Project Controller

Project Controller at Johnson & Johnson. Randstad, as the EMEA Johnson & Johnson talent acquisition partner, is responsible for finding and contracting talent for the contingent roles at Johnson & Johnson. If you are selected for a role you will be engaged or employed by one of the Randstad recruitment companies in EMEA and will not be an employee of Johnson & Johnson.

Location: Leiden (1 week per month on-site).

Duration: 12 months (targeting a January start).

Hours: 40 hours per week. This project-focused role is centred on budget management and controls within the EVM – Engineering, Validation & Maintenance / Project Delivery & Engineering business area, supporting the Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine Leiden engineering portfolio. The Project Controller supports EVM project and portfolio governance by consolidating financial and project controls information into a clear, consistent, and reliable management view.

Managing a portfolio spanning roughly 50 projects, the role turns inputs from EPCM partners, Project Managers, Portfolio Management, Finance, and other relevant stakeholders into one reliable project and portfolio controls view. The position collects and reconciles data across diverse sources, tracks variances, and highlights emerging financial exposure. The Project Controller owns the integrity and presentation of the consolidated controls picture, while respective source owners remain accountable for the forecasts, assumptions, and information they provide.

Roles and responsibilities include: collecting and consolidating approved budgets, commitments, actual expenditure, forecasts, changes, and financial risks; managing budgets and forecasting, creating summary reports, handling PO creation and submissions, and tracking invoices and billing using SAP, Ariba, and SharePoint tools; reconciling information from different sources and following up on missing, inconsistent, or delayed inputs; producing consistent project and portfolio controls reports for management and governance reviews; consolidating forecasts received from accountable stakeholders without creating or independently amending those forecasts; comparing forecast movements against budgets, actuals, commitments, approved changes, and previous reporting periods; analysing consolidated information to identify significant variances, trends, and emerging financial exposure; maintaining visibility of approved, pending, and potential changes and their financial impact; ensuring significant movements, assumptions, and explanations are documented and traceable; promoting consistent reporting definitions, structures, and cut-off dates across EVM projects; supporting Project Managers and Portfolio Management with clear, fact-based information for decisions and escalation; contributing to continuous improvement and standardisation of EVM project-controls reporting; applying analytical thinking to connect information from multiple sources and identify what has changed and why; maintaining accuracy by ensuring reliable, complete, and traceable information; exercising constructive challenge by questioning inconsistencies while preserving effective working relationships; demonstrating ownership by following information gaps through to resolution; utilising communication skills to turn complex controls information into clear management reporting; fostering collaboration to work effectively across internal teams and EPCM partners; and driving continuous improvement to improve reporting quality, consistency, and efficiency.

To succeed, candidates must have SAP experience (or experience with a comparable ERP/financial system); project management experience or relevant experience in project controls, cost control, project finance, or project-management support; a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Engineering, Finance, Business, Project Management, Project Controls, or a related discipline; experience with project budgets, commitments, actual expenditure, forecasts, and change information; strong analytical and numerical skills; advanced Microsoft Excel skills; strong attention to detail, communication, and stakeholder-management skills; and the ability to work across multiple projects, contributors, and reporting deadlines.

Preferred qualifications include pharmaceutical or life-sciences industry experience (or experience in engineering, capital projects, construction, or another regulated environment), experience working with EPCM or engineering service providers, experience with Power BI or similar reporting tools, and understanding of project lifecycle, cost control, change control, and governance principles. The role offers a very competitive hourly rate. This contract will run for 12 months.

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine is working to create an inclusive environment. The application process expects first round of applications within 2 working days; applications are accepted only via direct application to the advert.