Senior Cost Assurance Consultant

Arcadis is the world's leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets.

We are more than 34,000 people, in over 30 countries, dedicated to improving quality of life. Everyone has an important role to play. With the power of many curious minds, together we can solve the world’s most complex challenges and deliver more impact together.

Role Description:

As a Senior Cost Consultant within our Cost and Commercial Assurance (CCA) practice, you will support assurance reviews on major programs, focusing on NEC3/NEC4 Option C (Target Cost) and/or Option E (Cost Reimbursable) contracts. You will apply core Quantity Surveying skills and commercial audit techniques to validate costs, strengthen contract controls, and provide actionable insights. This role combines traditional QS expertise with digital tools to improve efficiency and transparency. Hybrid working with occasional travel to client sites.

Role Accountabilities:

• Plan and deliver cost and commercial assurance reviews on NEC Option C/E projects, including open-book validation, pain/gain calculations, fee/risk allowances, and disallowed costs.
• Support payroll/timesheet audits and cost verification across labor, plant, materials, and subcontractors; reconcile samples to source records and test rates, accruals, and invoices.
• Review compensation events, early warnings, and target movements; provide evidence-based analysis to support dispute avoidance.
• Assess contract compliance and commercial control frameworks; contribute to recommendations for process, data, and reporting improvements.
• Prepare clear findings reports and simple dashboards for project teams; present outcomes and assist in closing actions.
• Use data and low-code/no-code tools (e.g., Excel/Power Query, Power BI) to automate testing and analytics that improve efficiency.

Qualifications & Experience:

• Degree in Quantity Surveying, Commercial Management, or related field
• Professional membership (RICS/CICES or equivalent).
• Experience with NEC3/NEC4 contracts (Option C and/or Option E) and exposure to commercial or payroll audits on projects or frameworks.
• Core QS skills (measurement, estimating, valuation, change control, forecasting) with ability to interpret datasets and trace costs to source evidence.
• Proficiency with Excel and data analysis; interest in Power BI or similar tools and curiosity for low-code/no-code solutions.
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with ability to challenge constructively and support corrective actions.
• Experience using Power Query/Power Automate; basic SQL or Python exposure; sector experience in infrastructure (e.g., transport, water, energy).

Why Arcadis?

We can only achieve our goals when everyone is empowered to be their best. We believe everyone's contribution matters. It’s why we are pioneering a skills-based approach, where you can harness your unique experience and expertise to carve your career path and maximize the impact we can make together.

You’ll do meaningful work, and no matter what role, you’ll be helping to deliver sustainable solutions for a more prosperous planet. Make your mark, on your career, your colleagues, your clients, your life and the world around you.

Together, we can create a lasting legacy.

Join Arcadis. Create a Legacy.

Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging

We want you to be able to bring your best self to work every day which is why we take equality and inclusion seriously and hold ourselves to account for our actions. Our ambition is to be an employer of choice and provide a great place to work for all our people. We believe that by working together diverse people with different experiences develop the most innovative ideas. Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of how we improve quality of life and we work closely with our people across six ED&I Workstreams: Age, Disability, Faith, Gender, LGBT+ and Race. A diverse and skilled workforce is essential to our success.