Business Partner - Costing

• The Business Partner - Costing acts as a trusted financial advisor to business leaders, bridging the gap between finance and operations. The role focuses on driving cost efficiency, providing forward-looking financial insights, and challenging business assumptions to optimize resource allocation and deliver sustainable cost performance.

1.      Business Partnering & Stakeholder Management:

·       Partner with business stakeholders to provide cost insights and drive efficiency initiatives.

·       Challenge business leaders on cost drivers and budget assumptions constructively.

·       Build strong cross-functional relationships to become a trusted advisor on cost matters

2.      Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting:

·       Develop cost models to support scenario analysis and sensitivity testing.

·       Lead the annual budgeting and quarterly reforecasting process for assigned business areas.

·       Ensure timely and accurate delivery of budget submissions with robust assumptions.

3.      Cost Reporting & Performance Management

·       Prepare monthly cost reports with clear, concise variance analysis (actual vs. budget vs. forecast).

·       Investigate cost performance issues and identify key drivers and one-off items.

·       Develop dashboards and KPIs to improve cost transparency (e.g., Power BI, Excel).

4.      Cost Optimization & Efficiency

·       Identify and drive cost reduction opportunities to improve operating leverage.

·       Partner with procurement teams on supplier cost analysis and contract renewals

5.      Continuous Improvement

·       Drive automation and standardization of cost reporting (e.g., transition to cloud-based platforms).

·       Champion the use of self-service analytics and dashboard tools.

·       Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related field.

·       CPA, ACCA, CMA, or CIMA qualifications are a strong plus.

·       5+ years of experience in FP&A, cost controlling, or business partnering roles in manufacturing.

·       Proven track record in cost optimization and efficiency initiatives.

·       Strong analytical and financial modeling capability.

·       FP&A Expertise: Deep expertise in budgeting, rolling forecasting, long-range planning, scenarios modeling, and management reporting.

·       Costing & Manufacturing Finance: Strong command of standard costing variance analysis, BOM costing, and product cost modeling. Experience with cost reduction programs and capacity planning.

·       Data analytics & Tools: Advanced Excel modeling. Proficiency in Power BI, Tableau or similar visualization tools. Experience with SQL or Python for data extraction is a plus.

·       Commercial Acumen: Understands business drivers and links cost decisions to value creation.

·       Influencing & Challenge: Confidently challenges business leaders with data-driven insights.

·       Attention to Detail: Ensures accuracy in reporting and modelling; "right first time" mindset.

·       Stakeholder Management: Builds credibility and trust with senior stakeholders.

·       Problem Solving: Deep-dives into complex data to identify root causes and solutions.

·       Proactive & Curious: Seeks opportunities for improvement without being prompted.

·       Integrity & Ethics: Uncompromising professional integrity. Set the tone for compliance, internal controls, and ethical decision-making across the organization.