Senior Cost Manager - Oxford

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 an Senior Cost Manager in our Oxford-based Life Sciences Cost & Commercial Management team, you will support the delivery of world-class laboratory, research, and specialist science facility projects. You will play a pivotal role in managing the commercial aspects of complex, high-value developments—ranging from new build laboratories and research centres to the fit-out and refurbishment of advanced science environments for a variety of prestigious clients.

You will act as a trusted advisor to clients, consultants, and contractors, ensuring that cost management processes are robust, compliant, and tailored to the specific challenges of the Life Sciences sector. Your expertise will help enable the delivery of high-performance, sustainable spaces where scientific innovation and discovery can thrive.

Role Accountabilities

• Oversee the cost management of assigned Life Sciences projects, including preparation of cost plans, budgets, and financial reports.
• Deliver a range of commissions or major elements of larger assignments, ensuring quality, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness.
• Advise on risk, compliance, and cost control throughout the project lifecycle, raising issues where appropriate.
• Evaluate project and market data to identify trends and support clients’ strategic decision-making.
• Promote the adoption of industry best practices, digital tools, and benchmarking to enhance accuracy and efficiency.
• Provide technical cost advice to clients and project teams, supporting the resolution of commercial and contractual matters.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, stakeholders, and supply chain partners.
• Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams to ensure value-driven project outcomes.
• Demonstrate an understanding of client objectives and the regulatory context of Life Sciences projects, ensuring services align with sector requirements.

Qualifications & Experience

• Experience in cost management for Life Sciences, laboratory, research, pharmaceutical, or advanced manufacturing projects is highly desirable.
• Strong relationship-building skills, with the ability to engage clients, consultants, and contractors in technical environments.
• Proven track record of managing the commercial lifecycle of projects from inception to completion.
• Professional qualification or chartered status (e.g., MRICS, MAPM), or working towards.

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.

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