Senior Cost and Budgeting Consultant – Financial Planning

About the role

Join the Financial Accounting & Advisory Services team to lead client financial planning cycles, enforce rigorous cost control, and optimise liquidity through effective working capital management. You will provide data‑driven insights to executive leadership and help shape a stronger finance function.

Key responsibilities

• Lead annual operating budget preparation and quarterly/monthly forecasting, coordinating with all business units.
• Develop, document and enforce budget policies, cost‑control procedures and financial‑planning guidelines.
• Build and maintain driver‑based financial models using Excel, Hyperion or similar FP&A tools for forecasting and long‑range planning.
• Perform monthly and quarterly variance analysis, prepare management reports that highlight deviations and recommend corrective actions.
• Implement and manage cost‑accounting systems such as Activity‑Based Costing, allocate overheads and evaluate cost drivers.
• Identify inefficiencies, propose cost‑saving initiatives and support operational profitability improvements.
• Monitor net working capital components, optimise accounts receivable, payable and inventory to enhance liquidity.

Required profile

• Proven experience in financial planning, budgeting and cost management within a consulting or advisory environment.
• Strong analytical mindset with ability to translate data into strategic insights for senior leadership.
• Excellent communication skills to collaborate with cross‑functional teams and present findings.

Required skills

• Advanced Excel modelling
• Experience with Hyperion or comparable FP&A software
• Activity‑Based Costing (ABC) implementation
• Financial forecasting and variance analysis
• Working capital management