Finance Manager Senior

Rita Kinchen

Chicago, IL 312-***-**** ***********@*****.***

Accomplished Senior Finance Manager / Cost Manager with 14 years of experience managing multi-million-dollar accounts for large-scale, mission-critical engineering and construction projects. Demonstrated success in supporting the full lifecycle of cost management activities, preparing detail costs plans and budgets that align with project scope, managing variance analysis, negotiating change orders, and ensuring compliance with applicable regulatory controls. Proven track record of resolving both long-standing financial issues, including issues related to system upgrades or migrations. Experienced in preparing analyses and reporting for internal and client stakeholders at all levels and collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver critical financial data. Possesses subject matter expertise across SOX, GAAP, and GAAS; effectively prioritizes competing demands in fast-paced, high-volume environments.

Areas of Expertise Include:

Cost Management Lifecycle

Large Scale Project Budgeting

Procurement Strategies

Contract Management

Construction Management

Regulatory Compliance

Change Management & Negotiation

Continuous Improvement

Career Highlights

Engineering Project Cost Control: Developed and tracked annual budgets, actual and forecasted costs, and long-range plans for 38 long-term ComEd engineering projects.

Budget/Financial Management: Managed the budget for a $150 million annual national advertising account.

Financial Analysis: Resolved complex financial issues for large account portfolios. Resolved longstanding billing issues on a $120 million annual Rubbermaid account, reduced a 2-year receivables backlog to 50 days.

Financial Reporting: Managed all financial reporting Kohler Company, HP, HTC, Irish Dairy Board, and Rubbermaid.

Communications: Facilitated communication with highly diverse customers and corporate communities. Routinely advised and briefed senior finance executives at Fortune 100 organizations.

Professional Experience

AtkinsRéalis: Chicago, IL

Senior Cost Manager / Project Controls Cost Engineer – December 2023 – September 2025

Developed stage gate estimates, budget execution strategies, and cost documentation under a contract with BP at the Whiting Refinery with a $100 million portfolio. Performed cost-to-complete analysis for project cost elements, reviewed and evaluated staffing plans, contract commitments, expenditures to date, change orders, and trends.

Utilized forecasts, project schedules, historical data, and other key inputs to inform budgeting and planning.

Supported budget system setup using Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) to assign and track costs.

Tracked all project costs against approved budgets, identified deviations and reported anticipated cost overages.

Executed cost transactions, including purchase orders, invoices, finance reconciliations, and shared cost contributions. Prepared change request documentation and tracked approvals for project modifications.

Analyzed change order values against current budget and prepare reconciliations to include in forecasts.

Generated cost reports, change logs, and contingency utilization report. Prepared cost benchmarking data.

Reviewed and analyzed sub-contractor invoices and prepared job costing reports to allocate expenditures.

Ensured consistent tracking, analysis, and reporting across individual and portfolio-level costs.

Selected Achievements:

Designed and implemented improved cost management processes with project managers and stakeholders.

Implemented project management methodologies and tools that optimized reporting and compliance.

Developed creative reporting tools to communicate complex project sequencing and progress assessments.

Epitec: Southfield, MI

Project Cost Analyst – January 2022 – December 2023

Provided project controls cost engineering under a contract with Exelon/ComEd, the largest electric utility in IL.

Served on a 20-person team that provided cost control management for 38 long-term (5-year+) ComEd engineering projects, including $50+ million in annual transmission, distribution, substation, and natural gas projects.

Served as the primary cost control analyst for five Project Managers, developed and monitored annual budgets and actual and forecasted costs, supported annual long-range planning (LRP) cycles and closeout of projects.

Executed change management, ensured executives and cross-functional systems decision-makers were informed of roadmaps and project status, development and testing outcomes, and production support issues.

Prepared briefing materials for monthly meetings, recommended processes to scale automated financial processes.

Selected Achievements:

Forecast revised costs for a substation engineering project, eliminated $23+ million in CIAC reimbursements.

Produced a briefing the President of Exelon that secured additional funding for a substation project at the 2-year milestone of a 5-year project, due to unforeseen environmental considerations.

Oversaw application testing for CURA, a project controls and forecasting tool with the Lead Tester.

Developed and updated a 5-year look-ahead for capital improvement projects.

Mediacom (A WPP Company): Chicago, IL

Budget Manager, Walgreens Account Team – December 2019 – January 2022

Served as the sole Budget Manger on a 25-member team that provided budget analysis and accounting for a $150 million annual advertising contract with Walgreens. Managed AR/AP, forecasts, and monthly budget presentations.

Tracked forecasted against actual expenditures, ensured conformance with accrual and forecasting processes.

Identified opportunities to improve the effectiveness and accountability of financial management processes; recommended and implemented business process improvements, including a structured forecasting process.

Managed fiscal year-end closing activities. Responded to quarterly and annual internal financial audits.

Advised the client and management on the availability of funds, status, and trends in obligations and expenditures.

Selected Achievements:

Designed, implemented, and trained staff on a new media buy estimator tool.

Managed advertising funds and reconciliations for the annual Walgreens Red Nose Day charity event.

Researched invoicing issues following the implementation of the new Ariba procurement system. Partnered with the Finance team to resolve all issues and implement a new quality assurance process to validate invoice reporting.

PHD Media (Omnicom Media Group): Chicago, IL

Budget Project Manager – June 2015 – January 2018

Served as the Budget Project Officer, provided financial management and accounting for multiple client accounts, including HP, Kohler, HTC, Irish Dairy Board, and a $120 million annual account with Rubbermaid.

Managed the full financial workflow for each account, including budget management, billing, reporting, and AR/AP.

Evaluated financial data systems, produced documentation and process flows, identified opportunities for new features, process automation, and risk-mitigating controls. Managed troubleshooting of production issues.

Selected Achievements:

Resolved Rubbermaid financial issues in 6 months; reduced the invoice backlog from 2 years to 50 days.

Designed a financial tracking tool and trained staff on tool usage and billing processes.

Education & Training

Northwestern University, Chicago, IL: Advanced Account Certificate

Grambling State University, Grambling LA: Bachelor of Science, Computer Information Systems

Project Management: Udemy (35 hours)

Business Metrics for Data-Driven Companies: Duke University Coursera

Technical Skills

ComEd Work Planning and Tracking (WPT), RedWave, Ariba, BrandFx Systems, PowerBI, Hyperion, Donovan Data Systems Mediaocean, CURA, PeopleSoft, SAP, Basecamp, Microsoft Project

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