Senior Cost Engineering Manager, Cost Engineering

Amazon.com Inc

Houston, TX

JOB DETAILS
SKILLS
Analysis Skills, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Benchmarking, Business Strategy, Category Management, Change Management, Competitive Analysis/Strategy, Construction, Construction Engineering, Construction Estimates, Construction Management, Construction Projects, Consulting, Cost Control, Cost Engineering, Cost Estimates, Cost Modeling, Data Sets, Engineering Management, Expense Management, Leadership, Manufacturing Assembly, Metrics, Negotiation Skills, Performance Analysis, Performance Metrics, Pricing, Process Improvement, Purchasing/Procurement, Reverse Engineering, Scorecarding, Supply Chain, Technical Analysis, Value Engineering, Vendor/Supplier Evaluation
LOCATION
Houston, TX
POSTED
3 days ago

Ever wondered what it takes to build Amazon"s massive global network - and how we make sure every dollar spent on construction delivers maximum value?

We"re looking for a Senior Cost Engineering Manager who will own cost engineering on large-scale construction projects and help shape the future of AI-powered cost intelligence. This isn"t a back-office analytics role - you"ll be influencing multi-million-dollar supplier negotiations, presenting to senior leadership, and support building the tools that will transform how Amazon Global Procurement Organization models, negotiates and manages construction cost worldwide.

Construction is one of our largest and most complex procurement categories. Every project is different - unique site conditions, local labor markets, permit requirements, and material constraints mean that each costing cycle demands a fresh bottom-up deep dive: decomposing cost structures, stress-testing assumptions against local market realities, and building analytics that reflect the true cost drivers of that specific build. You"ll bring deep construction industry expertise and pair it with a forward-looking mindset, co-creating AI-driven tools that scale your impact far beyond individual projects.

Key job responsibilities

Lead end-to-end should-costing on large-scale construction projects - reverse engineering supplier pricing to determine the true cost of constituent parts, labor, manufacturing, assemblies, overheads and expected profit margins

Build reliable bottom-up cost models that simulate the industry benchmark with fact-based calculations, serving as anchoring price targets in negotiation

Challenge supplier quotations with rigorous technical analysis, forcing transparency into supply chain cost structures and driving meaningful cost reductions

Present should-cost findings and recommendations to senior leadership, acting as a trusted internal consultant on construction cost matters

Co-develop AI-powered costing tools and feed scalable datasets alongside our AI & MI solutions tea

Coordinate with other Sourcing Excellence pillars and Capabilities (e.g. Value engineering, Construction Cost Estimation, Market Intelligence) across multiple regions as we expand our global should-costing footprint

Establish and evolve should-cost methodologies during design and specification phases, collaborating with category managers, engineers, and construction teams

Advise stakeholders on cost impacts of specification changes and identify design-to-cost opportunities with suppliers, working closely with Value Engineering team.

Define KPIs and scorecard metrics (E.g. gap-to-should-cost) that track supplier cost performance and strengthen long-term partnerships rooted in fairness and mutual understanding

Drive change management as you introduce new costing approaches across procurement and the supply base

About the team

Cost Engineering answers one fundamental question for Amazon: Are we paying the right price? We combine deep technical expertise with advanced analytical methodologies - should-cost modeling, market intelligence, and cost driver decomposition - to deliver transparent, fact-based insights that empower procurement teams to negotiate with confidence. Our vision is to make cost transparency a strategic capability across the organization, ensuring every procurement decision reflects what something should cost, not just what the market offers. We cover billions in managed spend across Amazon Global Procurement Organization with cost engineering, driven by an exponential growth since the team formation in 2022.

About the Company

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Amazon.com Inc

At Amazon, we don’t wait for the next big idea to present itself. We envision the shape of impossible things and then we boldly make them reality. So far, this mindset has helped us achieve some incredible things. Let’s build new systems, challenge the status quo, and design the world we want to live in. We believe the work you do here will be the best work of your life.

Wherever you are in your career exploration, Amazon likely has an opportunity for you. Our research scientists and engineers shape the future of natural language understanding with Alexa. Fulfillment center associates around the globe send customer orders from our warehouses to doorsteps. Product managers set feature requirements, strategy, and marketing messages for brand new customer experiences. And as we grow, we’ll add jobs that haven’t been invented yet.

It’s Always Day 1
At Amazon, it’s always “Day 1.” Now, what does this mean and why does it matter? It means that our approach remains the same as it was on Amazon’s very first day – to make smart, fast decisions, stay nimble, invent, and stay focused on delighting our customers. In our 2016 shareholder letter, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos shared his thoughts on how to keep up a Day 1 company mindset. “Staying in Day 1 requires you to experiment patiently, accept failures, plant seeds, protect saplings, and double down when you see customer delight,” he wrote. “A customer-obsessed culture best creates the conditions where all of that can happen.” You can read the full letter here

Our Leadership Principles
Our Leadership Principles help us keep a Day 1 mentality. They aren’t just a pretty inspirational wall hanging. Amazonians use them, every day, whether they’re discussing ideas for new projects, deciding on the best solution for a customer’s problem, or interviewing candidates. To read through our Leadership Principles from Customer Obsession to Bias for Action, visit https://www.amazon.jobs/principles
COMPANY SIZE
10,000 employees or more
INDUSTRY
Retail
FOUNDED
1994
WEBSITE
http://Amazon.com/militaryroles