About the Role
The Cost Control Specialist owns the company's annual OPEX and CAPEX budget cycle, ensuring spending aligns with the established plan. This role is crucial in building and maintaining financial models required by various stakeholders, tracking each project and department against their budgets, and promptly flagging overruns with an effective mitigation strategy. The specialist will ensure compliance with IFRS, SOCPA, and regulatory requirements, delivering clear and timely cost performance reporting to senior management and the Board.
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Job Responsibilities
- Lead annual OPEX and CAPEX budget preparation with department heads; challenge assumptions and enforce alignment with corporate strategy.
- Review and validate financial data from departments to ensure accuracy and completeness.
- Develop the budget template, timelines, guidelines, and procedures.
- Develop the annual traffic forecast in coordination with the Slots Department for budgeting purposes, with external advisors' assistance if necessary.
- Develop and update financial models for CAPEX projects in line with lender, shareholder, and Grantor requirements.
- Work with the Strategy and Treasury departments to develop financial models for new business and investment opportunities; validate assumptions with related departments.
- Coordinate with lenders on project finance reporting, budget vs. actual, and compliance certificates under the financing agreements; develop the related lender reports.
- Monitor cost vs. budget for each OPEX and CAPEX project and each department; flag overruns early and propose mitigation plans.
- Analyze cost drivers and identify savings and efficiency opportunities.
- Maintain cost control systems in the ERP, ensuring WBS elements, cost centers, and internal orders are set up correctly.
- Validate all fixed asset capitalization before it is recorded in the ERP.
- Drive automation of budget reporting and reduce manual consolidation time.
- Work with Operations and project teams to validate scope changes and their budget impact before management approval.
- Establish cost control policies, approval matrices, and guidelines for project controls.
- Partner with Procurement on contract commitments, accruals, and PO tracking to prevent budget leakage.
- Prepare the Board and Management Pack, including KPI dashboards, cost trends, commitments vs. actuals, and forecast outlook.
- Ensure all costs are captured in line with IFRS, SOCPA, and other regulatory requirements.
- Support internal and external audits on budget, accruals, CAPEX capitalization, and project finance reporting.
- Provide monthly, quarterly, and annual budget performance reports to senior management.
- Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and internal financial policies and procedures.
Education Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related field.
Certification Requirements
- Professional certification preferred: CMA, CPA, ACCA, SOCPA, or CFA.
Experience
- Minimum 3 years in budgeting, cost control, or FP&A, ideally in airports, infrastructure, aviation, or a concession/PPP environment.
Languages
- Fluent in Arabic and English (required).
Technical Skills
- Experience with ERP cost control modules (e.g., SAP CO/PS or Oracle), including WBS, cost centers, and internal orders.
- Advanced Excel and financial modeling skills; experience with BI tools (e.g., Power BI) is an advantage.
