Senior Cost Manager (MEP)

Key Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

Measurement, valuation and payment

• Review and verify the EPC contractor’s interim payment applications for the MEP works, including progress measurement, materials on and off site, supporting records and compliance with the contractual payment mechanism.
• Prepare and check quantities for building services installations using recognised methods of measurement (RICS / POMI), and maintain measured records against the contract bills and pricing documents.
• Support the preparation of auditable payment recommendations to the Employer, coordinating with the independent quantity surveyor.

Change, claims and cost control

• Carry out quantum assessment of variations, change proposals and claims relating to the MEP works — including changes arising from operator requirements for the hotel, residential and office components — and prepare recommendations for the Cost & Commercial Director.
• Maintain the change register, cost reports, cashflow updates and forecast final cost input for the MEP scope.
• Assess the cost aspects of testing, commissioning and handover activities, including retention, defects and close-out.
• Maintain contemporaneous commercial records suitable for negotiation, determination and, if necessary, dispute proceedings.
• Contribute the MEP cost sections of the monthly commercial report to the Employer

Person Specification – Essential

• Degree in Quantity Surveying, Building Services Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 10 years of cost management experience on major building projects, including significant MEP exposure on high-rise, hospitality, or other services-intensive developments.
• Previous project experience in Kazakhstan.
• Prior experience working with Chinese EPC contractors.
• Fluency in both English and Mandarin, written and spoken.
• Strong knowledge of recognised measurement standards (including RICS/POMI) and payment, variation, and claims administration under FIDIC-based contracts.

Critical Attributes

• Professional independence and objectivity when reviewing and commenting on contractor submissions, with the confidence to hold a position under commercial pressure.
• Disciplined record-keeping and correspondence habits, with a working awareness of notice and time-bar obligations under FIDIC-based contracts.
• Clear, concise written English suitable for formal contractual correspondence and reporting.
• Cultural awareness and the ability to work effectively across Kazakh, Chinese and international teams.
• Willingness to be resident in Almaty, Kazakhstan for approximately 4 years.
• Numerical rigour and an audit mindset — every recommendation must be supportable line by line.

Desirable

• Conversant in Russian and/or Kazakh.
• MRICS or equivalent professional membership, attained or in progress.
• Experience of lump-sum EPC / FIDIC Silver Book commercial administration.
• Experience of hotel-operator change regimes and fit-out cost interfaces.

What AIS-Hill Offers

• A senior commercial role on a landmark project of regional and international significance.
• A competitive professional package.
• The structure and backing of an established international consultancy, with access to AIS-Hill’s broader network of project, programme and cost management professionals.