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Cost Engineer, Heavy Civil / Highway

Food Management Search

Richmond, VA · $100k–$140k a year · Posted October 14, 2026

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About the job

Location: Virginia, with some regional travel

Industry: Heavy Civil / Highway / Bridge / Utility Construction

An established self perform heavy civil contractor is hiring a Cost Engineer to run the money side of its roadway, highway and utility work out of its Virginia office. This is a strong opportunity for a cost engineer, project controls engineer, contract administrator or construction accountant with contractor side experience who wants a seat that reports straight to the president and actually shapes how the jobs make money. You’ll review and code invoices, own cost reporting, review contracts before they go out and write change orders on DOT roadway and utility projects across the Mid-Atlantic. Virginia locals are great, and candidates ready to relocate are welcome.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

Review, code and approve vendor and subcontractor invoices against contracts, POs and job cost codes

Build and maintain monthly cost reports for each project and flag variances early

Track committed costs, cost to complete and forecasts with the project managers

Review contracts, subcontracts and purchase orders before they go out

Write, price and track change orders from start to closeout

Support pay applications and monthly billing so the company gets paid on time

Work directly with the president on job cost, cash flow and margin

Keep cost codes and job cost data clean in the accounting system

Travel to the company’s other regional office from time to time

Help tighten project controls processes as the company grows

What We’re Looking For

3+ years in cost engineering, project controls, contract administration or construction accounting on the contractor side

Hands on invoice review, job cost coding and cost reporting

Experience writing and pricing change orders

Comfortable reading contracts and subcontracts and spotting the risk

Heavy civil, highway, site or utility work strongly preferred

Strong Excel; Vista, Viewpoint, HCSS HeavyJob or similar is a plus

Degree in construction management, engineering, accounting or finance is a plus

Valid driver’s license; based in or willing to relocate to Virginia

Why This Role Is Worth a Conversation

Reports directly to the president: no layers, real influence on the business

Full medical, dental, vision and life insurance

401(k) with company match

Company paid short and long term disability, plus FSA

Paid time off, paid holidays and a floating personal day

Bonus opportunity

Established self perform contractor with a long funded backlog of roadway, highway and utility work across the Mid-Atlantic

A seat that grows with the company as it adds work

Heavy civil work on the kind of projects that build a career