---
title: 'Sr. Cost Control Engineer at Mariana Minerals'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/sr-cost-control-engineer-mariana-minerals-houston-k7evjjm90kqj'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-23'
---

# Sr. Cost Control Engineer at Mariana Minerals

- **Company:** Mariana Minerals
- **Location:** Houston, TX
- **Compensation:** $140k–$180k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-21
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-23
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/marianaminerals/df7ffd54-19c9-4922-bc46-9efff39ed2a7

## Job description

## About Mariana Minerals

Mariana Minerals is a software-first, vertically integrated minerals company on a mission to supply the critical minerals powering modern energy, AI, and defense technologies. We’re reimagining the minerals supply chain by combining deep industry expertise with advanced software, automation, and data-driven decision-making.

## The role

We are hiring a Cost Control Engineer to own the cost baseline, the forecast, and change control on Mariana's capital projects. You will build the cost breakdown structure, convert the sanctioned estimate into a control budget, track commitments and actuals, and produce the forecast at completion that the business plans against. The role sits between engineering, procurement, construction, and finance — the path where a commitment becomes an accrual becomes an invoice becomes a capitalized asset — and your job is to make sure the number is the same in all four places. Cost control here is not a monthly report assembled by hand. The reporting is expected to come out of the system and building that pipeline is as much the job as running it.

## What you'll do

- Set the baseline. Build the WBS and cost breakdown structure with the planner and estimator, convert the sanctioned estimate into a control budget, and lock it
- Track commitments and actuals. Purchase orders, subcontracts, change orders, and field costs, reconciled to the ERP every month with no unexplained variance
- Forecast. Maintain estimate to complete and estimate at completion by control account, with the basis for each forecast written down rather than carried in your head
- Measure earned value. Set rules of credit with the planner, measure physical progress, and report cost and schedule performance at a level where someone can act on it
- Run the trend and change process. Identify potential changes early, quantify them, route them for approval, and keep the approved budget log clean
- Manage contingency drawdown. Track contingency and management reserve against the risk register and report what is left honestly
- Produce cash flow. Maintain the project cash flow and funding curve for finance and treasury
- Verify payments. Review contractor invoices and progress claims against measured progress and contract terms
- Report. Create, issue and present the project cost report and the dashboards leadership actually opens
- Automate the pipeline. Cost data should move from the ERP, procurement, and the schedule into the report/dashboard without re-keying. Build the connections, the reconciliations, and the exception checks that catch a bad number before a person does

Desired qualifications

- Education. BS in engineering, construction management, finance, or a related field
- Experience. 5–12 years of project cost control on capital projects in mining, minerals, refining, chemicals, power, or heavy civil. Senior candidates will have owned cost on a project above $100M total installed cost
- Earned value in practice. You have applied earned value management on a live project, not only in training, and can describe where it broke down
- Systems. Hands-on with a project cost management system such as EcoSys, InEight, Prism, or Procore, and with an ERP such as SAP, Oracle, or NetSuite
- Data fluency. Advanced Excel, plus SQL, Power BI, or Python at a level where you build your own reporting instead of requesting it
- Change discipline. You have run a trend and change management process end to end and can say what you would do differently
- Accounting interface. Comfortable with commitments versus actuals, accruals, capitalization, and funding authorization mechanics
- Certification. AACE Certified Cost Professional or Certified Cost Technician, or PMI credentials, are a plus

Our culture is built on four principles:

Everyone Gets Home Safe. We never put speed or cost ahead of people. Extreme Ownership. We take full responsibility for outcomes, relentlessly driving toward solutions. Engineer Out Requirements, then Automate. We simplify, optimize, and then automate for scale. Share Your Legos. We collaborate openly, share knowledge, and empower each other to build bigger, better solutions.

Join us as we build the future of responsible mineral sourcing and supply!

## About Mariana Minerals

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Mariana Minerals is a software-first, vertically integrated minerals company focused on supplying the minerals critical to modern energy, AI, and defense technologies.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A, $85M funding in July 2025)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: Not publicly available
- **Founders**: Turner Caldwell (Co-Founder & CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Metal Ore Mining / Critical Minerals
- **Target customers**: B2B – energy, AI, and defense supply chains (including downstream manufacturers and government entities)
- **Mission or purpose**: "Create a future of critical mineral abundance" by reimagining the global minerals supply chain with software, automation, and data-driven decision making.

## Products & Services
- **Copper One (formerly Lisbon Valley Copper Mine)**: World’s first autonomous mine, located in Utah. Produces copper using integrated automation and software control. Restarted production in April 2026.
- **Lithium One**: Lithium project (on the roadmap or early development).
- **Other mineral projects**: Graphite, Uranium, Rare Earth Metals, Cobalt, Nickel, Aluminium – at various stages (stealth or roadmap).
- **CapitalProjectOS**: Internal software platform for capital project management (mentioned in leadership bio).
- **Technology Stack**: React, dbt, TypeScript, Python, TensorFlow, PyTorch, microservices, SCADA, Autodesk, and many others – indicating a strong software engineering backbone.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding – $85M Series A (July 2025, 1 investor)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Lead investor not publicly disclosed (Andreessen Horowitz was pitched but not confirmed as an investor). Partners include Bot Auto, WeRide, Pronto, Atoms (based on LinkedIn mentions). Also works with UMA (Utah Mining Association).
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew 3,575% YoY to 107 employees (as of mid-2026). 73 active job postings. Opened the world’s first autonomous mine (Copper One) in April/May 2026, generating significant industry news and social media engagement.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Software-first approach**: The company builds automation and data systems from the ground up, rather than layering tech onto legacy mining operations. This enables fully autonomous mining.
- **Vertical integration**: They develop, own, and operate mineral projects, controlling the entire value chain from extraction to processing.
- **Deep tech stack**: Use of AI/ML (TensorFlow, PyTorch), simulation, and real-time control systems to optimize mining operations.
- **First-mover in autonomous mining**: Copper One is claimed to be the world’s first autonomous mine, giving them a significant lead in operational efficiency and safety.

## Strategic Focus
- Scale autonomous mining operations beyond copper (lithium, graphite, uranium, etc.)
- Secure domestic supply of critical minerals for U.S. energy, AI, and defense needs.
- Continue aggressive hiring across engineering, operations, and field roles.
- Expand from Utah to additional sites (Houston engineering office, potential new projects).

## Why Work Here
- **Culture principles**: "Extreme Ownership", "Engineer Out Requirements, Then Automate", "Share Your Legos" – emphasizing accountability, simplification, and collaboration.
- **Work environment**: High-growth startup with a mission-driven focus on critical infrastructure. Offices in San Francisco (HQ), Houston (Engineering), and La Sal, Utah (mine site). Hybrid/remote policy not explicitly stated, but multiple office locations suggest flexibility for field vs. office roles.
- **Notable perks**: Opportunity to work on cutting-edge autonomous systems and AI in a traditional industry. Strong engineering culture with modern tech stack (React, Python, ML). Rapid career growth due to company expansion.
- **Talent sources**: Attracts talent from Tesla, Redwood Materials, Lilac, ExxonMobil, Amazon Web Services, and other tech/energy companies – indicating a high-caliber peer group.

## Sources
1. [marianaminerals.com](https://marianaminerals.com/)
2. [marianaminerals.com/careers](https://marianaminerals.com/careers)
3. [marianaminerals.com/about](https://marianaminerals.com/about)
4. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/marianaminerals](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/marianaminerals)
5. [linkedin.com/company/mariana-minerals](https://www.linkedin.com/company/mariana-minerals)

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