Requirements
The Budget Specialist role requires a fully qualified accountant (CA, CIMA, ACCA, or ACA) with a minimum of 3-5 years of experience in budgeting, cost control, or project finance. Experience in infrastructure, construction, engineering, or capital project environments is essential, with exposure to rail, utilities, or regulated infrastructure sectors being beneficial. Familiarity with ERP systems (SAP, Oracle), CAPEX vs OPEX treatment, project cost accounting, and data visualization tools like Power BI is also required.
Description
Job PurposeThe Budget Specialist is a technically focused finance professional responsible for the day-to-day integrity of budget management, forecasting, and cost control. Reporting to the Senior Manager — Finance, this role provides the granular financial discipline that underpins effective capex deployment.Principal AccountabilitiesCore:The Budget Specialist acts as the financial engine behind project performance reporting — tracking actuals against approved budgets, identifying variances early, and supporting the value engineering programme by quantifying and validating cost savings. This is an ideal role for a detail-oriented finance professional looking to deepen their expertise in infrastructure cost management.Budget Management & Control• Maintain detailed project budgets across the full portfolio, ensuring alignment with approved capex allocations• Track and reconcile actual costs against budget on a weekly and monthly basis, producing clear variance reports• Process and review budget transfers, variations, and change orders in the project cost tracker• Maintain the project cost tracker as the single source of truth for all budget and commitment data• Ensure correct coding and classification of all expenditure across cost centersForecasting & Planning• Prepare rolling cost-to-complete (CTC) forecasts in collaboration with project managers and engineers• Support the annual budget cycle by consolidating project-level inputs into portfolio-level submissions• Model scenario analyses for scope changes, risk events, or program re-phasing• Contribute to monthly management accounts by providing accurate project accruals, prepayments, and commitments• Assist in the development of financial models for feasibility studies and project investment appraisalsReporting & Variance Analysis• Produce monthly project financial dashboards for the Senior Manager — Finance and project leadership• Conduct root-cause variance analysis on cost overruns, highlighting drivers and recommending corrective actions• Support preparation of board and executive reporting packs, ensuring data accuracy and narrative clarity• Maintain audit-ready records of all budget approvals, transfers, and supporting documentationValue Engineering Support• Quantify and validate cost savings identified through value engineering initiatives against baseline budgets• Maintain the VE savings tracker, ensuring all submissions are correctly logged, evidenced, and tiered per the incentive framework• Liaise with cost managers, quantity surveyors, and procurement to verify that savings are realized and locked in• Provide financial analysis to support VE proposals at technical and commercial review stagesSystems & Process• Operate and maintain the project cost management system, always ensuring data integrity• Develop and improve budget templates, reporting tools, and forecasting models• Support finance system upgrades and implementations as required• Identify and recommend process improvements across budget control and reporting workflowsKnowledge, Skills, and ExperienceAcademic Qualifications:• Fully qualified accountant — CA, CIMA, ACCA, or ACAExperience:• Minimum 3–5 years of experience in a budgeting, cost control, or project finance role• Experience working in infrastructure, construction, engineering, or capital project environmentsOther Skills:• Familiarity with ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, or equivalent) for cost and budget management• Strong understanding of CAPEX vs OPEX treatment and project cost accounting principles• Exposure to rail, utilities, or regulated infrastructure sectors• Experience with project management information systems or cost management platforms• Power BI or similar data visualization experience• Understanding of earned value management (EVM) principles