The posting
To protect and improve project gross profit across Solarvest Philippines’ EPCC portfolio by controlling cost from tender through to final account. The role owns the commercial position of every project — what it was priced at, what it is costing, what it will cost to complete, and what the company is contractually entitled to recover.
This position is the commercial counterweight to the project delivery team. It exists to ensure that the gross profit assumed in the annual operating plan is delivered in practice, not only in the budget.
A. Pre-Contract — Estimating and Tendering
- Prepare bills of quantities and quantity take-offs from drawings and single-line diagrams for C&I rooftop, ground-mount and utility-scale solar projects.
- Build up unit rates for civil works, mounting structures, electrical installation, cabling, testing and commissioning.
- Source and compare supplier and subcontractor quotations; prepare tender comparison sheets with technical and commercial recommendations.
- Prepare project cost estimates and support the Country Manager on pricing strategy, margin setting and bid submission.
- Maintain a live cost database of historical rates, material prices and productivity norms for the Philippine market.
B. Post-Contract — Cost Control
- Establish the project cost control budget at award and lock the baseline against the tendered figures.
- Track committed cost, incurred cost and forecast cost-to-complete for every active project.
- Produce a monthly cost value reconciliation showing budget versus actual versus forecast, with variance explanations.
- Flag cost overruns early and propose recovery actions before they crystallise.
- Monitor material wastage, rework and site productivity against tender allowances.
- Maintain the project contingency register and control its drawdown.
C. Subcontractor and Supplier Commercial Management
- Prepare and issue subcontract packages, letters of award and purchase orders.
- Evaluate subcontractor progress claims against work actually completed on site; certify or reject with written justification.
- Assess and value subcontractor variation claims; negotiate rates for items outside the bill of quantities.
- Administer subcontractor retention, back-charges and set-offs.
- Prepare and agree subcontractor final accounts.
D. Client-Side Commercial Administration
- Prepare progress claims and payment applications to clients in line with contract milestones.
- Compile supporting documentation — measurement sheets, site records, delivery notes and joint measurement records.
- Identify, price and submit variation orders and extension of time claims.
- Track client retention releases and defects liability period obligations.
- Prepare and negotiate the project final account.
E. Contract and Risk Administration
- Administer performance bonds, retention bonds, advance payment guarantees and warranty bonds — issuance, tracking, extension and release.
- Manage project insurances including Contractors’ All Risks and Property All Risks, ensuring cover is in place before mobilisation and maintained through the defects liability period.
- Monitor liquidated damages exposure and maintain the liquidated damages risk register.
- Support letter of credit and telegraphic transfer arrangements for imported modules, inverters and battery energy storage equipment.
- Maintain the contract register with key dates, obligations and notice periods.
F. Cash Flow and Reporting
- Prepare and maintain project cash flow forecasts, aligning claim timing with the company’s working capital position.
- Submit a monthly project cost report to the Country Manager and Regional Office covering cost status, margin forecast, claim status and commercial risks.
- Support the annual operating plan with bottom-up project cost inputs.
- Ensure all commitments and payments respect the company approval matrix at every threshold.
G. Governance and Compliance
- Ensure procurement follows a documented three-quotation process, or a justified and approved single-source exception.
- Maintain complete, audit-ready commercial records for every project.
- Support external audit and any joint venture partner or lender due diligence on project costs.
- Uphold Solarvest’s procurement ethics standards and declare any conflict of interest with suppliers or subcontractors.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Quantity Surveying, Civil Engineering, Accountancy, Engineering Management or a related discipline.
- Minimum five years in cost control, commercial administration or finance, including experience in construction, engineering, EPC or other project-based work.
- Demonstrated experience administering bonds, guarantees and project insurances.
- Strong Microsoft Excel capability — cost models, pivot analysis and cash flow forecasting.
- Working knowledge of Philippine construction contract practice and BIR requirements on progress billings, VAT and expanded withholding tax.
Competencies:
- Commercial judgement — able to distinguish a genuine variation from scope creep, and to defend that position with the client and with subcontractors.
- Numerical rigour — accuracy under deadline pressure; no tolerance for unreconciled numbers.
- Independence — willing to challenge the project team and to decline certification of a payment that has not been earned.
- Documentation discipline — what is not recorded cannot be recovered.
- Communication — clear written English for claims and contractual correspondence; able to negotiate with subcontractors in Filipino.
- Site presence — willing to travel and take joint measurements in the field rather than work only from the office.
Added advantage:
- PICQS membership or an equivalent quantity surveying accreditation.
- Experience in solar photovoltaic, electrical or renewable energy projects.
- Exposure to FIDIC or CIAP standard forms of contract.
- Experience with an ERP cost module such as Oracle, SAP, Navision or Microsoft Dynamics.
- Certified Public Accountant, or progress toward a professional accounting or quantity surveying qualification.
