Performance Management Lead

About the Position 

We're seeking a Performance Management Lead to support large, complex rail and transit capital programs, as well as other heavy-civil infrastructure efforts including highways, bridges, and airport projects delivered through both traditional and alternative methods. This role is responsible for stewarding the program capital baseline and integrating cost, schedule, and risk information to assess performance, identify trends, and provide forward-looking insight to support informed decision-making across major capital programs. 

This is a long-term, full-time, on-site or hybrid position located in Sacramento, CA. 

Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• Serve as the lead steward of the program capital baseline, including ownership of the underlying technical documentation, systems, and data structures that support performance tracking and governance. 
• Coordinate across cost, schedule, and risk functions to ensure integrated, consistent, and accurate program-level performance reporting against the approved baseline. 
• Define, maintain, and continuously improve methodologies for measuring progress and performance against the capital baseline. 
• Manage and enforce baseline change control processes, ensuring adherence to established governance, approval, and documentation requirements. 
• Assess cost forecasts, schedules, and risk updates across the program to evaluate alignment with the capital baseline and identify emerging variances, trends, and potential impacts. 
• Lead or support development of annual budgets and multi-year forecasts, including clearly documenting and explaining year-over-year changes, drivers, and assumptions. 
• Analyze trends, risks, and variances relative to original estimates and budgets, and identify mitigation opportunities to support alignment with baseline assumptions and funding expectations. 
• Drive continuous improvement of performance management processes, procedures, systems, and data structures in coordination with the broader project controls organization. 
• Lead the development and maintenance of scalable work breakdown structures, asset breakdown structures, and related data frameworks to enable effective rolled-up program reporting. 
• Partner with reporting teams to shape monthly and annual reporting outputs, ensuring information is accurate, timely, appropriately detailed, and tailored to executive and stakeholder needs. 
• Operate as a program-level subject matter expert on capital baseline integrity, data quality, and consistency across cost, schedule, and risk reporting. 

Attributes 

• Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills. 
• Strong analytical mindset with the ability to synthesize complex, multi-source data into clear, actionable insights. 
• Highly organized with strong attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities under time pressure. 
• Collaborative approach that fosters trust and effective partnerships across multidisciplinary and cross-functional teams. 
• Proactive problem-solver with a continuous improvement mindset and comfort operating in complex program environments. 

Minimum Qualifications 

• Bachelor's degree in construction management, engineering, business management, project management, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. 
• 10+ years of experience in program controls or performance management supporting large, complex rail or transit capital programs. 
• Strong knowledge of project controls principles, including cost management, schedule management, risk management, and capital baseline governance. 
• Demonstrated experience integrating cost, schedule, and risk data to support program-level performance assessment and executive decision-making. 
• Experience leading or coordinating project controls or performance management teams on major capital programs. 
• Proven ability to work with internal and external stakeholders to elicit timely, consistent inputs and support disciplined controls and reporting processes. 
• Experience developing, implementing, and improving performance management methodologies, procedures, and reporting practices. 
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite/Office 365 (e.g., Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.). 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Master's degree in construction management, engineering, business management, project management.   
• Professional certifications such as PMP, CCM, or similar credentials. 
• Experience supporting rail or transit programs with complex systems integration, third-party interfaces, or regulatory oversight.  
• Experience with data analytics and performance reporting tools. 
• Strong technical writing and presentation skills for executive-level and stakeholder reporting. 
• Working knowledge of Primavera P6 or similar scheduling tools.  
• Proficiency with Microsoft Power BI, Oracle Cloud Analytics, or other dashboard KPI reporting software.  

Compensation Details 

Expected Salary: $130k-$235k/year ($62-$113/hour). Luster provides the salary range that the company in good faith believes it might offer for this position based on the successful candidate's level of experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, education, certifications, licenses, geographic location, etc. Luster reserves the right to ultimately pay more or less than the posted range depending on circumstances not related to any status protected by local, state, and/or federal law. 

Just LOOK at the Benefits We Offer!  

• Unlimited flexible time off  
• Paid holidays  
• Paid parental leave  
• Health, dental, and vision insurance  
• Flexible spending accounts (healthcare and dependent or elder care)  
• Long-term disability insurance  
• Short-term disability insurance  
• Life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment 
• 401(k) plan with guaranteed employer contribution  
• Formal career planning and development program  
• $2,500 annually toward professional development  
• Wellness program with monthly wellness stipend  
• Company cell phone or cell phone plan reimbursement  
• Free personalized meal planning and nutrition support with a registered dietitian  
• Free personal financial planning services  
• Employee assistance program  
• Employee discounts  
• Employee referral bonus  

Specific plan details and coverage for each benefit noted above will be provided upon offer. #IN-LNJS