We are excited to introduce Daniel Ji, subject matter expert in project controls. Daniel has been working in this field for 5 years at UPI, where he has gained a wealth of knowledge and experience. He enjoys interacting with different people and departments and sees his job as an essential function for both clients and internal needs. In this section, you can read through some questions we asked Daniel to get to know him better and understand more about his work in project controls. We hope his answers will provide valuable insights and advice for anyone interested in this field.”

About Daniel Ji

How long have you been at UPI?
5 years

Can you describe a typical day or week in the job?
Dynamic and fast-paced would be an understatement – especially when working with multiple projects/project teams. Adaptability and multi-tasking is a must, especially around Month End Reporting.

What’s the one thing people should know about you?
We’re a family of die-hard Longhorn fans (both my wife and I are UT graduates), but that doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate our Aggies 😊

What do you love about your field of work?
Working with different people/clients, interacting with different departments, and the fast paced nature of the business! It’s oddly satisfying seeing a project through from conceptual design all the way to Construction completion.

What do you do for fun?
I love sports (both watching and playing), Skiing, coaching my son’s soccer team, cooking (when I want to, not when I have to😊), and working out (sometimes!)

Why is your job in project controls so important?
Project Controls is an essential function, not only for our clients (forecasting and tracking costs/scope/progress/schedule), but for internal needs as well required to manage and set expectations for Margin/Revenue/Invoice.

Advice for anyone wanting to get in your field?
Find a good mentor! Also pay it forward and mentor others. I’ve learned an incredible amount of knowledge just from interacting with other Project Managers and/or Project Controllers as well as Finance/Billing.

How do you measure success in your position?
Willingness and ability to quickly adapt in a fast paced environment. Also never be afraid to ask questions – no matter how silly they may seem.

What’s the best job decision you ever made?
I fell into Project Controls by mistake. I was originally a Financial Analyst with Dell after graduating and accepted an EXPAT assignment with Project Controls before ever knowing the term “Project Controls.” Needless to say, 19 years later, I have no regrets.

What’s your greatest career strength? Weakness?
I believe multi-tasking and quickly picking up on things while remaining efficient is one of my greatest strengths. A weakness I have been working on is to be more vocal. Many of our meetings are technical in nature and don’t necessarily involve Project Controls. Sometimes just asking the right questions (ie: is this in our scope of work, and if not, does this impact anyone else?) goes a long way and gets people thinking outside of the box.