Cost Manager

Cost Manager

Reporting to: Nabil

Key Responsibilities

• Real-Time Cost Surveillance & Monitoring
• Live Tracking: Move beyond monthly reviews to weekly cost variance tracking across all studios.
• Operational Visibility: Maintain real-time dashboards for key cost drivers, including: o Labour and Contractor spend. o Film and Consumables. o Reworks and material wastage.
• Budget Alignment: Own the Actual vs. Budget relationship per studio, ensuring every pound spent is continuously tracked against approved limits.
• Threshold Management & Escalation
• Define Limits: In collaboration with the SLT, establish pre-defined spending thresholds for every cost line (e.g., film, labour, utilities).
• Automated Flagging: Implement systems to trigger immediate alerts when: o A studio exceeds its allocated budget. o Spending trends indicate a projected overspend. o Wastage exceeds defined tolerance levels.
• Escalation Path: Manage the corrective action process, ensuring the right stakeholders are notified and an intervention plan is executed immediately.
• Granular Wastage & Performance Analysis
• Film Attribution: Conduct deep-dive analysis into Paint Protection Film (PPF) and material usage against expected norms.
• Accountability Mapping: Attribute wastage and inefficiencies down to the Studio, Job Type, and Individual Installer level.
• Root Cause Correction: Identify the why behind wastage and recommend training or process changes to mitigate future loss.
• Commercial Strategy & Supplier Aggression
• Continuous Renegotiation: Actively challenge and renegotiate terms for trade accounts, contractors, utilities, and service providers.
• Group Consolidation: Identify opportunities to consolidate spend across multiple studios to leverage volume discounts and drive group-wide savings.
• Re-tendering: Lead regular re-tendering exercises to ensure the group is always receiving the most competitive market rates.
• Cost Justification & Ownership
• Line-by-Line Auditing: Ensure every cost line (recurring or ad-hoc) has a designated Owner, a clear Justification, and a defined Expected Value.
• Value Alignment: Challenge any spend that does not directly contribute to operational value or strategic goals.

Candidate Profile

• Proactive Mindset: You don't wait for the month-end report; you seek out variances as they happen.
• Analytical Rigor: Ability to dissect complex data (specifically in materials/labour) and turn it into actionable intelligence.
• Commercial Edge: A tough-but-fair negotiator who is comfortable challenging long-standing supplier relationships.
• Operational Insight: Ideally experienced in a multi-site automotive, manufacturing, or studio-based environment where material wastage is a critical KPI.
• Communication: Able to hold studio managers and installers accountable while maintaining a collaborative working environment.
• Originally posted on Himalayas