Cost Controller

About the role

The Cost Controller sits in the organisation's business and reports indirectly to client-entity managers in a customer-supplier relationship. It supports effective financial stewardship through cost transparency, sound budgetary control and timely financial insight, working with operational and technical teams to promote good cost control practices in line with accounting standards, internal policies and governance requirements.

Key responsibilities

• Support annual budget, forecast and planning cycles by reviewing work programs, cost assumptions, phasing and financial impacts.
• Perform monthly cost control and financial close activities, including review of actuals, commitments, accruals, cost allocations and value-of-work-done information.
• Validate Purchase Requisitions, Purchase Orders, Service Entry Sheets and invoices across the procure-to-pay cycle, including budget availability, coding, allocation and compliance with governance.
• Monitor contracts, commitments and expenditure trends, highlighting cost, budget, contractual or payment risks.
• Prepare and review SAP financial entries and supporting documentation for period-end close, and prepare monthly cost reports, variance and trend analyses against budget and forecast.
• Maintain regular contact with business entities, supply chains, finance, project teams and service providers, and escalate significant changes in scope, cost, forecast or commitments early.

Required profile

• Degree in Accounting, Finance, Engineering, Business or a related discipline; a relevant professional certification is an advantage.
• Technical experience in cost control, financial control, project controls or a comparable finance role; oil and gas/upstream experience preferred.
• Good understanding of budgeting, forecasting, accruals, cost allocations, commitments, invoice control and procure-to-pay processes.
• Understanding of supply chain processes, contracts, financial governance, delegation of authority and accounting principles in a large organisation.

Required skills

• SAP and strong analytical use of Microsoft Excel; Power BI or similar reporting tools is an advantage.
• Experience with SAP S/4HANA and SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) is a plus.
• Ability to communicate financial information to technical stakeholders and technical information to finance colleagues, and to meet tight reporting deadlines.