Senior Project Accountant POST NUMBER: 308636
Client: Construction Engineering
Title: Senior Project Accountant
Salary Range: $125,000-$150,000
PERM
Location: Farmingdale, NY
Fully Onsite 4-5 days a week
***A candidate must come from construction, engineering. civil engineering or largescale infrastructure background
Position Overview
We are looking for a Senior Project Accountant to drive financial strategy, cost controls, and revenue optimization across major capital initiatives. In this high-impact position, you will act as a primary financial partner to project managers and executive leadership—monitoring job profitability, evaluating risk across long-term job lifecycles, and ensuring robust financial oversight on multi-year projects.
What You'll Do Day-to-Day
- Job-Cost Tracking & Budget Analysis: Continuously track project expenditures across labor, materials, equipment, and subcontractor commitments. Compare real-time spend against established project budgets and deliver clear variance explanations for cost overruns or under-budget items.
- Financial Forecasting & Cash Flow Modeling: Build and refine forward-looking revenue projections, cash flow needs, and overall profitability estimates as multi-year projects progress.
- Revenue Recognition & Billing Controls: Verify that all customer progress billings, scope modifications, and change order charges are properly accounted for and allocated.
- Claims & Dispute Management: Oversee the financial management of project claims—analyzing data for unexpected delays, scope growth, or dispute costs to protect project margins.
- Leadership Advisory & Reviews: Lead regular financial performance reviews with Project Managers and Operations Directors to explain cost performance, highlight financial risks, and recommend proactive cost-control measures.
- Strategic & Ad Hoc Support: Partner with regional financial leadership to assist with annual planning, rolling forecasts, and custom financial analysis for executive management.
Candidate Qualifications
Experience & Education
- Background: 7 to 10 years of progressive project accounting or cost engineering experience within heavy civil or large-scale infrastructure construction environments.
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field (CPA is a plus).
- Multi-Year Project Accounting: Proven track record with percentage-of-completion (POC) accounting and long-term project lifecycles.
Technical Skills & Tools
- Financial Software: Advanced proficiency in JD Edwards -Only preferred (or equivalent enterprise ERP systems).
- Financial Modeling: Expert-level Microsoft Excel skills for building complex cash flow models, forecasting templates, and data aggregations.
- Compliance & Controls: Solid grasp of construction accounting principles, project budgeting, and multi-tiered cost control frameworks.
EEO Notice
Vaco by Highspring is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race (including but not limited to traits historically associated with race such as hair texture and hair style), color, sex (includes pregnancy or related conditions), religion or creed, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, status as a veteran, union membership, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation, or any other protected characteristics as required by federal, state or local law.
Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries are committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact HR@vaco.com.
Vaco by Highspring also wants all applicants to know their rights that workplace discrimination is illegal.
Representation Notice
By submitting to this position, you agree that you will be giving Vaco by Highspring the exclusive right to present your as a candidate for the foregoing employment opportunity. You further agree that you have represented information about yourself accurately and have not affirmatively misrepresented your qualifications. You also agree to maintain as confidential, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any information you learn from Vaco by Highspring about the position and you will limit disclosure of information about the position only to the extent necessary to perform any obligations in furtherance of your application. In exchange, Vaco by Highspring agrees to exercise reasonable efforts to represent you through all solicitation, job screening and resume dispersal.
For residents of Ontario, Canada: Based on Highspring’s discussions with its Client, Highspring’s understanding is that this position for employment is a current vacancy (either through Highspring as a contractor or with the client directly).
Privacy Notice
Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries (“we,” “our,” or “Vaco by Highspring”) respects your privacy and are committed to providing transparent notice of our policies.
- California residents may access Vaco by Highspring HR Notice at Collection for California Applicants and Employees here.
- Virginia residents may access our state specific policies here.
- Residents of all other states may access our policies here.
- Canadian residents may access our policies in English here and in French here.
- Residents of countries governed by GDPR may access our policies here.
Additionally, submissions to this position are subject to the use of AI to perform preliminary candidate screenings, focused on ensuring minimum job requirements noted in the position are satisfied. More details about Vaco by Highspring’s use of AI can be found here (https://www.highspring.com/ai-use-notices/). Further assessment of candidates beyond this initial phase will be conducted by recruiters and hiring managers. Vaco by Highspring does not know and cannot opine on if its client’s use of AI products in hiring.
Pay Transparency Notice
Determining compensation for this role (and others) at Vaco by Highspring depends upon a wide array of factors including but not limited to:
- the individual’s skill sets, experience and training;
- licensure and certification requirements;
- office location and other geographic considerations;
- other business and organizational needs.
With that said, as required by local law, Vaco by Highspring believes that the following salary range referenced above reasonably estimates the base compensation for an individual hired into this position in geographies that require salary range disclosure. The individual may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses.