Senior Project Risk Manager

Location: Berkeley, CA (Primarily Onsite)

Employment Type: Full-Time, Contract

Contract Duration: 12 months, with potential for two additional one-year extensions

Compensation: $90.00 per hour

About Essnova Solutions

Essnova Solutions, Inc. provides engineering, technical, and professional services to federal agencies, national laboratories, and complex scientific and infrastructure programs. We are committed to delivering high-quality solutions through technical expertise, collaboration, and operational excellence.

Position Overview

Essnova Solutions is seeking an experienced Senior Project Risk Manager to support the Advanced Light Source Upgrade (ALS-U) Project at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in Berkeley, California.

This position will lead and administer the project's integrated risk-management program, providing senior-level oversight of technical, cost, schedule, procurement, installation, and operational risks.

The ideal candidate will have extensive experience managing risk for large, technically complex capital projects and performing quantitative cost and schedule risk analyses. This role requires collaboration with engineering teams, project controls, senior leadership, and Department of Energy (DOE) stakeholders to support informed decision-making and successful project execution.

Key Responsibilities

Risk Management and Governance

• Lead and continuously improve the project's integrated risk-management program.
• Maintain the Risk Management Plan, project risk register, risk-scoring criteria, and governance procedures.
• Facilitate Risk Management Board meetings, risk workshops, and senior-level project reviews.
• Identify, assess, prioritize, and monitor technical, financial, schedule, procurement, and operational risks.
• Establish clear risk ownership, mitigation strategies, and escalation procedures.

Quantitative Cost and Schedule Risk Analysis

• Develop and maintain integrated cost and schedule risk-analysis models.
• Perform Monte Carlo simulations, sensitivity analyses, scenario assessments, and uncertainty evaluations.
• Evaluate project contingency adequacy, confidence levels, and potential cost and schedule impacts.
• Integrate risk assessments with Primavera P6 schedules, cost estimates, project baselines, and critical-path activities.
• Identify key risk drivers and provide actionable recommendations to project leadership.

Risk Identification and Mitigation

• Conduct structured risk-identification workshops and technical risk assessments.
• Evaluate risks associated with engineering, procurement, construction, installation, commissioning, staffing, and supply-chain dependencies.
• Maintain comprehensive risk registers documenting probability, impact, mitigation actions, ownership, and residual exposure.
• Monitor mitigation effectiveness, identify emerging risks, and escalate significant concerns.
• Assess the impact of project changes, recovery strategies, and acceleration plans.

Project Controls and Reporting

• Collaborate with project controls, engineering, procurement, and executive leadership.
• Integrate risk information with the Integrated Master Schedule, Estimate at Completion, cost forecasts, and change-control processes.
• Prepare monthly risk reports, executive briefings, and quantitative risk assessments.
• Present findings to project leadership, DOE representatives, and independent review committees.
• Support baseline-change proposals, recovery plans, independent cost reviews, and project performance assessments.
• Maintain accurate, auditable risk-management records and documentation.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction management, project management, business, economics, applied mathematics, statistics, or a related field, with 8+ years of progressively responsible experience in project risk management, project controls, cost estimating, scheduling, or complex capital-project management; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading or administering risk-management programs for large, technically complex capital projects, scientific facilities, infrastructure programs, aerospace or defense programs, or comparable projects.
• Experience developing and maintaining project risk registers.
• Experience facilitating risk workshops and senior-level risk reviews.
• Experience assigning risk ownership and tracking mitigation actions.
• Experience performing or directing quantitative cost and schedule risk analyses.
• Experience with Monte Carlo simulation, estimate uncertainty, schedule uncertainty, sensitivity analysis, and contingency confidence-level assessments.
• Experience integrating risk assessments with master schedules, cost estimates, project performance reporting, and change-control processes.
• Ability to prepare and present executive-level risk assessments and defend analytical methodologies and findings.
• Strong analytical, written communication, presentation, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Strong documentation, records-management, and configuration-control practices.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting DOE Order 413.3B capital asset projects or comparable federally governed programs.
• Knowledge of DOE Guide 413.3-7A or similar capital-project risk-management guidance.
• Experience with Safran Risk Manager and Safran Risk.
• Proficiency with Primavera P6.
• Familiarity with Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS).
• Experience supporting project rebaselines, recovery plans, independent cost estimates, or external project reviews.
• Experience with accelerator facilities, scientific user facilities, industrial construction, aerospace, defense, or highly integrated technical programs.
• Professional certifications such as PMI-RMP, PMP, AACE, or equivalent.
• Advanced degree in a relevant technical, analytical, or management discipline.

Work Location and Schedule

This position is primarily onsite at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California.

Limited remote work may be authorized for quantitative analysis, report preparation, and related activities, subject to project approval.

Candidates must be available for required onsite meetings, risk workshops, project reviews, and management briefings.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Essnova Solutions, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Essnova Solutions is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities throughout the recruitment and employment process.