Project Financial Advisor

The Project Financial Advisor (PFA) acts as a trusted finance partner to project delivery teams, ensuring alignment of financial outcomes with enterprise objectives.

The role spans the entire project lifecycle across project budget setup review, revenue recognition, and timeline project financial reviews, by delivering disciplined financial stewardship and analysis.

PFAs advise on profitability monitoring, working capital management for projects and compliance while contributing to sound decision-making and risk identification across a portfolio that ranges in a complexity of projects independently and supporting more complex projects with guidance.

Contribute to the sound financial management of projects by working as an active financial partner to Project Managers, ensuring adherence to contractual obligations and financial terms

Provide guidance on initial project setup, including Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) development, budgeting, rate selection, and pricing tool development inputs

Advise on project financial planning and risk identification

Support the review of category rates and labor structures to help maintain project recoverability and financial performance

Review labor structures (e.g., non-billable time, cap rates, and labor breakage) to identify and flag areas for rate optimization and margin improvement

Advise on project funding, billing methods, and rates for assigned projects

Identify and communicate margin-related observations and cost-to-serve considerations to support financial performance

Support the assessment of financial impact of subcontracts to ensure alignment with prime contract and profitability objectives

Financial aspects of Contract Execution, Structure & Policy Compliance

Monitor execution of customer contracts for financial nuances (fee type, caps, retentions, deliverable-based triggers i.e., scheduled billing, milestones, CPFF [Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee])

Review and validate project structure in Project Portfolio Management (PPM): WBS, funding, billing methods, rates, tax, revenue method, and project/contract master data

Ensure compliance with financial policies, delegations of authority, and revenue recognition standards

Coordinate and review Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE)/ Women Business Enterprise (WBE)/ all business enterprise categories (XBE) reporting requirements [US and CA-specific, different terminology in the UK&I, confirm regional application/terminology]

Perform margin impact and financial impact calculations and provide support in identifying reasons for variability in project margins

Monitor the project-level forecast cycle for assigned projects, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and alignment with FP&A targets

Review project budgets and forecasts to support the Project Manager in validating assumptions and financial accuracy

Monitor mitigation action plans as directed by the Project Manager and report progress to the PFA Manager

Perform revenue accruals, whenever required, throughout project delivery; advise on other financial adjustments

Manage sub-contracting activities including requisition and Purchase Order (PO) creation (in alignment with Procurement), supplier/subcontractor invoice processing, and partner with PFO Managers on Accounts Payable (AP) payment requests

Contribute to project performance reviews through analyses and commentary on relevant financial indicators (e.g., forecast accuracy, working capital, revenue recognition, change control)

Review key measures and financial tracking, including client-specific reporting requests

Monitor performance against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and flag variances promptly to Finance Business Partners with recommended corrective actions

Participate in review meetings with Project Managers; deliver actionable insights on key performance drivers, risks, and required decisions

Investigate recurring financial variances and escalate findings with observations to the PFA Manager

Validate proper contract setup controls to ensure revenue recognition in-line with company policies

Support active monitoring of Work at Risk (WAR), including tracking, business impact assessment, reporting, and follow-up to support timely contract execution and compliance

Provide guidance to Project Managers (PMs) on project closeout in cases where specific contractual requirements apply (e.g., retainage, final payment confirmation)

Respond to customer audit requests, coordinate evidence and formal responses with Controllership and Delivery

Review and collaborate with project team on finance-specific responses to audit requests (internal or external)

Ensure records, calculations, and decision logs are audit-ready and retained per policy.

Collaborate with PFOs, Billing, Collections, Cash App, FP&A, Controllership, and business teams to address escalations

Proactively escalate recurring issues through management to contribute to process improvement initiatives that enhance financial outcomes

Identify and assign time and cost transfers and allocations; review and adjust project costs as needed

Foster a strong understanding and consistent application of corporate financial governance and controls across the business

Identify and escalate any financial exceptions to PFA Manager to resolve issues at source to maintain project integrity

Support Operations and Business Finance teams in delivering initiatives aimed at improving efficiency and financial performance

Support project financial performance monitoring and documentation, and assist the PFA Manager and Finance Business Partners (FBP) in explaining variances and impact on P&L

• Support in identifying future cost pressures and potential loss-making projects, ensuring the business is made aware and mitigations are put in place

• Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Business, or closely-related discipline, (or demonstrated proven equivalent experience)
• 1 to 3 years of project finance or commercial finance experience in engineering, construction, or professional services

Suitable qualifications/accreditations in Accounting/Finance/Business relevant to the jurisdiction(s) you are operating within

Proficiency expectation is mostly Developing / Working, with some Practiced capability in recurring activities such as Project Target & Performance tracking and Project-Based Accounting

Solid grasp of project accounting, financial reporting, Estimate at Completion / Estimate to Complete (EAC/ETC) forecasting processes, and margin analysis

Experience in commercial support (e.g., project integration, contracts, Work in Progress (WIP)/ Revenue Recognition)

Demonstrated experience supporting a multi-project portfolio with hands-on forecasting and reporting accountability

Advanced Excel skills and proficiency in MS Office and ERP tools (Oracle preferred)

with PowerBI or other data visualization tools (advantageous)

Self-starter who can work independently as well as collaboratively

Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with multiple priorities

Exceptional stakeholder relationship management and engagement skills with the ability to influence delivery, commercial, and finance leadership

Critical thinking and problem-solving skills required to apply learned subject matter and technical knowledge to reach conclusions from data collation, documentation, statistical analysis, and arriving at the most effective, economical, and logical solution.

Effective/Strong Capable interpersonal and communication skills when interacting with others, expressing ideas effectively and professionally to an accounting and non-accounting audience

Strong planning, prioritization, and time management abilities

Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities with a focus on actionable insights

WSP Benefits: WSP provides a comprehensive suite of benefits focused on a providing health and financial stability throughout the employee’s career.

These benefits include coverage related to medical, dental, vision, disability, and life; retirement savings; paid sick leave; paid vacation (or other personal time); paid parental leave; and paid time off for purposes of bereavement, voting, and/or attendance at naturalization proceedings.

Expected Salary (all locations): $73,000-$95,000 WSP USA is providing the compensation range that the company in good faith believes it might pay and offer for this position, based on the successful applicant’s education, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities in addition to internal equity and specific geographic location. WSP USA reserves the right to ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and offer additional benefits and other compensation, depending on circumstances not related to an applicant’s sex or other status protected by local, state, and/or federal law. #LI-JL1