you will be responsible for owning and managing the overall programme cost estimate for HS2 direct costs (i.e. excluding costs associated with the work performed by HS2 organization). Providing overall strategic leadership on the development of cost estimation disciplines and practice within HS2. Developing cost management and estimating policies, processes and standards, and ensuring these are effectively executed across the organisation. The role will also provide functional leadership and direction of a team of disciplined subject matter experts that can be located across multiple locations. Furthermore, act as the central guiding mind, providing guidance and recommendations to the wider HS2 supply chain ensuring cost estimating best practice is being maintained through the supply chain.

About the role:

• To be accountable for developing and leading the implementation the 'HS2 Baseline Cost Estimation Strategy', ensuring it is communicated and embedded across HS2.
• To be responsible for providing strategic leadership and advice in support of the overall programme cost baseline and the development of reports to articulate the project's major cost drivers impacting the forecasted costs i.e. source of EAC pressures, and proposing mitigation actions to the project managers and the executive to reduce, or stabilise, the
• To be responsible for developing and leading relationships with key stakeholders, including the Department for Transport, wider government stakeholders, the supply chain and third parties, maintaining high levels of transparency and cooperation to ensure that they maintain overall confidence in HS2's ability to forecast the cost the deliver the project and to drive to deliver within the prescribed approved budget
• To be accountable for maintaining cost estimates ensuring early visibility of cost trends to ensure they are being highlighted and acted upon accordingly, allowing HS2 Ltd executive to make decisions based upon real time intelligence
• To be accountable for establishing and maintaining cost uncertainty ranges and evaluating the validity of probabilistic EAC ranges
• To be responsible for ensuring continued alignment between cost estimation and planning information
• To be responsible for providing the overall leadership and direction of the LOD1 assurance activity for cost estimation ensuring that consistency, best practice & lessons learned are being upheld
• Responsible for developing and leading the implementation estimation standards, policies, and processes (incl. validation of cost estimation data submitted by supply chain,), and specify the estimating system data structure connecting through to Work Breakdown Structures, ensuring they are communicated and embedded across HS2
• To be responsible for providing overall specialist estimating advice and information in support of freedom of information requests and responses to other industry requests
• To be accountable for acting as the senior point of contact within the PCD with accountability for providing expert advice and guidance to the Department for Transport (DfT) and other infrastructure bodies (e.g. Network Rail, Transport for London (TfL) in support of building and maintaining specialist industry knowledge
• To be accountable for leading the Estimating team, setting objectives, reviewing performance and ensuring that employees have the necessary skills and understanding to deliver the team's objectives
• To be accountable for the deployment of specialist resources and expertise in estimating across all of HS2, to enable delivery within the Project Controls teams.
• To be responsible for the financial management of budgets relating to estimating, contributing to the effective financial planning and control of the PCD budgets.
• Actively promote and embed Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all your work, and support and comply with all organisational initiatives, policies and procedures on EDI

About You:

Skills:

• Clear Direction - Defining and prioritising objectives, analysing inputs, assessing data, defining strategies and supporting rationales. Ability to direct the broader team on the actions needed to manage and mitigate any critical issues
• Communication - effective and proven communication and influencing skills, with the ability to engage and influence colleagues and external stakeholders at all levels, including the Board and Senior Executives
• Ability to assimilate large volumes of detail, drawing out the key issues in a clear and concise way, suitable for all audiences
• Relationship skills - can build and maintain effective relationships with diverse stakeholder groups which includes the HS2 executive team, central government, local government, professional bodies, internal stakeholders and JV board stakeholders
• Ability to deliver Cost and Performance Management or Project Controls roles in large, complex projects through line and matrix team arrangements utilising directly employed staff or contract based provision
• Ability to generate, manage, and maintain cost estimations for large projects using appropriate cost estimation systems including CostX, ARES Prism or other cost management systems etc.)

Knowledge:

• Knowledge of building, maintaining cost estimates using supplier information, market intelligence and industry standard estimating databases
• Knowledge of Project Controls, Commercial and Finance processes with a view of how these operate within complex organisations
• Knowledge and commercial awareness of multiple construction contract types (including, NEC contracts, amendments, early warning notices and the work flows of communications between contractor and client) and their respective benefits to client organisations
• Knowledge of the related core Project Controls disciplines, including; Schedule Management, Change Management and Risk Management
• Knowledge of baseline development and maintenance of baselines on a major programme

Type of Experience:

• Experience of operating effectively as a senior leader, undertaking significant value programmes of work which are subject to external scrutiny
• Experience of leading and developing a team within a major project or programme
• Experience of reporting at board level and advising senior stakeholders around cost performance and complex issues and appropriate resolution
• Significant experience of achievement in the management of cost estimation services within major projects, preferably with a formal cost estimation qualification or equivalent experience
• Experience in other core project controls functions, including; baseline maintenance, schedule management, cost performance, change management, risk management, performance reporting and document control
• Experience of managing and producing performance reports that summarises cost performance at a programme level, including: Budgets, Earned Value Management (EVM) and forecasts on major projects

The post-holder is expected to behave at all times in a manner consistent with the HS2 values of Safety, Leadership, Integrity and Respect

It is expected that you will actively promote and embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all your work and support and comply with all organisational initiatives, policies and procedures on EDI.

As HS2 Ltd do not hold a sponsorship license from the Home Office, we are not able to provide sponsorship to any applicant. Applicants must already have the Right to Work in the UK at the time of application and our process involves a Right to Work validation prior to the interview stage. Note, there are certain types of time-bound visas that we cannot accept.

Any offers made to applicants will be subject to satisfactory completion of pre-employment checks which include Nationality & Immigration Status, employment references, DBS, Financial and Education checks.

We ask for a variety of detail in your online application, however we perform the first assessment of suitability for a role based solely on the information in your CV. In a further development of our efforts to create a more diverse workforce, your CV will be anonymised and personal information will be removed during the first stage of the application review. This removes bias from the process and makes it even more important that you attach an updated word version of your CV for each new application ensuring you include evidence directly related to the criteria in the job advert.

Watch this video on how we remove bias in the recruitment process: Removing bias in the recruitment process (youtube.com)

Any applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

About Us

High Speed 2 (HS2 Ltd) will be the UK's new high speed rail network. As well as improving capacity, the new scheme will shorten journey times between a number of Britain's major population centres, boost the economy and create thousands of jobs.

HS2 Ltd will create a skills legacy and develop a diverse range of talent. We aim to be a leader in EDI practice by creating a safe & inclusive working environment for all our staff - living our values of Safety, Respect, Integrity and Leadership.

In practice, this means we are positive and inclusive about making adjustments, providing flexible working, encouraging our staff networks to flourish and providing personal and professional development opportunities.

HS2 Ltd is also a safety-critical organisation. Employees are required to ensure reasonable care of their own and others' health and safety by taking personal responsibility for working to our 'Safe at Heart' programme principles and following safe working procedures at all times.

HS2 Ltd endeavours to ensure everyone working for us and with us feels included, thrives and achieves their full potential.