Cost Controller

About the role

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

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.
• Provide financial and budgetary validation across the Procure-to-Pay cycle, including purchase requisitions, purchase orders, service entry sheets and invoices.
• Monitor contracts, commitments and expenditure trends, highlighting potential cost, budget, contractual or payment risks.
• Prepare and review SAP financial entries and supporting documentation for period-end close, and prepare monthly cost reporting, variance and trend analysis against budget and forecast.
• Monitor project and departmental costs from planning through completion, 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.
• Relevant 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.
• Strong communication skills, able to translate financial information for technical stakeholders and vice versa, with attention to detail and quality.

Required skills

• SAP and strong analytical capability in Microsoft Excel; Power BI or similar reporting tools is an advantage.
• Experience with SAP S/4HANA and SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) is a plus.
• Knowledge of supply chain processes, contracts, financial governance, delegation of authority and accounting principles in a large organization.